Lauterbrunnen lace-making parlour
Experience the craft from the 17th century up close.
You won’t get anywhere with two left hands. Bobbin lace-making requires nimble fingers. It’s not as easy as it looks, visitors realise when they visit the lace-making workshop in Lauterbrunnen. This artful craft, using silk, linen or cotton, has been a tradition in the Lauterbrunnen Valley for over 500 years. Every Friday afternoon, the lacemakers invite visitors to watch over their shoulders as they create the delicate lace. It’s a good thing that watching doesn’t require any dexterity.
You watch in fascination as seemingly simple thread is transformed into true works of art through patience, precision and a great deal of practice. The wooden bobbins clatter and dance across the pillow as pattern after pattern takes shape into delicate lace. Every movement is precise, every hand movement is practised – and yet no two pieces are alike. If you look more closely, you’ll soon realise: behind the delicate beauty lies hard, concentrated work. It’s all the more impressive that this traditional craft is still practised with such passion today.
