Martin Bodmer Foundation

Thousands of literary masterpieces under one roof

Noteworthy for: Martin Bodmer was born into a very wealthy family and devoted his life to creating a library of world literature.
This paradise for book lovers contains one of the most significant libraries in the world. Located in the village of Cologny, this exceptional collection is the life’s work of Martin Bodmer (1899-1971), a Swiss scholar and bibliophile. The extraordinary library is a powerful monument to human intellect and holds some 160,000 documents written in 80 languages. Among them are about 270 books printed before 1500 and one of the few worldwide copies of the Gutenberg Bible.

The collection boasts some of the most influential and important writings from the arts, religion, history and politics and includes Papyrus 66, the near complete codex of the Gospel of St John, and many other literary treasures for you to discover.