The Rietberg Museum in Zürich displays Asian, African, American and Oceanian art. It is the only art museum of non-European cultures in Switzerland, the third-largest museum in Zürich, and the largest to be run by the city itself.
The Rietberg Museum is situated in the Rieterpark in central Zürich, and consists of several historic buildings: the Wesendonck Villa, the Remise (or 'Depot'), the Rieter Park-Villa, and the Schönberg Villa. In 2007 a new building designed by Alfred Grazioli and Adolf Krischanitz was opened – the addition of this largely subterranean building, known as 'Smaragd', more than doubled the museum's exhibition space.
In the early 1940s the city of Zürich purchased the Rieterpark and the Wesendonck Villa. In 1949 the Wesendonck Villa was selected, by referendum, to be rebuilt into a museum for the Baron Eduard von der Heydt's art collection, which he had donated to the city in 1945. This was carried out in 1951-52 under the architect Alfred Gradmann. The Rietberg Museum was opened on 24 May 1952. Until 1956 the director was Johannes Itten, the Swiss expressionist painter.
In 1976 the city acquired the Schönberg Villa, which had been threatened with demolition, and opened it in 1978 as an extension of the museum. Today the Villa is also home to an extensive non-lending library administrated by the museum.
References:Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.
German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.
After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.