Traditional crafts

Learn about our traditions!

Snow-covered Gstaad promenade with a view of the chalets and horse-drawn carriage — Romantic carriage ride through the snow-covered chalet village.

People walking on the snow-covered promenade in Gstaad in fine weather, with branches in the foreground and houses in the background. — Gstaad winter

Regional architecture

Just as the skyscrapers are part of New York, the typical chalet architecture also characterises the holiday region Gstaad. Since the 1950s, the law has stipulated that the typical character of the region must be preserved. In addition to many originally preserved chalets, the new building projects also remain true to the traditional chalet architecture. Only wooden buildings and panelling in this style are permitted.

Village tours of Gstaad or Saanen can be booked through Guides Gstaad-Saanenland and Explora Gstaad.A guided tour of the village of Gstaad takes place every Friday at 10.00 am. More information or direct bookings under the links below.

Guides Gstaad-Saanenland

Explora Gstaad

Book - Village Tours in Gstaad or Saanen

Paper-cut silhouettes

Hans Jakob Hauswirth (1809 - 1871) was the first to create the Saanen silhouette with black paper on a white background. Today, a number of regional artists have developed into silhouette specialists. Each has their own style - but they are all united by their love of detail. The various motifs can now also be found on cups, plates, cars and even as tattoos. Silhouettes can be bought in the Hausweberei-Heimatwerk in Saanen and in the atelier black/white in Zweisimmen. The Restaurant Hüsy in Blankenburg has its own gallery and exhibits historical and contemporary silhouettes throughout the year. The «Swiss Centre for paper cutting» opened its doors in Château-d'Oex in 2022. Here, the history of paper cutting is impressively told and shown.

Heimatwerk Saanen

Restaurant Hüsy Galerie in Blankenburg

Swiss paper cutting centre

Alpine craftsmanship

The tradition of paper cutting

A folded paper-cut silhouette lies on a table with a pair of scissors. You can see cut-out trees and cows. — Paper-cut Silhouette emerges

A round paper-cut silhouette is in process - the lower half is already cut out with cows and trees. You can see the small, pointed scissors. — half paper-cut silhouette

Black‑and‑white paper cut showing houses, fir trees, animals and mountains in a symmetrical alpine scene. — Papercut art by Regina Martin

Clay crockery on the table. A cup is white at the top and brown at the bottom with a white chicken running across it. Next to it is a bowl of muesli. It is completely white with a fine brown line in the centre. The bottom of the bowl is brown and there is a white/black spotted chicken on it. The normal plate is painted 2/3 white and 1/3 brown. There is a white/black spotted chicken in the brown part. The soup plate is white, except for the brown rim. A black and a white/black spotted chicken run along the edge of the plate. — Crockery made of clay

An owl is made of clay. It has a white belly and a white face. The feathers and head are brown. It has black spherical eyes and looks at you in a friendly way. — Animal made of clay

Regional ceramics for everyday use

In the Saanen pottery, where ceramics are still made by hand, a small work of art is created from a piece of clay. The various subjects and models will delight young and old alike!

Saanen sledge

The Raaflaub family from Grund produced the first Saanen sledges for the winter of 1920/1921. From 1968, Walter Raaflaub took over this craft from his father and built countless sledges until his 91st birthday. Now it is mainly Andreas Kolly and Mathias von Siebenthal, together with Patric Seewer, who produce the somewhat deeper and wider Saanen wooden sledges. While Andreas Kolly's sledges are original Saanen sledges, Mathias and Patric use plastic runners (instead of iron) to improve gliding properties.

Contacts of the two manufacturers: wissiflueh@gmx.ch (von Siebenthal Mathias) and andreas.kolly@bluewin.ch

book

A man is making a Saanen sledge with a drill. The sledge is on the workbench and almost finished. — Sledge builder

The sledge maker saws the sledge timbers with a machine. He wears a noise protector. — Sledge maker with machine

The sledge builder burns the name of the sledge into the wood with a hot iron. The sledge lies on its back. — Building a sledge

Two people whizz down the mountain on a sledge. — Thrilling sledge run down from the Eggli.

Small bell with old leather strap hangs in front of an old wooden wall — Small bell

Large alpine hut with many bells on the house wall and two goats, two adults and a child on the forecourt. — Sleeping in an alpine hut

A cow looks out of the window of the stable. Four bells hang above it. — Cow looking out of the stable

Saanen bells

In the past, bells were used to protect against evil spirits. Today, farmers need them above all on the alpine pastures. They can locate missing cows by the sound of the bells. For this purpose, the cows are decorated with the bells as they move up and down the mountain pastures.

The famous Schopfer/von Siebenthal bells were cast in the Saanenland from 1819 - 1964. These are still used in the alpine pasture today. High prices are paid for these popular bells today. Saanen bells are therefore a success story. There is a varied exhibition of local and regional bells in the Saanen Landscape Museum.

Audioguided tour

The village of Saanen, the historical heart of the Saanenland, owes its unique character to its narrow streets and lanes, lined with old timber houses . The Church of Saint Maurice, dating back to the 15th century is also an impressive building. Tradition, a rich heritage of craftsmanship, and history all lend the village its particular charm.

For this purpose, we offer an audio guide tour with 28 stops through the history and architecture of the historically significant chalet village of Saanen.

Village tour

Playlist with all the texts