Mongolia: A Journey through Time at Museum Rietberg
Mongolia
A Journey through Time
October 24, 2025 — February 22, 2026
Dreaming of Mongolia: endless steppes, solitary nomads, grazing horses, and untouched nature. Beyond such images, Mongolia also evokes the terrifying, invincible invading warriors led by Genghis Khan, whose conquests took them all the way to Europe. But how true are these cliches? What do we actually know about the country? And how urbanized is Mongolia today?
In Mongolia – A Journey through Time, Museum Rietberg paints a different picture of the country, presenting a wholly new perspective on Mongolia’s 2,000-year history thanks to cutting-edge archaeological research and two hundred works, many of which have never been displayed outside of Mongolia before. The country’s major urban centers are at the heart of the exhibition.
Major urban settlements founded between the second and fourteenth centuries demonstrate an early process of urbanization in which people from diverse backgrounds lived together. Precious goods illustrate global trade partnerships and written sources underscore the major role Mongolia played in cultural exchange. Yet nomadic ways of life remained in place for centuries and continue to be at the center of the people’s identity.
Click the image below to watch Mongolia — The major exhibition in Zurich.
