The Musée d’Yverdon et région has housed and preserved typical objects that reflect the town’s cultural and artistic history. Since the beginning of the 19th century, its history collection has been enriched mainly by private donations
The history collection includes all types of objects that can document regional history. In particular, it includes a very large collection of iconography relating to Yverdon and its region, dating from the 16th century to the present day: more than 800 drawings, watercolours and prints and several dozen oil paintings. In addition, there is a huge corpus of photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries, including several remarkable collections (the Joseph Centurier, Théophile Benner and Jean Perusset archives).
The collection also contains several thousand pieces of furniture, decorative art and lapidary, all material witnesses to the region’s history: some thirty pieces of Yverdon-style furniture constitute a reference collection, as well as crockery, costumes, scientific instruments, weapons, precious objects and objects of daily use, and evidence of local craftsmanship and Yverdon industries such as Paillard, Leclanché and Vautier. All these objects bear witness to practices, customs and traditions: they contribute to the history of life in Yverdon and the region, of the arts and techniques, of the economy and society.