The Ballenberg is a Swiss open-air museum that is dedicated to demonstrating how people lived in Switzerland in previous centuries. On your walk through the past, you can visit more than 100 centuries-old buildings from all over Switzerland. Kids will enjoy the 250 farmyard animals, which include cattle, donkeys, ducks, geese, goats, hens, horses, oxen, pigs, rabbits, and sheep. There are traditional old-time gardens and fields, as well as daily demonstrations of local crafts, such as barrel making, basket weaving, bobbin-lace making, bread baking, cheese making, chocolate production, forging, hand-knitted lacework, hat making, needlework, oil pressing, pottery, saddlery, shingle making, silk-ribbon weaving, weaving, and wood carving.
Many of the buildings house themed exhibits dedicated to aspects of historical rural life, from birth, marriage, and death to traditional costumes, folk music, silk production, historical agriculture, forests, mules, and beekeeping. They also have special children’s exhibits, including the Magic Forest and the House of Touch. Special events help create a vivid impression of what rural life must have been like over a century ago.
On these two consecutive weekends, they will be holding the "Festival of Festivals," a celebration of autumn festivals and autumn traditions from all parts of Switzerland and language regions. Visitors can enjoy culinary and cultural diversity, regional festivals, rural customs, agricultural production, craftsmanship, competitions, workmanship, and much more in the landscaped areas and buildings of Ballenberg's open-air museum—the fairground for this multi-generational program.
The Ballenberg can be reached by car in 1¾ hours from Basel; there is also a regular bus that links Ballenberg with the Brienz train station.
There are day passes for adults (CHF 36), children (CHF 18), students (CHF 34), and families (CHF 89), as well as weekend passes (CHF 64 for adults, CHF 32 for children, and CHF 165 for families) and festival passes (CHF 122 for adults, CHF 61 for children, and CHF 321 for families).

Website
ballenberg.ch

Where
Ballenberg Swiss Open Air Museum
Museumsstrasse 100
3858 Hofstetten bei Brienz

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