The Dr René La Roche Collection on the History of Hunting
This special exhibit is among the most interesting in Europe. The work of three generations of the La Roche family comprises of objects of hunting from baronial trophy rooms as well as from inconspicuous cellars and storage spaces.
Around 600 hunting accessories from the 15th to the 19th centuries are available in the showrooms for viewing. Long rows of hand weapons, silent long-range weapons, fire arms, hunting knives and jaw traps show, along with the hand craftsmanship, the development of hunting technique.
The weapon is not the only item that goes along with hunting. Numerous devices for hunting dogs, pieces of equipment, which the hunter carried along, as well as visual displays of scenes from hunting from various epochs expand the Dr René La Roche Collection Hunting History for a journey of discovery in cultural history.
You can find this permanent exhibition on the 2nd floor of the Kornhaus.
Falconry - A Griffin on My Hand
It was one of the most elegant hunting methods, the most beautiful hunting method of kings and emperors – hawking or falconry. The origin of this hunting technique is from the riders of the Central Asian
Steppes. After the convergence of the East and the West, it was also developed in Europe to a high art.
Already in the first millennium BCE, falconry had spread in all cultural areas and epochs from China, India, Persia and North Africa up to the European Atlantic coasts. From the middle ages, this hunting method was also displayed in Europe in precious manuscripts and in works of art and was well documented. Up until the 18th century, the European royal houses had falcon courts with hundreds of precious falcons and an entourage of falcon masters, falconers and vassals.
The falconry was performed by foot with a hawk and a sparrow or with a horse and with a noble falcon. The falcon’s training demanded a close relationship between animal and people, sensitivity, patience, and discipline. The bird was carried on the gloved fist of the falconer and after the attack in the wild, was taken back into this position.
You can find this permanent exhibition in the attic of the Kornhaus.
The Hunting Dog - Ally and Friend
It was a brilliant trick of our ancestors – about 20,000 years ago, it occurred to people to tame wolves. In time, people began to make use of the traits of the wolf species. The dog, as a pet, came from the wolf in the wild. And so began the fascinating story of the friendship between people and dogs.
The exhibition, "The Hunting Dog – Ally and Friend", explains how this close bonding between people and dogs emerged, which influence humankind has had on the evolution of the dog and how the partnership between dog and humans is lived out today in the hunt.
A dog has a much better sense of hearing and smell than humans have, but can a dog also see better? Directly experience the dog’s completely different world of senses! How does an individual use the specific skills of a dog in hunting and what does a young dog have to learn before joining in the hunt?
In the late middle ages, Swiss hunting dogs were coveted, before political changes led to their near disappearance. When the authorities for the protection of deer forbade the use of big and fast running dogs, fancier bred a smaller version, the Small Swiss Hound.
Learn about the eventful history of the Swiss hunting breeds and see which dog breads were bred, trained and put to use for very specific types of hunting. A brochure with explanations in English is available in the exhibition.
You can find this permanent exhibition in the attic of the castle.
Decoys - Heinrich and Heidi Brandenberger Collection
A flock of ducks on a body of water enticesother ducks to come to land on the water. The hunter uses this in decoy hunting toward his aim - he puts dummies on the water, hides himself and waits for the real birds.
You can find this permanent exhibition in the attic of the castle.
Lecture on the occasion of the evening tour on June 13th in Landshut Castle "Historical considerations on the cultural history of bird trapping in Switzerland - The bait ducks from the Untersee" by Dr. h.c. René E. Honegger.
The Hunting Horn - from Hunting to Musical Instruments
In the literature of the middle ages, there are more precise clues about horn signals as communication signals of the hunters. The lightly curved rounded horns were produced from large ox horns and, more or less, were left in their natural form. They were barely able to create more than one note. The muffled sound of the half-moon shaped material and bugles also did not make for much variation in sound.
From the 16th century, many long, multiple-coil horns were used alongside the hunt, as well as in musical performances as playing in melody became possible. Following that, the hunting horn developed into a modern orchestral instrument, which Mozart, Haydn and many others integrated into their compositions.
The exhibition is located in the 1st floor of the granary.
Firearms of the Swiss Hunters in the 19th and 20th centuries
What kind of weapons did the Swiss Weidmann hunt with? Which technical developments can be observed? In the new part of the exhibition, rifles can be seen as they have been used by hunters - and in some cases also by poachers - in Switzerland since 1800.
Rifles from the collection of the Aargau hunter Peter Frischknecht are presented, which impress with the variety of different types of locks and show the latest technical innovations.
You can find this permanent exhibition in the attic of the castle.
Wildlife and Human in the Cultural Landscape
Man has turned the natural landscape into a cultural landscape. With just about every action, mankind directly or indirectly impacts the animal world, whether as consumers of agricultural products, as sportsmen, as energy consumers or as users of streets. These intrusions happen mostly unconsciously, but the habitats of wild animals are effectively disturbed or destroyed. The exhibition in the castle museum makes it possible to understand the activities of animals and men in a changing nature without experiencing a separation of time and space – eye to eye with dangerous and cute wild animals.
Man has turned the natural landscape into a cultural landscape. With just about every action, mankind directly or indirectly impacts the animal world, whether as consumers of agricultural products, as sportsmen, as energy consumers or as users of streets. These intrusions happen mostly unconsciously, but the habitats of wild animals are effectively disturbed or destroyed. The exhibition in the castle museum makes it possible to understand the activities of animals and men in a changing nature without experiencing a separation of time and space – eye to eye with
dangerous and cute wild animals.
You will find this permanent exhibition in three rooms on the 1st floor and one room on the 2nd floor of the castle.
Traces of Hunting in Switzerland
Although our ancestors were still hunting cave bears and cave lions in Switzerland 200,000 years ago, today hunters will have to be content with deer and stag. From no restrictions on how and how many animals could be caught, a strictly regulated form of hunting has evolved.
From hunters and gatherers of the Lower Palaeolithic Era (until about 110000 BCE), mankind has gone from users of animals to competitors among the biggest meat eaters in the world.
Also in the territory of what is today Switzerland, hunting lost its place in meaning in the Neolithic Era (5500–2200 BCE) to cattle breeding. Social differences and the ownership of land played an increasing role in the granting of hunting rights. With that, it lost its useful character and became increasingly a sport-oriented activity of leisure, as in the “Art of the Hunt”.
Around 1500 CE it was in the hands of the ruling class and already regulated through numerous mandates and edicts. Hunting bans and closed seasons were inscribed into law and, with the invention of the firearm, the implementation of certain weapons and aides were regulated.
With the collapse of the Ancien Régime (around 1798), which fraternities and game wardens had known, fundamental changes in the ways and means of hunting took place. With democratisation, there was rapidly increasing pressure on game stocking such that, in 1803, the cantons began to intervene legislatively. After 1876, with the first federal legislation regarding hunting and bird protection, a basic legal principal was created for all of Switzerland, which still today legally stipulated patent (license) and district (leasing) hunting. The 20th century was the time of an incremental restriction of hunting, the dramatic decline in natural space, and also the strengthening of hoofed game stocking as
well as the migration and reestablishment of species, which had been killed off.
You can find this permanent exhibition in the attic of the castle.
Castle / Park
Landshut Castle Foundation
Schlossstrasse 17
CH-3427 Utzenstorf
Switzerland
T +41 (0)32 665 40 27
Museum / Guided tours
Swiss Museum of Wildlife and Hunting
Schlossstrasse 17
CH-3427 Utzenstorf
Switzerland
T +41 (0)32 665 40 27
Hunting library
Swiss Hunting Library
Schlossstrasse 17
CH-3427 Utzenstorf
Switzerland
T +41 (0)32 665 14 82
Exhibitions supervised by:
T +41 (0)31 350 72 88