Shoemaking
In the shoemaking workshop of the Open-Air Museum Ballenberg (Farmhouse from Wila ZH, 641) Anna Danz shows how leather shoes were made in the old days. Before the invention of glue, shoes were sewn by hand. Two old techniques were used to sew the uppers of the shoe to the lower half: welting and double stitching. Anna Danz works with old tools. "It’s the same with sewing machines: old machines are often better than the new ones", she says. However, she uses modern leather and, notwithstanding the old techniques, produces modern-style shoes.
Shoes – a luxury
Leather shoes were very precious in bygone times. They cost a lot of money, but were built to last. Wooden shoes were worn in winter and children often went barefoot in summer. Shoemaking was a craft trade. Often the shoemakers carried out their work in people’s homes, going from house to house repairing shoes. For the production of new shoes it was the farming families themselves who provided the leather which they previously had had prepared by a tanner.
Ernst Aeberhard’s workshop
The feature on display in the museum is the old workshop of Ernst Aeberhard who ran a shoemaking business in Urtenen-Schönbühl BE. Ernst Aeberhard worked in this workshop until the end of his life in 1983. He did it as a sideline; the Aeberhard family also ran a small farm. During the Second World War Ernst Aeberhard repaired the shoes of the troops stationed nearby. Among other things, he also made wooden shoes for the farmers.
Ballenberg
Swiss Open-Air Museum
Museumsstrasse 100
CH-3858 Hofstetten bei Brienz
Opening hours
9 April to 1 November 2026
10 am to 5 pm daily
Opening hours Administration
8 am to 6 pm daily
