• Address

    Abegg-Stiftung, Werner Abeggstrasse 67, Postfach, CH-3132 Riggisberg, Switzerland, Telephone: 0041 (0)31 808 12 01, Fax: 0041 (0)31 808 12 00, info@abegg-stiftung.ch

    Opening hours

    Permanent and special exhibition

    27 April to 9 November 2025, daily from 2 pm to 5.30 pm

    Villa Abegg

    27 April to 9 November 2025, daily in the afternoon, advance reservation by telephone recommended

    Getting here by car

    Motorway A6, exit Rubigen/Belp, free car park available

    Getting here by public transport

    Regional train to Toffen, postbus from Toffen to Riggisberg

Villa Abegg The Founder’s Private Home is now a Museum – Guided Tours by Appointment, Daily from 27 April to 9 November 2025

When the Abegg-Stiftung was founded in 1961, Werner and Margaret Abegg already had plans to open their home to the public at some future date. In both period and theme, the Villa Abegg was intended to complement and augment the institute’s collections. Architecturally, the villa completed in the late 1960s follows the North Italian Baroque, as represented by the school of Filippo Juvara (1678 – 1736). The formal gardens and fountains belong to a similar tradition. The reception rooms on the ground floor are appointed with historical wall panelling, chandeliers and furniture, and decorated with paintings, sculpture and tableware. The Villa Abegg nevertheless retains the character of an inhabited home that visitors may visit, rather like invited guests, in small groups only.
Every year, these guided tours of the villa single out a different work of art or group of objects for attention.

Casket with Pastiglia Decoration The white relief work that stands out from the golden ground shows scenes from Roman history. Caskets like this one were produced in Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. They served as receptacles for treasured objects.

A whiff of China – export art from the Far East The walls of the small dining room are papered with a painted wallpaper brought to Europe from China by one of the East India Companies in the eighteenth century. Also on show are various Chinese porcelain exports belonging to the villa’s own collection of tableware.

Spacious Entrance Hall The interior architecture of the hall in Northern Italian Baroque style quotes the grand staircase of Palazzo Madama in Turin. The inlaid marble floor finds its model below the arcades of the Doge’s Palace in Venice.

Rococo in Riggisberg This charming mirror cabinet gleams and sparkles beautifully. Not only are the walls clad with Rococo gilded wood panelling with inlaid mirrors, but the chandelier with its rock crystal drops makes for countless reflections of light.

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