Chalet Schafroth has graced Ballenberg for close to two decades and from 2010 its doors open to visitors for the first time. You get a close-up view of the fascinating world of its well-to-do, 19th-century inhabitants, learn more about the origins of Swiss regional costumes and how they’re made, and you’ll see and hear a variety of musical instruments used in Swiss folk music in the House from Burgdorf/BE (1872, No. 361).

Rough Hands, Delicate Silk – Silk-Ribbon Weaving around Basel is the name of our new permanent exhibit at the Therwil farmhouse. There is no better way to learn about silk-ribbon weaving from the 16th century, through industrialization, to its decline.

Fashion without silk ribbons was unthinkable right up to the 1950s. They adorned hats, coats, dresses, even hair slides. To begin with, most were woven on looms in the living rooms of farming families in Basel-Land, and later in factories. Farmers at the time had to find an alternative source of income because their soil was so poor. After the depression and the World War, fashions became simpler and farmers’ rough hands eventually ceased to produce these fine ribbons.

The Open-Air Museum Ballenberg shows how an old house can be altered to meet contemporary living standards without making major alterations to the original structure.

The house from Matten/BE (ca. 1570) was completed and fully equipped by the beginning of the 2008 season and will remain in this new form in the Museum as an object of special interest for all those who are anxious to preserve historical monuments, architects, hand-workers, building officials and owners of original old houses.

In the 19th century, the craft of wood-carving saved many a Bernese Oberland family from having to emigrate. In its heyday, wood-carving was one of the most important sectors of the economy in the region. Recently, the opportunity arose to acquire the original wood-carving workshop which had belonged to the brothers Alfred (1883 – 1972), one of the best carvers of eagles, and Hans (1889 – 1979) Stähli from Brienz. By good fortune, the workshop, which their father had installed around 1870 on the ground floor of the house, remained untouched for decades.

A large section of the walls of the rooms in the estate from Novazzano/TI were decorated with paintings done using stencils or rollers. Some of them have been reconstructed at Ballenberg, others have been carefully removed from the walls at their original location. A small exhibition displays these original paintings and gives an insight into a painting technique which is almost unknown today.

The exhibition by the Agricultural Information Service in the house from Villars-Bramard/VD is in keeping with our theme for 2008. It provides a link between past and present farming methods and serves to remind us of the achievements and innovations of farmers and their wives today.

The exhibition in the barn from Faulensee/BE has been completely reorganized by the Swiss–German and Rhaeto-Romanic "Friends of Bees Society". The various methods of bee-keeping can still be seen.

111 Clock and watch making
131 Rough hands, delicate silk

211 Hatter's workshop
231 Trades of itinerant workers

331 Grain, flour, bread
331 Textile technology
341 Apiary
351 Weaving cellar
351 Flax
361 Swiss traditions: chalets - costumes - folk music
381 Historical drugstore
382 Old drugstore, mills, herb collection

490 Charcoal burning
490 Lime-burning
490 Shingle-making
490 Trough-making
490 Resin-tapping

531 Goldsmith's workshop
531 Swiss farmers
551 Saddlery

611 At the hairdresser's
611 In the Bride's House
612 School room
621 A Farmer's Wedding - a Village Happening
621 Model houses
621 Oil press
622 Swiss museum of small animals
641 Shoemaker
641 Farewell to Bachelorhood
642 Milk, cream and butter
642 Cooperage
691 Saws
692 Bone grinding

711 The forest - our world
711 The enchanted forest
711 Oven workshop
721 Death chamber
721 Wall decoration

821 House history house from Malvaglia
841 Chestnut culture
851 Silkworms
851 Silk
851 House history the Novazzano estate
851 Colourful walls - Painting with stencils and rollers

931 Birthing room
931 Cotton

1011 Chip-box making
1021 House from Matten - Tradition and innovation
1031 Furniture from Brienz
1031 Wood-carving workshop
1031 Wood-carving in the past and now
1051 Ceramics, Bernese pottery, Faience from Kilchberg-Schooren
1051 Pottery
1052 Smithy
1052 From cartwheels to skis
1311-1314 House history Alp buildings from Champatsch Valchava
531;1361 Collection of bells
1361 Cheese making
1361 Cheese utensils