The museum shows exhibits from Harrer's life as a mountaineer and sportsman (skiing, golf), as well as from his stays and research trips in Asia (Tibet, Andaman Islands, Borneo), South America (Suriname, Rio Xingu) and Africa. Various multimedia presentations are shown; the image archive contains more than 100,000 photographs, maps, Harrer's own drawings and numerous domestic and foreign awards.
The Tibet collection takes up a lot of space. Harrer came to Lhasa in 1946 and became an advisor and teacher to the young Tenzin Gyatsho, the XIVth Dalai Lama, with whom he remained friends for life. Harrer later wrote the book Seven Years in Tibet about his time in Tibet. In 1992 Tenzin Gyatsho himself inaugurated the Buddhist prayer room, which is located in the museum building. A photo shows him on the ceremonial chair in the throne room, on which only he as the Dalai Lama is allowed to sit. In addition, there is a large sand mandala on display, which was not destroyed after production as is usually the case.
The museum also has an exhibition on the oppression of Tibetans since the Tibetan uprising of 1959, the violations of human rights, the destruction of Tibetan culture and monasteries, the relics of Tibetan Buddhism, Bön and the mass immigration of Han Chinese.