The Swiss Open-Air Museum Ballenberg opens a window on rural life in Switzerland in times gone by.

We are a foundation whose purpose it is to preserve historical rural edifices from all parts of Switzerland by taking them apart piece by piece and reassembling them on our grounds for everyone to visit and as a basis for scientific enquiry.

Ballenberg is living testimony to Switzerland’s rich cultural heritage. We turn back the clock as we give visitors a vivid glimpse of what it was like to live and work in the countryside in the old days. Farm animals browsing rich pastures, well-tended fields and vegetable gardens in and around the farmhouses, and demonstrations of traditional crafts help make Ballenberg come alive. Some visitors avail themselves of our guided tours, others prefer to stroll around on their own.

We’re not a theme park like any other, we don’t make it up as we go along. Our work has a scientific foundation, without ever being boring. But there is much more to Ballenberg: Regularly mounted special exhibits and numerous publications help visitors to better understand rural life in the past. We help children and entire school classes learn about their country’s cultural and economic heritage, we brief teachers and offer a wide range of courses on Ballenberg-related subjects at our Course Centre.

We strive to make Ballenberg an irresistibly attractive place to visit. Our goal is to bring every inhabitant of Switzerland not just once but again and again.

We also strive to make Ballenberg known among travel organizers and visitors from abroad as a must-see place of every trip to Switzerland.

We encourage the members of patrons’ associations, the inhabitants of neighbouring regions and our own staffers to spread the word about the wonderful world of Ballenberg. No doubt everyone who has ever visited Ballenberg will do the same.

Each one of our staff members is an expert in his or her field and we strive, through ongoing advanced training, to make them even better at their jobs.

We believe courtesy and a welcoming atmosphere go a long way toward making guests feel at ease at Ballenberg. Realizing that a friendly, congenial, open and transparent working environment for our staff, based on mutual honesty and respect, is essential to creating this atmosphere we do everything in our power to make it so. The ultimate objective is to persuade our staffers to fully identify with Ballenberg and its objectives.

We believe in qualitative growth and being as self-sustaining as possible. Catering organization Ballenberg-Restaurations-AG and other partners help us reach these economic objectives.

At the same time, we rely on support from government, patrons’ associations and sponsors to help maintain Ballenberg’s function as a centre of scientific research and to ensure its attractiveness to visitors.

We are committed to maintaining positive, constructive contacts with government, cultural and scientific institutions, tourist organizations and selected businesses without, however, compromising our independence.

We believe our Course Centre to be an important, highly valuable Ballenberg adjunct.

Realizing Ballenberg’s social, cultural and touristic importance, we consider it our noblest task to further enhance its positive impact in Switzerland and the world and thus, our country’s image at home and throughout the world.

June 2009