Interesting Swiss Museums to Visit

My wife and I will be making a trip to Switzerland next year for a week in September. I have been looking for places to visit, particularly museums with interesting displays related to metalworking. There are several museums dedicated to horology (not my interest). I found this one:

[h=1]Centre Müller Bienne - Museum of Machinery[/h]
MUSEUM - Centremuller EN


The machinery museum presents reconstructed workshops from the early 20th century, displaying over 150 machines built between 1880 and 1940.



Remarks:
Visitations and guided tours by appointment: 032 322 36 36












But the contact page is in German, so I am not sure if they would provide a guided tour for English speaking. Looking for suggestions.

-Dave

I would just ask if they do guided visits in english.
If they do they may only do it for groups, but even then, I think it would be worth to visit it without a guide.
A very nice museum is the horology museum in "La Chaux de Fonds" no so far from Bienne, but as you mentioned maybe not so of interest to you.
It's a bit a shame that Switzerland doesn't have a proper museum of metalworking machinery, at least not that I know of.
If you like historic vehicles, locomotives and aviation, I would suggest to visit the museum of transportation in Lucerne:

Welcome to Swiss Museum of Transport | Swiss Museum of Transport

Here some better pictures of the Mueller Machine Museum in Bienne
WESTAST SO NICHT! - Maschinenmuseum

Btw. the town of Bienne is bilingual french/german so when travelling look for Bienne or Biel signs.

Oh, just read the infos on that site WESTAST SO NICHT! - Maschinenmuseum and sadly they are planning to tear all the buildings down at that place for a higway tunnel. But there is strong opposition, so I think it'll be still around on september next year...

I've heard that Studer has a museum.
I tried to contact Studer and the museum for a type 1 manual but got a cold shoulder.
Hate to say it but the Swiss really don't think much of Americans.

Sorry to hear that, but I can tell you that unfortunately, swiss can sometimes be not very service friendly. Doesn't matter if your Swiss or American or whatever.

Even though you say your not interested in Horology you should go to the Patek Philippe museum in Geneva. Just to see what kind of watches the Swiss have made over the last couple of hundred years. It's not so much a watch museum as it is an art museum. Then when your going up the steps to go into the P-P museun turn around and look at the buildings across the street those are the buildings that SIP occupied from the 1860's to the 1990's If you were to go to the trouble to walk a block over to the next street and look up at the building you would see where it says Sociètè Genevoise D'instruments de Physique in cast bronze art nouveau letters.

Yes the Swiss Museum of Transport sounds interesting. I definitely hope the Muller museum is still around next year. There is a Bally Family museum Historical Machinery Collection that sounds interesting. I also found out there is a Swiss museum pass that has over 50 "technical museums" listed. So I have a start, will post more as I find them.

An interesting museum for a machinist or mechanic is the

Musée du tour automatique et d’histoire de Moutier
121, rue industrielle
2740 Moutier
Le Musee du Tour automatique et d'Histoire de Moutier: Opening and admission

Phone: +41 (0)32 493 68 47

A 1950 Bechler AS 4 is set up and running, brass screws tumble down.

There are Tornos, Petermann, Bechler, Junker, Schweizer and more in the house Niklaus Junker had built in 1895. 15 exposition rooms, a workshop, a meeting room, a chancellery on 500 square meters.

If in Switzerland, I could join you and aid with translating. Just let me know.

If you are interested in train and automobile mechanics and you're around the city of Basel (NW Switzerland), there are two fantastic museums just 30min by car or train in the french city of Mulhouse.
The car museum has one of the, or even the largest Bugatti collection. Also the incredible Bugatty Royal and Atlantic!
The train museum is also a must see.


Cite de l'Automobile - Collection Schlumpf - Site officiel - geree par Culturespaces, Mulhouse

Photos – Cite du train

If you are interested in train and automobile mechanics and you're around the city of Basel (NW Switzerland), there are two fantastic museums just 30min by car or train in the french city of Mulhouse.
The car museum has one of the, or even the largest Bugatti collection, including the incredible Bugatty Royal and Atlantic!
The train museum is also a must see.


Cite de l'Automobile - Collection Schlumpf - Site officiel - geree par Culturespaces, Mulhouse

Photos – Cite du train

lobito said:

Btw. the town of Bienne is bilingual french/german so when travelling look for Bienne or Biel signs.

Click to expand...

That is good to know, we both speak some French. Not a lot, but it was enough to get us around Provence a couple years ago.

Mechanola said:

An interesting museum for a machinist or mechanic is the

Musée du tour automatique et d’histoire de Moutier
121, rue industrielle
2740 Moutier
Le Musee du Tour automatique et d'Histoire de Moutier: Opening and admission

Phone: +41 (0)32 493 68 47

A 1950 Bechler AS 4 is set up and running, brass screws tumble down.

There are Tornos, Petermann, Bechler, Junker, Schweizer and more in the house Niklaus Junker had built in 1895. 15 exposition rooms, a workshop, a meeting room, a chancellery on 500 square meters.

If in Switzerland, I could join you and aid with translating. Just let me know.

Click to expand...

merveilleux!

I would enjoy that immensely.

-Dave

Musée du tour automatique et d’histoire de Moutier

rimcanyon said:

That is good to know, we both speak some French. Not a lot, but it was enough to get us around Provence a couple years ago.



merveilleux!

I would enjoy that immensely.

-Dave

Click to expand...

I have been to the Musée du tour automatique et d’histoire de Moutier 2 years ago. It is in a small house just before the huge Tornos factory. It was closed when I arrived but I knocked on the door anyway and the curator let me in and gave me and my daughter a great tour. I found it by accident and it was a terrific day. I highly recommend a trip there, just check the days and hours of operation before you head out. If you want to go on a beautiful short hike, about 1/2 an hour away in Solothurn is the Weissenstein

Weissenstein | Weissenstein | Natural sites | Discoveries | Solothurn | Solothurn Tourism (Switzerland)

You can drive up or take the cable car, it provides an amazing view of the swiss alps and at the end of the trial ( 1/2 mile) there is a little restaurant where you can get a nice warm coffee or something stronger. One last idea, if you like arms and armor there is a great museum in Solothurn. Can get through it in an hour and it's located in what is suppose to be the finest gothic town in Switzerland.

Museum of the Old Arsenal, Solothurn | Museums | Solothurn

Good luck and have a great trip !