Zurich - Rietberg Museum

(Local Name: Zürich Museum Rietberg) Above Zurich's Belvoir Park, beyond the Seestrasse, we find Rieter Park, at the north end of which, in the Gablerstrasse, is the Rietberg Museum, housed in a Neo-classical villa modeled on the Villa Albani in Rome. It was built in 1857 for a German industrialist, Otto Wesendonck and is reputed to be an exact copy of the Roman Villa Albani. The villa originally served as a meeting place for the intellectual elite of Zurich, including Wagner and Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. In 1952 it was acquired by the city of Zurich and now contains the fine collection of Baron Eduard von der Heydt. The exhibits of non-European art include Indian sculpture, temple pictures and bronzes from Tibet,