The Musée du Vieux Pays-d’Enhaut in Château-d’Oex is home to the Swiss Paper-Cutting Centre and more than 600 paper cuttings. Set in a former prefect’s residence, its fifteen rooms also showcase the objects and interiors of Alpine life in times gone by.
Themed museums
Main highlights
- The Swiss Paper-Cutting Centre, with more than 600 works, including pieces by Hauswirth and Saugy
- Fifteen themed rooms featuring recreations of a farmhouse kitchen and a painted bedroom
- Classes and introductory workshops in paper cutting, led by artists, by reservation
Overview
The museum was founded in 1922 by a local association determined to preserve the region’s heritage as antiques were being sold off, a trend fuelled by the growth of tourism. In 1931, Prefect Auguste Cottier bequeathed his house and belongings to a foundation. The museum opened to the public in 1933 in this former prefect’s residence.
Since its founding, it has collected objects that accompanied local people in their work and leisure. A modern 260 m² extension, spread over two floors and linked to the historic building by a lift, is dedicated to paper cuttings.
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What to see and do
The permanent exhibition comprises fifteen themed rooms. Several recreate homes of the past : a farmhouse kitchen with its utensils, a bread oven dating from 1665, a bourgeois dining room and a bedroom with painted furniture. You will also see carved furniture, decorated tools, antique weapons, cow and goat bells, late 19th-century skis, as well as engravings, watercolours and photographs documenting the arrival of tourism.
The extension houses the Swiss Paper-Cutting Centre and the library of the Swiss Paper-Cutting Association. Works by Johann-Jakob Hauswirth (1809-1871), an itinerant woodcutter, and Louis-David Saugy (1871-1953) sit alongside contemporary creations. Cut with scissors or a craft knife, often from a single sheet, these pictures depict the life of the armaillis, the Alpine herdsmen.
By reservation, the museum offers classes, demonstrations and introductory paper-cutting workshops. Temporary exhibitions complement the visit.
Practical information
Getting there : by train from Montreux on the line to Zweisimmen, getting off at Château-d’Oex, then a 5-minute walk. Parking nearby.
Visit duration : one and a half to two hours.
On site : video area and play corner with puppets. Guided tours by reservation.
Ideal for : families and folk art enthusiasts.
Visitor tips
Start with the recreated interiors in the historic building, then take the lift to the extension for the paper cuttings. Take time to look closely at the fine detail of the cuttings. To try it yourself, book an introductory paper-cutting workshop before your visit.
Nearby attractions
- Espace Ballon, in Château-d’Oex, is an interactive museum devoted to hot-air ballooning.
- The Pont Turrian Walk crosses the Sarine on an iron suspension bridge built in 1883.
- Le Chalet, in Château-d’Oex, makes its cheese over a wood fire in a chalet built in 1976.
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