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Themed days

On selected weekends during the season, our themed days invite you to immerse yourself in exciting craftsmanship and special themed worlds. Come by and rediscover traditional craftsmanship.

Ein Gruppenausflug in das Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg: Lernen Sie in der historischen Küche aus Villard-Bramard wie vor vielen Jahren gekocht wurde.

Thementage 2026

25 april - Discover open-plan kitchens and farm-style cuisine just like the old days
25 / 26 april - Skidding with horses
2 / 3 may - Felt blocking – making felt hats
24 may - Entlebucher Mountain Dog Day
7 / 8 / 9 august - Wainwright weekend
22 / 23 august - Hand broom making
5 september - Bernatone Alphorn Gathering
5 / 6 september - Bottles in straw: reconstruction of an ancient craft
19 / 20 september - Honey weekend – 20 years of the gold seal
26 / 27 september- Preserving Sauerkraut
17 / 18 october - Preserving Sauerkraut
24 october - Unwinding, from cocoon to silk thread

The themed days take place in various buildings across the Swiss Open-Air Museum. Details can be found in the daily schedule.

25 april – Discover open-plan kitchens and farm-style cuisine just like the old days

In the olden days, farmers’ wives prepared a variety of hearty Swiss dishes every day using simple methods, over an open fire or in a wood-burning oven. A lot of skill was required to keep the oven at a constant temperature using wood, without a thermometer. Enjoy traditional country cuisine and taste freshly prepared delicacies

25 / 26 april – Skidding with horses

Learn about the tradition of skidding and working with horses on the weekend of 25 and 26 April.

Skidding and working with horses are not only traditions but also ways to promote sustainable forest and land management. Skidding requires humans and animals to work in tandem.

On the weekend in question, there will be horses – mostly the Freiberger breed – and ponies on site. The event will take place, whatever the weather, from 9.00 am to 12.00 pm/1.30 pm to 5.00 pm. In the morning, you can watch the animals training on various obstacles. There will be a tournament in the afternoon.

Location: dependent on the weather. In dry conditions, on the meadow below the chapel, Turtig (1131). In wet weather, in the arena by the barn (341).

2 / 3 may – Felt blocking – making felt hats

Felt hats fresh off the press. The original workshop equipment is also still used for the production of felt hats. To make a felt hat, water is heated in a steam boiler and then poured, hissing and steaming, on to the hat press. It is an impressive sight to see how the blanks of felt are turned into shapely hats for men and women.

Herstellung von Filzhüten im Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg.

24 may – Entlebucher Mountain Dog Day

Join us in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Entlebucher Mountain Dog Club! On the meadow below the Recreation Pavilion from Sarnen (761) and opposite the Degen Restaurant (731), a variety of activities will be taking place on the theme of this lively and loyal Swiss dog breed.

You can look forward to exciting demonstrations with the dogs, including a small obstacle course, agility equipment, obedience exercises and people tracking. For children, there will be an entertaining Entlebucher quiz with small prizes. In addition, informative posters will invite visitors to explore the 100-year history of Entlebucher mountain dogs – all clearly explained and lovingly illustrated.

An experience for the whole family and for all dog lovers.

7 / 8 / 9 august – Wainwright weekend

Wheels, runners, axles, tow bars – it is hard to imagine that vehicle construction was once a woodworking craft. As specialised craftsmen, wainwrights were indispensable in the countryside and in cities. They worked closely with the blacksmiths, built wagons, carts, sledges and carried out repairs. Woodwork and metalwork had to complement each other.

Watch how modern craftsmanship is applied to historical objects. A wainwright's workshop was set up in the second room of the Bümpliz smithy (1052) in 2018. The equipment and tools come from a workshop established in the 1930s in Schneisingen AG, which the owners later abandoned.

Neben der Schmiede aus Bümpliz ist 2018 im Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg
eine Wagnerei eingezogen.

22 / 23 august – Hand broom making

Traditional straw hand brooms are approximately 30 cm long and are made by plaiting a special grass. They were commonly used in rural households to clean hearths, shine shoes, brush away snow or sweep corners. This simple household object would be made by the farmer’s wife. Today, the Ballenberg team will demonstrate the traditional plaiting techniques

Im Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg wird das traditionelle Handwerk Halmbesenbinden gezeigt.

5 september – Bernatone Alphorn Gathering

Tradition meets innovation: at the Bernatone Alphorn Gathering, new compositions are performed in addition to well-loved traditional alphorn melodies. The one-day alphorn course is aimed at players of all levels and takes place at various locations in the Swiss Open-Air Museum.

More information:

From 4 pm, the individual course groups, along with the entire orchestra, will be inviting guests to a concert at the Public Works Barn from Aarau AG (695).

5 / 6 september – Bottles in straw: reconstruction of an ancient craft

Until the late 19th century, protective covers for bottles were made of three intertwined coils of straw and sewn by hand. Later, braided and padded baskets made of willow-rods replaced this technique, and gradually the version made of straw fell out of use. The Ballenberg team is reviving this traditional straw craft and using it in the restoration of damaged historical straw bottles from the Ballenberg buildings.

Location: Farmhouse Tentlingen (511) from 1.00 pm to 4.30 pm

19 / 20 september – Honey weekend – 20 years of the gold seal

Swiss bees are celebrating 20 years of the gold seal at Ballenberg!

Honey from many regions of Switzerland will be available for tasting and purchase, and various bee products will be on display.

The gold seal guarantees Swiss quality honey, adding value for bees and customers.

There will also be short tours and hands-on activities.

26 / 27 september & 17 / 18 october – Preserving Sauerkraut

At Ballenberg, at the start of autumn, the cooking team ferments a large pot of sauerkraut and look after it for 8 weeks. At the end of the season, this sauerkraut is ready and cooked for our guests in a historical kitchen. Our visitors have the opportunity to make their own sauerkraut.

Sauerkraut is a type of preservation technique in which food is preserved by means of lactic acid fermentation. Sauerkraut is not a vegetable as such, but is produced from white cabbage or cabbage. This vegetable with its long shelf-life and known worldwide for thousands of years, is the result of a natural fermentation process and salt.

Location: Tentlingen farmhouse (511)

Auf dem Ballenberg wird zu Beginn des Herbstes ein grosser Topf Sauerkraut von unserem Kochteam eingemacht.

24 october – Unwinding, from cocoon to silk thread

The precious silk thread is created from the cocoons acquired here. Watch how the silk thread is cleverly unwound from the cocoons and turned into shiny thread material. During unwinding, steaming hot water is used to dissolve the silk glue produced by the caterpillar and expose the thread, which is up to three kilometres long – sweaty, high-precision work.