Mammoths ensure record number of visitors to the Museum of Prehistory

Mammoths are a magnet for visitors: at least this applies to the Museum of Prehistory on the Hofstrasse in Zug. With a total of 13,230 visitors by mid-December, the museum had a record year before the year has even finished.

The special exhibition “Mammoths - Zug Giants Show their Teeth” contributed greatly to this from January to April. "Early on, we had reason to expect that it could be a record year," says museum director Ulrich Eberli. The Museum of Prehistory normally records an average of 11,000 admissions a year.

The mammoth exhibition therefore paid off, continues Eberli. And it wasn’t cheap. "Outlay and income just balanced out," adds the museum director. In addition to this topic, which was particularly popular, there was another advantage: "With the Shedhalle, we had more space available than usual." Eberli doubts that a special exhibition of this size could be tackled again in the near future. “We are facing a re-build in the medium term. After that, we will definitely have more space.” The Museum of Prehistory is part of the cantonal project "Hofstrasse and Theilerhaus", according to which the listed buildings are to be renovated and a new building realised.

The museum didn’t carry out more advertising for the Mammoth exhibition than for other exhibitions, however: “The subject was simply more attractive, and benefitted from word-of-mouth propaganda,” says the director. The special exhibition “Health! 7,000 years of healing art", which lasted until May 17^th, was also successful, confirms Eberli.

Museums in general have changed in recent years: the curators are increasingly rely on participatory offers for visitors. "The interactive experience makes the topic more exciting," says Ulrich Eberli, adding: "We do this deliberately in the special exhibitions."

Eberli hopes that success will now spill over into the next year. "I have the feeling that many of those who have visited the exhibition will also come back again." For the museum director, this means: "We have to maintain the level." But the museum doesn’t celebrate the excellent numbers. "We are already discussing the next exhibition for winter 2020."

During the holidays, the Museum of Prehistory is open from 2 pm to 5 pm from December 26th to 29th, on December 31st and January 2nd to 5th.

New Year's tour of the Museum of Prehistory in Zug

The traditional New Year's tour of January 2 is themed “Truth or Lies?”. At 3:00 p.m. archaeologist Ursina Doubt will present ten astonishing stories about ten extraordinary finds, according to the announcement from the Museum of Prehistory. Some of their stories are made up, however. The audience is asked to critically examine the truthfulness. Everyone is then invited to toast the new year. Admission to the event is free, and no registration is necessary.