Winterthur’s old town is a hive of activity early in the morning every Tuesday and Friday. That’s when the vendors get their stalls ready for Winterthur’s weekly market. The first visitors soon arrive and begin to fill Winterthur’s pedestrian zone – the largest continuous one in Switzerland, incidentally. Whether seasonal fruit and vegetables, cheese and crusty bread or local crafts and flowers: Winterthur’s old town is rarely more vibrant and lively than on market days.

Andrea Lutz also likes Winterthur’s old town best on market days. Then, the curator can often be found among the market stalls on Steinberggasse. She’ll occasionally buy fresh flowers and sometimes there’s enough time for a chat with acquaintances before she heads off to work at Kunst Museum Winterthur.

Andrea Lutz has been working at the Kunst Museum Winterthur for around ten years, an institution that now consists of three museums overall. Born in eastern Switzerland, she began her career as a research assistant at the former Museum Oskar Reinhart and later became a curator. Together with the former Kunstmuseum Winterthur and the Villa Flora, this museum now belongs to the new institution of “Kunst Museum Winterthur”, which was founded in 2017.

Kunst Museum Winterthur is the fourth largest art museum in Switzerland and its collection is one of the most important in the country. It houses a wide range of works from masters such as Rembrandt and Caspar David Friedrich to contemporary works by artists including Gerhard Richter. By bringing together the historical collections of the Kunstverein, founded in 1848, and the Oskar Reinhart Foundation with its focus on German Romanticism, art history can be experienced almost without a gap from the 17th century to the present in the museum.

Not only is the museum’s collection multi-faceted and diverse, but its regular temporary exhibitions and events also focus on new and different themes in order to convey art in an exciting and varied way.

Kunst Museum Winterthur is at the heart of the city’s diverse cultural offering. This includes museums and art spaces, but also several theatres and festivals such as the Winterthur Music Festival Weeks. 

A love of art and culture has a rich tradition in Winterthur, as Andrea Lutz explains. Art has been collected and supported here for a long time. In the 19th century, people interested in art came together to found the Kunstverein, from which Kunst Museum Winterthur has now emerged. 

Andrea Lutz rides her bike to work almost every day. No wonder, since Winterthur is an extremely green and bicycle-friendly city. Its magnificent parks are particularly popular, such as the Stadtgarten – a place to meet friends and relax.

Winterthur is therefore sometimes referred to as a “garden city”. The villa gardens and landscaped parks that were once created by wealthy industrialists are now open to the general public.

Winterthur is a very idyllic place, surrounded by hills and woodlands. Andrea Lutz appreciates being able to get out of the city quickly and be in the middle of nature. One of her favourite places is the Chöpfi near Wolfensberg on the outskirts of the city, where she likes to meet friends and acquaintances and enjoy the breathtaking views of the city.