The use of birds of prey as an aid to hunting dates back several millennia. In Switzerland, falconry, or hawking, has an approximately thousand year history.

This attractive exhibition explores the historical, biological and symbolic aspects of falconry and the techniques involved.

The private collection of Dr. René La Roche is one of the most interesting specialized collections of historical hunting equipment and weapons in Europe.

It contains around 600 objects, dating from the 15th until the late 19th century, including hunting daggers, boar spears, cross bows, shotguns, rifles and hunting trousses.

A fascinating journey into European cultural history and an aesthetic pleasure even for non-hunters!

To some extent, hunters, non-hunters and wild animals all share one habitat.

This exhibition uses stuffed animals, pictures, texts and a multimedia station to inform visitors about life and survival in Switzerland's agricultural landscape.

The history, origins and significance of hunting in Switzerland, with information about the development of native game populations.

The decoys used by hunters to induce flying ducks to alight can be made of a range of different materials.

This collection features 75 decoys of European and North American origin.  

What weapons were favoured by Swiss huntsmen in the past and what technical developments have taken place in recent centuries?

The firearms collection of a Swiss hunter features the guns used by hunters in Switzerland - and the odd poacher - over the past two hundred years.

It was a brilliant trick of our ancestors – about 20,000 years ago, it occurred to people to tame wolves. The dog, as a pet, came from the wolf in the wild. And so began the fascinating story of the friendship between people and dogs.

The exhibition, "The Hunting Dog – Ally and Friend", explains how this close bonding between people and dogs emerged, which influence humankind has had on the evolution of the dog and how the partnership between dog and humans is lived out today in the hunt.

Directly experience the dog’s completely different world of senses! How does an individual use the specific skills of a dog in hunting and what does a young dog have to learn before joining in the hunt? Learn about the eventful history of the Swiss hunting breeds and see which dog breads were bred, trained and put to use for very specific types of hunting.

A brochure with explanations in English is available in the exhibition.

For many hundreds of years, the hunting horn has been used as a device for communication and signalling. Later on, it evolved into the musical instrument we know today.

The horns in this small however fine exhibition are providing a historical view. Sound samples are completing the presentation.