The Hermann Hesse Museum in Montagnola was established in 1997 in the rooms of the Torre Camuzzi. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the picturesque Casa Camuzzi, where Hermann Hesse lived from 1919 to 1931 in an apartment with a sweeping view over Lake Lugano. In addition to the permanent exhibition, the Hermann Hesse Museum presents a rich program. Temporary exhibitions, lectures, concerts, films, walks and weekly bilingual readings turn this place into a lively meeting center for an international audience.
In a permanent exhibition, the life that the poet led in Ticino for over forty years is brought closer to the viewer. Personal objects as well as numerous photos, books and watercolors give an impression of Hermann Hesse's life. Thematic focuses, for example on India or the creation of The Glass Bead Game, offer the opportunity to trace the writer's writing process.
Where Hermann Hesse, there Volker Michels - The editor and pioneer of a timelessly topical writer
Hermann Hesse's work and our knowledge of the writer has been growing ever more complete for half a century - not least thanks to the work of his editor Volker Michels. With the 20-volume edition of the "Complete Works" and a 10-volume edition of the poet's most substantial letters, he has more than doubled the amount of his writings and enriched them with previously unknown, important facets. He has made Hesse's work accessible to us anew in numerous thematic volumes on timelessly topical life issues and volumes of material on the history of the creation and impact of Hesse's books, at least 150 million copies of which are now in circulation worldwide. The edition archive that he and his wife Ursula have built up in collaboration with Hermann Hesse's son Heiner comprises everything they have been able to research and find out about the poet in recent decades.
In this exhibition, you will learn about the motivations of this passionate researcher and editor, who corresponded with the poet as a schoolboy and worked for four decades as an editor at the publishing houses Suhrkamp and Insel. You will learn how editorial work can expand and update the image of an author.
March 31, 2024 to February 2, 2025

Hermann Hesse and Volker Michels © Museo Hermann Hesse Montagnola
Finissage of the special exhibition
On the occasion of the finissage of the special exhibition, visitors are cordially invited to experience Hesse's world one last time through the eyes of the curator of his works, Volker Michels. The event, which will take place in the rooms of the museum, will begin with the monologue Collezionisti di sassi tutta la vita lang by Juri Lupi, performer and actor, inspired by the story of Volker Michels' connection to Hermann Hesse. This will be followed by a bilingual reading from Unterm Rad, the work that first brought Volker Michels into contact with the poet, as well as other passages that Michels described as inspiring. This closes the curtain on the exhibition, which has spent a year exploring the editorial events surrounding the poet.
An aperitif will be offered to all at the end.
February 2, 2025
New special exhibition 2025
In Hesse's gardens: about compost, art and mindfulness
From March 29, 2025