Not far from the nation’s capital and surrounded by a beautiful landscape with a carp pond and romantic paths lies Jegenstorf Castle, a former Patrician country residence. It can be reached by train in only 20 minutes from Bern’s main station.

Once a medieval castle surrounded by a moat, the estate was converted into an elegant baroque country residence by Albrecht Friedrich von Erlach in 1720. The castle opened its gates to the public in 1936, and history continued to be made inside its walls: at the end of the Second World War, it was used by General Guisan as a command centre, and in 1954, it served as an imperial residence during a state visit from Ethiopia’s regent Haile Selassie.

Today, Jegenstorf Castle is a museum that takes visitors on a journey to the past: the impressive interior is decorated with bourgeois and Patrician furniture from the old city and the republic of Bern. One of the highlights is Switzerland’s largest exhibition of baroque tiled stoves from all parts of the country.

Special exhibitions, scenic guided tours, adventure and fairytale tours for children and other events take place at the castle and the park. Every day during opening hours, “Schloss(zeit)reise” (“(Time)travel at the castle) takes families back in time.

There are three permanent exhibitions, dedicated to the following persons and organisations: Bernese patois poet Rudolf von Tavel (1866–1934), Bernese educator and economist Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg (1771–1844), and the Economic Society of the Canton of Bern (OGG, since 1759).

The baroque oasis with its carp pond is open all day, every day for recreation and relaxing strolls. The fruit from the trees in the arboretum (ProSpecieRara) is made into delicious apple bubbly that can be enjoyed at the castle’s café.