Erfundenes Erbe: Eine norditalienische Rüstung

A suit of armour in Bern’s History Museum that, a rare artefact today, tells us a great deal more than just stories of medieval battles. Marks on its steely plates reveal an extraordinarily diverse history. Renowned blacksmiths from Northern Italy completed the suit of armour in the 15th century as a fashionable steel garment. Following its mysterious acquisition, it became a “historical building block” in Early Modern Bern. Missing parts of the armour itself, as well as the gaps in our knowledge concerning its origins, opened the way for new associations with the myths surrounding the city’s foundation as well as connections to enigmatic objects. Thanks to this “invented heritage”, the versatile body armour found its way into the History Museum several centuries later, where it was stripped of its mythical history.

This series in four volumes examines four museum exhibits as examples to show how and why objects that were violently looted or confiscated due to religious differences became “art” over the centuries and a part of Swiss cultural heritage.