Old houses tell Switzerland’s story

Framework of a house — A vertical timber construction of the farmhouse 'Locher' on the village square in Lauperswil, near Bern, 1920. (courtesy of Hans Minder) Hans Minder

Stone house in a village — View of a house in Scuol in the canton Graubünden, with mural painting on the facade, 1910. (ETH-Library) ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Feuerstein, Johann / Ans_05429-01-025-FL / Public Domain Mark

Farm house with thatched roof — Farmhouse in canton Aargau with thatched roof, 1930. (ETH Library) ETH-Bibliothek

interior of an old farm house kitchen — Farmhouse in Adelboden, canton Bern: The interior of a kitchen, 1918. (burgerbib.ch) burgerbib.ch

farm house /black and white — Wooden farmhouse in Sumiswald in canton Bern, 20th century. (burgerbib.ch) burgerbib.ch

Old house — Stone house and barn combined in Les Genevez, Le Prédame, near Geneva between 1920 and 1940. (ETH Library) ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv

interior of an old farm house bed — Low ceilings and high beds to allow for more warmth: farmhouse interior in Saanen, Canton Bern, 1918. (burgerbib.ch) burgerbib.ch

Farmhouse and farm animals and people — The "village Suisse" at the National Exhibition 1896 in Geneva. A typical farm house of the region, photographed by François-Frédéric Boissonnas. (ETH Library) ETH-Bibliothek

Village building made of stone and wood — Bosco-Gurin is a municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Tessin, dated between 1888 and 1903. (ETH-Library) ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Unbekannt / Hs_1360-0189-001 / Public Domain Mark

Farmhouse with people in the foreground, woman looking at the camera — Timber and plaster house in Yverdon. Between 1920 and 1940. (ETH Library) ETH-Bibliothek Z¸rich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Stauder, Hermann / Ans_05429-02-001-PL / Unbekannt, Nutzungsrechte m¸ssen durch

Farmhouse with thatched roof, two cows and two persons — Hüttikon, Canton Aargau in 1652. Today, used as the village Museum. (ETH Library) ETH-Bibliothek / Jean Gaberell

interior of an old farm house, heating system and carved door — Old-fashioned oven which would once heat the whole house, Saanen in canton Bern, 1918. (burgerbib.ch) burgerbib.ch

House in the background of a horse walking over a bridge — Horboden in canton of Bern: a tavern including postal service on the road to Grimmialp, 1925 . (ETH Library) ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Baeny, J. V. / Fel_007524-RE / Unbekannt, Nutzungsrechte müssen durch den Nutzer a

Farm house wooden — Farmhouse in the village of Trub in Emmental, canton Bern, 1900. (courtesy of Hans Minder) Hans Minder

Historically, rural Swiss dwellings displayed a diversity of styles, depending on the local geography and building materials available. A look at the archives.

This content was published on November 17, 2018 - 11:00

Born in England, I've lived in Switzerland since 1994. I trained as a graphic designer in Zurich between 1997 – 2002. More recently I have moved on to work as photo editor and joined the team at swissinfo.ch in March 2017.

Helen James photo editing and text

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Despite its relatively small area of just over 41,000 square kilometres (15,444 square miles), Switzerland’s rural building styles are as diverse as the many regional dialects of its four national languages.

The country’s mountainous terrain is a kind of geographical crossroads in Europe, with regions north of the Alps building mostly with timber, and those in the south using mainly stone. In central Switzerland, transitional regions use a mix of both materials.

So, you might even be able to tell what region you’re in by taking a quick look at old buildings. For example, while Ticino dwellings are predominantly built from unaltered local stone, the houses in Vaud are a mixture of timber and stone. Meanwhile, an 18^th century farmhouse in Aargau would be identifiable by its low walls and straw-thatched roof, while a similar residence in the Emmental region of canton Bern would be larger, with an attached stable, built of timber.

Wood isn’t just wood! There are many complex ways to build houses. Log homes are not the same as timber-built dwellings, for example. Log construction uses the horizontal trunks of coniferous trees. In timber construction, the wood is positioned vertically.

Graphic drawing of a map of Switzerland and building materials. — swissinfo.ch

1. Stone (Walls with or without plastering)
2. Stone/Timber (kitchen; bricked, living-room; timber)
2a. Stone/Log (Like 2. but block building with the parlour surrounded by mural-mantle)
2b. Stone/Timber (only single part walled with timber)
3. Log, horizontal (log cabin)
4. Log with timber, horizontal (timber with logs between the frames)
5. Timber, vertical (older framework build or younger partly timbered build)

In our series #swisshistorypics we travel back in time to look at photographs which document past life and culture in Switzerland.

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