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Summary
In this short film, Barbara Langensteiner-Burckhardt and her brother Leonhard Burckhardt reflect on the lives of their parents and on their time growing up in the family home, which served as a vibrant centre of family, cultural and social life.
The Burckhardt family home was characterised by openness and exchange. The garden with its swimming pool, in particular, became a lively gathering place for the extended family, especially on Sundays. Here, everyday life and celebration naturally came together, creating an atmosphere that felt both formative and entirely normal to the children.
Their father, Martin Burckhardt, is described as a deeply visual person – an architect and passionate draughtsman who worked with great ease while remaining highly sociable. His drawing practice, including the books he designed annually for clients, was both intensive and demanding. Despite his talent, he tended to present himself with modesty.
His interests extended far beyond art and architecture and included sport, theatre and, above all, the civic life of Basel, to which he felt deeply connected and to which he was actively committed. It was in this spirit that he established the Karl August Burckhardt-Koechlin Fund at the Kunstmuseum Basel to support drawings of the 20th and 21st centuries. This commitment to the city followed a family tradition, as his own father, as president of the Art Commission, had helped shape the opening of the new Kunstmuseum in 1939.
The family home also served as a hub within a far-reaching cultural network. Writers, musicians, actors, artists and curators regularly came and went. Among them were Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Ernst Beyeler and Rolf Hochhuth.
The early years of Art Basel were particularly formative. Martin and Veronika Burckhardt hosted garden gatherings with bratwurst and potato salad that contributed significantly to the development of what later became the fair’s accompanying programme.
Their mother, Veronika Burckhardt, shaped the family’s cultural life in her own way. Deeply interested in literature, she held a long-standing premiere subscription and maintained close relationships with theatre directors and museum directors. Her keen eye for quality was reflected in her independent acquisitions of artworks, including works by Louise Bourgeois and Mario Merz. From the mid-1970s onwards, she also began collecting spheres – an expression of her search for harmony and balance.
Looking back, Barbara Langensteiner-Burckhardt also reflects on the more personal side of her childhood. As a child, she sometimes found the constant flow of visitors overwhelming. Only later did this evolve into a profound sense of gratitude. One of her strongest memories is of her mother as a gifted letter writer – someone who was able to express feelings in writing that might never have been spoken aloud.
Recorded in March 2026 on the occasion of the exhibition Collection Martin and Veronika Burckhardt – Of Private Treasures and Public Commitment at FOR ART Basel (8 May – 27 June 2026).
Camera: Serkan Deniz
Editing: Martin Streitwolf
more about FOR ART – A Temporary Art Intervention by Littmann Kulturprojekte. Basel 2025–2028