New museum to open in Charlie Chaplin’s Switzerland home

Charlie Chaplin fans, you may want to buy a ticket to Switzerland.

The Modern Times Museum, also known as Chaplin’s World, honoring “The Great Dictator” and “Modern Times” creator is slated to open April 15.

The long-awaited museum is located in Chaplin’s renovated mansion, the Manoir de Ban, in the town of Corsier-sur-Vevey on the north shore of Lake Geneva, about 10 miles east of Lausanne.

The museum is dedicated to the life and times of the great filmmaker and actor who moved to Switzerland in 1957 near the end of the Communist witch hunts of the McCarthy era. (He was accused of being a Communist sympathizer.)

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FOR THE RECORD

March 8, 5 p.m.: An earlier version of this post wrongly said Charlie Chaplin was buried on the grounds of his former home. He is buried nearby.

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Chaplin lived in the mansion — which is surrounded by 34 acres of gardens, pathways and terraces with panoramic views of Lake Geneva and the Alps — for the last two decades of his life. In this home, he wrote books, composed musical scores and gardened with his fourth wife, Oona, and their children.

Chaplin died in 1977 at age 88. After his death, the mansion fell into disrepair.

More than a decade in the making, the museum features more than 32,000 square feet of interactive exhibition space, including a movie theater, outdoor stage, additional buildings with re-creations of Chaplin’s film sets and a film school.

Renovation of the mansion for the museum cost more than $45 million, according to published reports. Info: Modern Times Museum‘s website.

Close to the Chaplin Museum, the Moderntimes Hotel recently opened too. Set above the nearby city of Vevey, the hotel has 138 rooms and suites, a fitness room and a bar-lounge. (A quick online check shows rooms starting at $484 a night in mid-April.)

Shuttle buses will be available to the museum and to Vevey. Info: Moderntimes Hotel

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