No. 711
The visitor to the Museum who has chosen the way across the Brünig Pass will have already got to know this type of farmhouse. Dozens of examples are to be found on both sides of the railway and main road in the Canton of Obwalden.

Traditional Obwalden houses vary little in their external appearance. Nonetheless, the construction of each of them is the result of an individual and often complicated building history which renders it unique. This house from Sachseln also incorporates a number of construction phases which did not make its reconstruction easy. The original structure from 1600 looked very much like its neighbouring house from Erstfeld UR. The ground plan, which was large for the time, suggests that the original owner was a wealthy person.
In 1854, Joseph Moos, who had just been elected to the government legislature, took over the home called «z’Moos». Because the tree-ring studies have not produced clear results, we don’t know if he was the one who commissioned the renovation of the building. The slightly sloping shingle roof was replaced by a typical steep, tiled roof and the building of a chimney made the living quarters storey smoke-free. Cheese could be made in earlier times over the open fire. With the arrival of the smoke-free kitchen, cheesemaking was pushed into the cellar. The kitchen alcoves and the outside chimney give the house its character.

Relics of the Late Middle Ages are no rarity in the Obwalden cultural landscape, and some twenty-five farmhouses from the 15th century are still to be found around Lake Sarnen («Sarnersee»). These include the house of the Swiss national saint, Nicholas von Flue (1417–1487), located only a few hundred metres from the original site of our Sachseln house.

The interior of the house is typical for Central Switzerland in its division into a parlour and another chamber in the front of the house with a kitchen and a little room in the back. The initials MHD on the parlour stove dated 1832 point to the well-known master stove-fitter Heinrich Dillier from Sarnen. The buffet from Obwalden and a beautifully-painted chest of drawers, both from the second half of the 18th century, should be seen. The parlour and the smaller chamber next to it are furnished with panelling and flooring from the 19th century. The stately exterior of the house, along with its large rooms, testifies to the wealth of its successive owners.

In the upper storey and attic you can visit the exhibition entitled «The Forest – Our World».

Beside the house, there is the drying kiln from Alpnachstad OW (No. 713). The fruit, mainly pears and apple slices, were placed on the wooden grids and put into the oven. Hot air and smoke circulated through a very clever ventilation system in the chimney and warmed the walls of both drying chambers.