International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum

Our story began in 1963 – the 100th anniversary of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – when initial proposals were put forward to establish a Red Cross Museum in Geneva.

Twelve years later, in 1975, ICRC delegate Laurent Marti decided to act, inspired by his time in the field. He wrote to Jean Pictet, the ICRC’s Director-General, setting out his plans for a museum that would trace the major stages of humanitarian history before and after the creation of the Red Cross. His proposal was accepted.

In 1979, an architecture competition was launched to build the Museum close to the ICRC headquarters on the Colline de Pregny in Geneva. The winning design was submitted by Pierre Zoelly, Georges Haefeli and Michel Girardet. The Foundation for the International Red Cross Museum was established in 1981.

The Museum’s first stone was laid on 20 November 1985 at a special ceremony attended by Ursula Furgler, Raisa Gorbachev and Nancy Reagan.

The Museum opened its doors to the public on 29 October 1988. Its founder, Laurent Marti, served as its first director until 1994. He was succeeded by Didier Helg and Christine Müller.

Roger Mayou, appointed as director in 1998, went on to expand the Museum and oversaw a complete overhaul of the site, which reopened on 18 May 2013 after two years of work.

Pascal Hufschmid has served as director of the Museum since 2019.