Ballenberg

Musée suisse de l'habitat rural
Museumsstrasse 131
CH-3858 Hofstetten
Tel. +41 33 952 10 40
Fax +41 33 952 10 39

A journey into the history of Switzerland with more than hundred ancient farms and houses from all over the country, indigenous farmyard animals, old-style gardens and fields, ancient crafts and special events... A quite unique open-air museum.

Ballenberg is really an incredible place, some kind of old-time miniature Switzerland, an amazing open-air museum (660,000 sq m) you'll never visit thoroughly in just one day...

All this in the magnificent landscape of the Bernese Oberland, just a few miles from Brienz, on the road to Brünig Pass. Little bits of Switzerland grafted here, in the Prealps... And 100% authentic!

In these houses and farms, before they were reconstructed stone by stone and beam by beam in Ballenberg, people were born, lived, loved and died during centuries!

Discover or visit again Ballenberg in our photo galleries, divided into 6 themes:

NATURE: landscapes, forests, pastures dotted with ancient houses and old farms...

ANIMAUX: indigenous farm animals - cows, goats, hens, donkeys, pigs...

HABITAT: houses and farms seen from outside and explored inside...

CUISINE: everything around food and especially the kitchen, this magical room where were cooked grandma's delicious soups...

MÉTIERS: from school to workshop, with detours to the barber shop and the drugstore...

AMBIANCES: unusual sights, dreams, lights, and more...