700-year-old house will remain standing

This 700-year-old wooden house was built at the same time the Swiss Confederation was established. © Keystone / Alexandra Wey

A 700-year-old wooden house in canton Schwyz should have been demolished. The Swiss authorities temporarily protected the house from demolition. Now, it has been decided that that the house will remain standing.

The historical house in the municipality of Steinen in canton Schwyz may remain standing. Built around 1300, its preservation is the result of a unique intervention by the Swiss ministry of culture. Negotiations between the ministry, the owner of the house and the Swiss heritage association lasted for four years. Now, an agreement has been reached. 

Built during the foundation of the Swiss Confederation 

Stefan Kunz, managing director of the Swiss heritage association, is relieved: “This house is from the time of the foundation of the Swiss Confederation in canton Schwyz. It is a cultural asset of immeasurable value.”
Canton Schwyz had approved the house for demolition in 2017. A home protection association had filed a lawsuit to prevent its demolition. At first, the lawsuit was rejected by the Schwyz court because, at the time, cantonal legislation was not properly defined in this area. The ministry of culture then stepped in and vetoed the decision made by the court.

A canton rich in cultural assets

The canton of Schwyz is particularly rich in cultural assets. Around 30 of these historical houses are still standing in Switzerland and most are in this canton.

For years, however, the cantonal government was rather tentative about its historical heritage. In 2013, three houses along the Dorfbach river in canton Schwyz were demolished and in 2001 the “Haus NideröstExternal link“, the oldest wooden house in Europe, was dismantled and rebuilt in a different place.

These cases triggered heated discussions. A consequence of this was that in 2020 the canton enacted a new law on the protection of historical monuments that obliges owners of buildings worthy of protection to preserve these houses.

Bungalow projected blocked

This is how this house came to be protected by the canton. Criticism and interventions have led to residents rethinking the historical importance of these houses. Had the authorities been successful with the demolisioon, a modern bungalow would now stand in place of the historical wooden home. These were the plans of the house owner. For decades, the government considered the property rights of homeowners with higher regard than the protection of cultural assets. 

It is unclear what will happen to the house in now. The Swiss heritage association imagines many uses. The spectrum ranges from a holiday home, holiday flats, or a permanent museum. 

The first thing to be done now is renovate the roof so that the house does not suffer any further damage. The cost: 450,000 francs. The government will undertake the cost of the home. The agreement will preserve the wooden house for the next 50 years – but it stand uninhabited and without purpose.