Interlaken, Oberhofen (Museum of Timepieces and Mechanical Music) and Riding on the Blumlisalp on the Thunersee

May 21

Today we got a late start on the day, 11AM, as all of the non-natives decided unilaterally without a conference to sleep in. Once on our way we took our usual bus to the Thun train station and caught the train to Intelaken. Once there we went to COOP (think of it as a supermarket co-op) to look for a Swiss souvenir flag that we could use in Zermatt, when we go. While we failed to find such a flag the children quickly discovered the fresh baked breads. D and J both wanted a pretzel, even after being warned that it had not been bathed in butter and doused with salt. Here are some pictures of them enjoying the remains of their pretzel on the bus to Oberhofen.

J was first to lead off by saying "Look at my mustache!"

Then D wanted in on the action.

Cousin Alex had finished his bread but still wanted a picture and is proudly displaying a gold colored 5 Rappen piece.

J decided his mustache need a change...or two.

Here's a picture of J enjoying a card game of the Great Dalmuti. The five cousins learned to play it together Sunday night and began playing on the trains yesterday. Today I was able to get some pictures of it on the bus to Oberhofen.

Here's a panoramic shot of the kids on the bus, to Oberhofen, playing the card game the Great Dalmuti while Catherine visits with their Grandparents. J is in a different seat because after each game they change seats based on when they went out of the game.

Once in Oberhofen we crossed the street from the bus stop where we disembarked and crossed the street to the Museum of Timepieces and Mechanical Music. The kids had a great time and what follows is more video and pictures. Below is a flattened 360 degree view of the first room that we started off in. If you'd like to view an interactive version please click here

This mechanical music device featured what D would call a very early animatronic. It's from the late 1800's and plays a flute piece. Yes all of his finger move and the cards underneath are the "programming". Usually the cabinet door is closed covering the cards. Notice J's reflection in the mirror behind it.

Brett and Alex were asked to take a seat. The look on their face was priceless as music began to come forth from their rears, sorry I missed that moment!

 This is what the table and chairs look like without anyone occupying them.

 Here's D and J along with cousin Rhed and Grandma with a disc music box.

Then D got to crank a mechanical organ. These types of organs were used in churches that could not afford a real organ. The drums could be changed out so that you could sing to different hymns. The faster it's cranked the faster the song goes. Here she's encouraged on by Grandpa to not be afraid to crank it faster!

Here's J as he's turning the hand crank to power a trumpet organ. The video is washed out due to a technical difficulty, but it improves near the end. In either case you can still see his smile!

Sorry for the poor quality, I'll try to upload it again when we return home

This is a cannon clock. It would be filled with gun powder and a fuse would be placed in the cannon. At noon the light would strike the magnifying glass and ignite the fuse causing the cannon to go off, thus everyone around knew it was noon.

This is a beautiful music box that I would not mind owning!

This is an animated scene set to music. The gentleman, a snuffer, is trying to talk the woman into joining him. At first she resists, but ultimately joins in. I was only able to capture part of it.

We were then given a demonstration of this mechanical music device,

Brett got to finish the tour by cranking this mechanical piano as it played a tune that our Docent had danced to. He jumps in at the end to help bring it up to the speed he danced it at.

Here are D and J on a dock in Oberhofen waiting to board a ship on the Thunersee with the Oberhofen castle behind them. Interestingly an American purchased it when it was in a state of disrepair and restored it and lived in it for a number of years. He ultimately turned it over to the city as long as they kept it in good repair. Look at the tile work on the roof.

Here they are again on the same dock, this time with the Thunersee and mountains as the backdrop. For clarification the mountaintops are obscured by the cloud cover, it sprinkled throughout the day.

Here are all 5 cousins on the dock.

We were fortunate enough to catch one of the restored steam paddle boats from 1905 that is still in use today. This one is called the Blumlisalp and was restored by a preservationist society who then turned around and leased it to the transportation department for 1 Swiss Franc per year.

This is a short video of the pistons and their oilers aboard this ship. Each side had a paddle wheel and each paddle on the wheel was made of metal and pivoted in two locations. The paddles could be run in forwards or backwards direction, although the design of them appears to give the most strength to a forwards rotation that propels the front of the boat forward.

Of interest, our Docent at the museum used to work on a ship like this. Oberhofen is a resort town and one of the hotels had forbade them from blowing the ship's steam whistle if they were anywhere near the hotel. The Captian complied, but for some reason every time they passed that hotel they would stoke the fire so that the pressure relief valve would blow. The pressure relief valve releasing would make a louder noise and last longer than the whistle, but they had been forbidden to blow the whistle.

We rode the boat back to Thun and then grabbed the bus back home.