Swiss Crafts

I believe in my last post I promised some photos of traditional and local crafts that I came across in Switzerland. Here are some of those photos. I came across this bell making workshop and pottery studio when travelling with Regular and her dad through the Swiss mountains near her village.

These photos are of a workshop where bells for stock animals and decorations for horses are made. These bells and decorations would have been used more often in years gone by. Most of these in the photos are made for trophies. In the local villages they hold wrestling contests and the winners get a bell as a trophie. on the bell is inscribed the winners name, the year and event.
People also order these special silver bells as wedding gifts with the names of the couple written on the bell. I thought they were a wonderful idea and would love to get one for my wedding. I made sure Regular knew that hehehehehe! All the leather work and the making of the black and brass bells are done by hand. The wedding ones and others like them are made from casts rather than hammered into shape from a sheet of metal.

Here are some photos from the pottery studio. I loved every pieced in the store but in particular this fondu set that costs 500 euros almost 1000 australian dollars! Considering it is all hand made and painted it´s worth it. You could watch the artists create the different pieces and watch them paint them with the diffrent glazes. It was great to watch. Proof that they were indeed hand made and made locally.


Here I am picking out a small ceramic bunny. I wish I could afford more I would have bought so many more things if I had the cash!

I only have a few more days left in Germany and I am already starting to feel down, I don´t want to go back home. I´m just starting to feel settled and comfortable with the language barrier, different environment etc. I am also enjoying the extra time off work and uni and don´t really want to have to get to reality just yet. I don´t know how I am going to cope not seeing Axel again for 5 months, 4 months this time was hard enough. boooooo hoooooo hooooo!