Our weekend in Sempach

The weekend is just around the corner - and hopefully with it many hours of family time. In this series, the Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi summarises tips for a short trip with children. This time it's off to Sempach.

Experience ...

630 years ago: Do you still remember? History lesson ... Yes, that's right: on 9 July 1386, the Confederates won an important victory against the Habsburgs at the Battle of Sempach. Arnold von Winkelried threw himself into the ranks of the enemy and opened a lane for his comrades-in-arms to launch a decisive attack. The battle chapel, the Winkelried Stone (1864) and an inn commemorate this battle today. You can find out more about this and other stories with your family on one of the three walks of different lengths through Sempach. Download map and stories as PDF

Where is that? Overview map with our tips. Image: Partner&Partner

In your memories from your school days, the ornithological station is of course just as closely associated with Sempach. What was once a one-man operation has become a foundation with over 100 employees who, together with over 2000 volunteers, monitor, research and protect our birdlife. The ornithological station's new visitor centre is an exciting excursion destination, especially for families. When you visit the bird observatory, you will be transformed into a bird and ringed. The ring on your finger remembers how you go through the exhibition with the themes of «Reproduction», «Feeding», «Survival», «Feathers» and «Flying and Pulling» and what you are interested in. At the end of your visit, you will receive your personal bird profile and find out what kind of bird you are - a bearded vulture, a mallard or perhaps a wren? You can also accompany the birds on a journey through Switzerland with your children in the cinema. In the «Singfonie» mechanical theatre , you can experience why birds sing, call, whistle and chirp and find out what they are communicating. The building of the visitor centre is just as unusual as the exhibition: In a pioneering feat of building ecology, the bird observatory has built its house out of clay, just like the swallows. Finally, the beautifully situated nature garden on Lake Sempach invites visitors to meet the birds inside and outside the aviaries or simply to linger and enjoy the surroundings.
Visitor centre, Luzernerstrasse 6, Sempach. Open: Tue to Sun 10 am to 5 pm, last admission at 4 pm. Cost: Adults CHF 15, pupils and apprentices CHF 10, children under 16 accompanied by family members free of charge. www. vogelwarte.ch

Travelling as a young bird in the ornithological station. Pictures (here and above): Swiss Ornithological Institute

Enjoy ...

With today's multitude of radio stations, your children will hardly be able to imagine that there was once only the national broadcaster Radio Beromünster in Switzerland. Thanks to the transmission tower on the Blosenberg, it could also be received in large parts of Europe. On the open-air radio trail in Beromünster, you can find out what began in 1931 and fell silent at the end of 2008. The eventful history around and on the transmitter is told at seven audio stations - with original audio documents and with people who breathed life into the radio. You can enjoy refreshments in the Besenbeiz along the way in the «Tubak- schüür» Huebe, and there is a public fireplace opposite the transmission tower by the water reservoir.
Open-air radio trail, open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, free admission. Besenbeiz along the way, fire pit by the broadcasting tower. Start at Beromünster bus station (642 m above sea level), finish on the Blosenberg (805 m). Outward journey: 45 minutes on foot and 45 minutes listening, return journey: 30 minutes. www.beromuenster-radioweg.ch%20Tubaksch%C3%BC%C3%BCr,%20Huebe%202,%20Gunzwil:%20www.bb-t.ch

Listening to old voices on the radio track. Picture: DNS-Transport /Train

If you also want to savour the culinary delights on offer, it's worth stopping off at the Gasthof Adler in Sempach's old town. When the weather is fine, you can enjoy a meal on the pergola overlooking the lake or on the town street, where you will be spoilt with mainly regional products - including some from the lake. And because the «Adler» is so centrally located, it's just a stone's throw from the town hall museum. In addition to Sempach life from the late Middle Ages to the present day, the museum also focuses on the battle.
Gasthof Adler, Stadtstrasse 22, Sempach. Open from Tue to Sat 8.30 am to midnight. www.adler-sempach.ch Rathausmuseum, Stadtstrasse 28, Sempach. Open: Wed to Fri 2pm to 5pm, Sat/Sun 1.30pm to 5.30pm. Cost: Adults Fr. 9, children (6 - 16) Fr. 5, young people, students, IV recipients Fr. 7. www.museumsempach.ch

Overnight stay ...

... The Hotel Birdland provides a counterpoint to history. The new hotel in modern architecture has 44 rooms with great sleeping comfort, and each room is named after a bird species. From here you can set off on a hike or bike tour, and there are indoor golf simulators in the hotel itself.
Birdland Hotel, Eichenstrasse 1, Sempach Station. www.birdland-hotel.ch

Or you can stay in a modern and practically furnished bungalow on the campsite if you don't want to bring a tent or caravan. There are sports and leisure facilities for the whole family, and bicycles and electric bikes are available for hire.
TCS Camping Sempach, Seelandstrasse 6. The campsite is open from March to October. www.tcs-camping.ch/sempach

Read more:
Tips for a short weekend trip especially for families can be found in every issue of the Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi. Order your subscription here.