Olympic Museum – permanent exibition of the History of the OG

The Olympic Museum is for everyone for whom sport and the Olympic Movement are a passion, everyone fascinated by history, culture and art, and all those who are interested in to the future of our society. Sport, art and culture are the traditional pillars of Olympism, and the Museum gives concrete form to this trinity -these are the words of the President of the IOC, Mr Jacques Rogge, about this institution located in Lausanne, and attracting lots of tourists every day.

The mission of the Olympic Museum is to make visitors aware of the breadth and the importance of the Olympic Movement; to show them by means of images and symbols that Olympism is not merely a matter of sports competition but rather a philosophy of life whose roots are deeply embedded in our history.

This Museum has long history. Pierre de Coubertin, who revived the Olympic Games, had the idea of creating an Olympic Museum. He proposed it for the first time in 1915 after setting up the headquarters of the IOC in Lausanne. The baron felt the museum should not only be the legacy of the newly restored Olympic Games, but should equally embody the ideals of Olympism. Baron de Coubertin announced in Lausanne (where the IOC had just been established) his intention to create a Museum for the IOC archives, as well as a public information centre on the Olympic Movement. The very first Museum, which was not open all the time, found a home in a room in the Montbenon Casino. In 1922. the Museum moved into the Villa Mon-Repos, in the centre of Lausanne, which would also house the IOC headquarters until 1969. At first, the Museum only had one exhibition room, before expanding over the years and regularly adding to its collections.

In June 1982. was set up the "provisional" Museum at 18 avenue Ruchonnet, also in the centre of Lausanne, which welcomed up to 10,000 visitors per year. The provisional Museum’s main mission was to add to its collections.

Former President of the IOC, Antonio Samaranch kicked off the building works of the current Museum, with the words "I want people to say that this is the most beautiful museum in the world". The event represented the culmination of a long process of negotiations to find the ideal spot to build the Museum.

Five years later, on 23. June 1993. was inauguration of the Museum, on the same day as the IOC celebrated its 99th anniversary and following on from the 100th IOC Session, whose sole theme was "Olympism and Culture". The whole of the city of Lausanne was associated with the event and numerous political, cultural and sporting personalities came together in Ouchy.

Two years after this event, The Council of Europe awarded the Olympic Museum the European Museum of the Year prize, over 45 institutions in some 15 countries.

Five-six years ago, the Museum had a facelift with the "Museum 2000" concept and its new permanent exhibitions with their state-of-the-art computer and audiovisual technology, responding better to its visitors' expectations, with extraordinary audiovisual shows.

Elected a few days previously, at the IOC Session in Moscow, President Jacques Rogge received the keys of the Museum from Judge Kéba Mbaye, First Vice-President of the IOC.

On 22. June 2003. the Olympic Museum officially celebrated its 10th anniversary. Open doors on Sunday 22 June for visitors of all ages, and special events for young people on Monday 23. It is second most visited Museum in Switzerland. In ten years, more than 2 million people visited the Museum.

The Olympic Museum was built mostly thanks to all the donors, for without their generosity it could not have been built. Their names are carved on the donors wall of the Museum. The IOC provided only 16 percent. Within the Museum, there is the donors wall with carved names of all donore, without whom the Museum could not be built. Large corporations, institutions and individuals have their place among the donors. Interesting fact is that among all these donors, there are lots of Japanese companies like Hitacii, Seiko, NEC, NAOC, Mizuno, Asics, Fujitsu, Dentsu, Toshiba. There are also German Adidas, Korean Samsung, American IBM and Kodak and many others.

The Association of Friends of the Museum was formed on 20 January 1993.
It is presided by Georges-André Carrel, director of the sports department of the University of Lausanne. The association has a threefold aim: to participate in spreading the image of the Museum, to promote business for it and to enrich its patrimony.

The work of volunteers constitutes an important part of daily life at the Museum. Volunteers are used frequently by the Museum whenever archiving and mailing are necessary or new exhibitions and big events are being launched. The museum has compiled a list of about 80 volunteers, and for almost every event 20-30 volunteers are called upon to perform many kinds of functions.

There are lots of permanent exebitions in the Museum dedicated to the Olympic Games and development of the Olympic movement. Also, there are temporary exebitions, various seminars, educational courses. On the second floor of the Museum, there is beautiful restaurant with extraordinary view on the Geneva Lake.