333 – Stöckli from Detligen/Radelfingen, Berne, 18th Century
The Stöckli from Detligen came to Ballenberg in 1975. The former parlour now serves as the workroom for the baker.
What is a Stöckli?
Until recently the Stöckli was defined as a retirement dwelling: Apart from the dwelling of the younger generation running the farm, the Stockli was a home for the elders – the slight remove reduced the potential for conflict. That was partly true: the Stöckli was also an architectural solution to the problem of aging and the relationship to successors. In their Stöckli the elders were sufficiently close to lend their experience, to help with the work or to mind the younger children yet far enough away to avoid constant interference. Nevertheless, the building was more than the buffer between generations that has been so recently and idyllically proclaimed…
Rich harvests
As the latest research has revealed, since about 1770 rich farmers were able to achieve better harvests thanks to agricultural progress. Greater harvests required more storage capacity. Farms having a multiple generation dwelling with young and old under one roof developed a new building type comprising a granary and an oven house – the Stöckli.
New materials, new uses
Instead of the wooden construction of older storage buildings, half-timber style or stone masonry made new Stöckli into prestige objects. Many a Stöckli became a richly decorated showcase. Some even assumed the forms of ancient country houses of the aristocracy… Reserves of food and grain were stored in the large cellar and in the roomy attic silos. The Stöckli often also served as an oven house; the oven stood on the ground floor. A dwelling could also be included; family members or hired hands or maids were housed there. The multipurpose building had a different appearance from region to region; its heyday lasted from about 1770 to beyond 1900; even today hundreds of examples are found in the Bernese Midlands and in the Emmen valley.
Reuse as an oven
House The Stöckli from Detligen came to Ballenberg in 1975. In the Open-Air Museum a baking oven from Lützetlflüh replaced the kitchen and the old oven. The former parlour now serves as the workroom for the baker. The oven is made of sandstone tiles and bears the date 1879. The Stöckli also served as a bake house at its original location in Detligen.
Ballenberg
Swiss Open-Air Museum
Museumsstrasse 100
CH-3858 Hofstetten bei Brienz
Opening hours
10 April to 2 November 2025
10 am to 5 pm daily
