Herman Hesse was born a Russian citizen but during his lifetime switched nationalities to Swiss, German and then Swiss again. He was a writer, traveller, painter and book dealer. His work was declared undesirable during Hitler's era but he received the Nobel Prize for literature shortly after the war. The Hermann Hesse Museum is housed in the ancient tower in Casa Camuzzi, where Herman Hesse lived from 1919 to 1931. It was opened in 1997. There is a permanent exhibition of his books, paintings, photographs and personal belongings chronicling the 40 years he lived in the Lugano area.