Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge, Geneva
At the International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, you can experience the legendary past of the Red Cross in the city where it started.
This carefully nonjudgmental museum is buried in the hillside beneath the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross and across from the visitors' entrance to the European headquarters of the United Nations.
When Henry Dunant founded the Red Cross in Geneva in 1863, he needed a recognizable symbol to suggest neutrality. The Swiss flag (a white cross on a red field), with the colors reversed, ended up providing the perfect symbol for one of the world's greatest humanitarian movements.
The dramatic story from 1863 to the present is revealed through displays of rare documents and photographs, films, multiscreen slide shows, and cycloramas. You're taken from the battlefields of Europe to the plains of Africa to see the Red Cross in action.
Powerful mute statues speak to the need for human kindness in the face of disaster, and balanced but often grim exhibits trace the history of the struggle to provide it.
Audiovisuals show the postbattle horrors at Solferino that moved Henry Dunant to form the Red Cross. Endless aisles of file boxes hold 7 million records of World War I prisoners, and there's a replica of a 6½-foot by 6½-foot concrete cell in which Red Cross workers discovered 17 political prisoners.
The Mur du Temps (Wall of Time), a simple time line punctuated by armed conflicts and natural disasters in which more than 10,000 people died, puts the overall story into sobering perspective.
Good news, in the form of disaster-relief kits and snapshots used to reunite Rwandan families after the 1994 genocide, is also on display. Guided tours and museum literature are available in English.
| Address: | 17 av. de la Paix, Geneva, Switzerland |
| Phone: | 022/748-95-25 |
| By bus: | 8, F, V, or Z |
| Hours: | Wed-Mon 10am-5pm |
| Cost: | Admission 10F ($6.50) adults; 5F ($3.25) students, seniors, and children |
- Official Site of the International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
- Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge – Fodor's Online Travel Guide
- Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge (International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum) – Frommer's Attraction Review
