60 years of Swissminiature

Swissminiature is Switzerland on a smaller scale. There are 128 models of houses, castles and monuments in the open air, distributed throughout the 14,000 square meter park. The models have been recreated authentically - with great attention to detail - and are surrounded by thousands of plants and flowers.

Bundeshaus, Kapellbrücke, Schilthorn - all are there. Just a few steps apart. Like in the olden days. And the new models, such as Schloss Rapperswil, which was added last year, fit seamlessly into the harmonious overall picture. This constancy is nice for nostalgics, but nowadays Switzerland seems to have fallen a little bit out of sync on a scale of 1:25. The number of visitors to Swissminiatur last year fell to 130,000. In its heydays, it was 350,000.

That's why new ideas and visions are needed. The handover of the third generation comes at the right time. Joël Vuigner (35), has officially taken over the business of his father Dominique (66) on the occasion of the park's 60th birthday on 6 June.

The input for Swissminiatur was given by a representative in the 1950s. He tells the owner of the local store in Grimisuat (Lower Valais) about a new park in The Hague: Mini-Holland called "Madurodam". The store owner is Pierre Vuigner whom falls in love with the idea of adapting the concept to Switzerland. He finds a piece of land in Ticino and begins construction. When Swissminiatur opens its doors in 1959, only a handful of models are showcased, the landscape is still barren. Pierre Vuigner does not suspect that he will declare years later: "I have discovered a gold mine."

The first to discover the pocket sized Switzerland were the Italians. They flock across the border in the sixties as shopping tourists. They buy watches, chocolates, cigarettes. On the way to Lugano they stop at the new attraction. "Until 1974, two-thirds of all visitors were Italians," remembers Dominique, who was trained as a 19-year-old by his father. "At every Italian holiday hundreds of buses arrived, in those days there were about fifty holidays a year. "

In 1980, Dominique and his brother Jean-Luc (62) took over the business - just in time for the beginning of the next golden era, the Swiss-German era. The opening of the Gotthard road tunnel cleared the way for the people on the northern side of the Alps. They too came by the thousands.

Switzerland in miniature - you had to see it. Walking through the Helvetian sights like Gulliver through Liliput was an experience. Swissminiatur was a national compulsory programme for decades: an attraction that everyone visited at least once in their lifetime. And maybe a second time because many who were there as a child went back as adults with their own children. Thus, the Swiss attraction grew to become a Swiss tradition passed down from generation to generation. The peak reached the park in 1989 with 350 000 visitors.

Meanwhile, Swissminiatur has hit the digital age. These are tough times because tradition is crumbling. With the Europa-Park, Legoland, Ravensburger Spieleland and many innovative Swiss adventure museums such as the Swiss Museum of Transport, Swissminiatur has felt the spectacular competition in the struggle for paying visitors who will think twice about the possible risk of the Gotthard traffic jam to reach the Ticino.

The question that Joël Vuigner has to deal with now, is how to control the family business. Over the years, the attraction has become an open-air museum, a nostalgic park. The new boss wants to polish up the dusty image. He made the start last year with a smartphone app as well as a new logo. "I want to promote interactivity," he announces.

Let's give him a hand by spreading the news and visit Swiss Miniature this summer!

The king of Swissminiatur and his heir to the throne: Dominique (front) and Joël Vuigner in the model of the castle and collegiate church Neuchâtel.