Museo Hermann Hesse
The village of Montagnola, where Nobel Prize-winning writer Hermann Hesse lived for more than 40 years in his later life. The museum displays his manuscripts, watercolors, and personal belongings.
Hermann Hesse settled in the village of Montagnola, southwest of Lugano, in 1919. There he wrote Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, and The Glass Bead Game, and he lived there until his death in 1962. The museum is in a tower near the Casa Camuzzi, where he once lived. It displays his typewriter, glasses, manuscripts, and a selection from his thousands of watercolors. You can follow the Hesse Trail past the scenes he often painted and visit the Sant'Abbondio cemetery to pay your respects at his grave. Admission is about 10 Swiss francs, and it is about a 20-minute bus ride from Lugano.
Opening hours
March–October daily about 10:30–17:30; winter weekends
Nearby sights
- Monte San Salvatore
- LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
- Santa Maria degli Angioli
- Via Nassa
- Cathedral of San Lorenzo
- Lake Lugano Boat Trips
- Piazza della Riforma
- Swissminiatur