Discover Münchenbuchsee: Culture, Leisure and History

Münchenbuchsee offers a range of activities for a stay: seasonal sports, a place for families to play and meet, golf, cultural history and collections. When planning, the change between summer and winter activities at the Hirzi Sports Centre provides a particularly useful point of reference.

Leisure and Activity

Activities at the Hirzi Sports Centre vary by season: swimming is available in summer, while ice skating and ice hockey are offered in winter. The facility also includes tennis courts and a beach volleyball court. The outdoor swimming pool has a three-lane RACER-SLIDE water slide with bends, jumps and timing for racing. The non-swimmer pool has the Ottilie snake slide. As access conditions may change, it is best to check them before your visit.

The Hirzi Restaurant also tailors its offerings to the season: visitors to the swimming pool can enjoy refreshments in summer. During public skating in winter, food and drinks are available to warm you up and keep you going. If the season influences the focus of your stay, the difference is clear: swimming and refreshments are part of summer, while ice skating, ice hockey and warming food are part of winter.

The Schönegg open-air play park in Münchenbuchsee is an adventure playground and meeting place for families. Covering around 2,000 m², it offers space to play, explore and spend time together. Those looking for a puzzle activity can try KrimiSpass Swiss, an interactive crime adventure about a mysterious murder case. You can start at any time of day or night, and participation is free. You will need an internet-enabled smartphone, paper, something to write with and weather-appropriate clothing. Participation conditions may change, so check them before setting out.

The Moossee Golf Park is a modern 18-hole facility located in the municipalities of Moosseedorf, Münchenbuchsee and Wiggiswil. The golf park has 18-, 9- and 6-hole courses. Its driving range has 83 hitting bays, 37 of them covered. The golf park opened in 2003. The different course formats and the size of the driving range provide a useful guide when choosing what to focus on.

Münchenbuchsee has a local recreation area for walks, and you can go jogging in Bäreried Forest. These activities offer different ways to spend time outdoors without requiring a particular pace or set programme.

History and Cultural Heritage

Münchenbuchsee Castle traces its origins to a Hospitaller monastery founded in 1180 by Kuno von Buchsee. It was the first Hospitaller monastery in Switzerland and included a hospital for the poor, pilgrims and the dying. In 1210, the Hospitallers established a pilgrims’ hostel, an infirmary, a large kitchen and two bread ovens in the buildings behind the church. These details tell us about the care and hospitality provided at the time, not just the monastery’s founding.

A bailiff’s castle was built at Münchenbuchsee Castle around 1600. In 1804, Heinrich Pestalozzi moved into the former bailiff’s castle with teachers and pupils. The first teacher-training college in Münchenbuchsee opened in 1833. This chronology connects the history of the monastery and castle with the development of education without collapsing the events into a single story.

Münchenbuchsee Church also bears traces of different building phases. The chancel of an existing church was extended between 1300 and 1330, giving it its present form. The chancel contains stained-glass windows created between 1280 and 1330. The painter and draughtsman Paul Klee provides another biographical connection to the municipality: he was born on 18 December 1879 in the upper schoolhouse in Münchenbuchsee.

Toy Museum and Local Collections

The Münchenbuchsee Toy Museum opened on 5 August 2021 in a former cheese dairy. Its collection is displayed across an exhibition area of 150 m². The collection includes toy shops, dolls’ kitchens and dolls’ houses, Schildkröt dolls, Elastolin figures, animal models and tin toys. Toy worlds, figures and toys from different areas are represented side by side; the objects on display may vary.

The Alt Buchsee collection offers a different perspective on the town. It contains several thousand old photographs and postcards, as well as historical reconstructions, plans, transcripts from the council records of the Council of Bern, books, pictures and old magazines. Guided tours and reference consultations for groups or individual visitors are available by prior arrangement; please arrange a time in advance.

Other Events

The hall and leisure facility can be rented by third parties for conferences, seminars and larger events. Alongside leisure and culture, business or community events can therefore also be a possible focus for a stay in the area.

Discover more destinations: Deisswil near Münchenbuchsee, Urtenen-Schönbühl.

Return to the main travel overview: Fraubrunnen.