Tuesday 11th June

A little brighter today but still the mountains had their head in the clouds.

We found the lift up to the Schloss & walked out just below it to visit the Castle Museum which was quite superbly presented, starting with an exhibition on the history of tourism in Thun dating back to the mid 1800s when people came to stay in hotels on the lake to visit the mountains.

Then we climbed the huge keep which has 5 storeys of exhibits on aspects of the history of Thun. The castle was started in 1191 & has changed relatively little since its completion in the mid 1200s. The displays, in 3 languages, present its history & amongst its treasures are some 14th century tapestries & alter covers taken after the defeat of the Duke of Burgundy in the 15th century.

For many years from the 14th century the castle was owned by the town & was the centre for the mayors who administered it, as well as being the town prison. One turret houses torture instruments as a confession was always required before a conviction. In another one there is an execution sword, last used for beheading in 1816, which was somewhat shocking. The most amazing part for us was to stand inside the steeply pitched roof & see the massive beams & trusses which have stood there for 800 years, with minimal repairs.

Leaving the castle, we descended in the lift about 40m, to the level of the old town, connected by a a foot tunnel which came out on one of the old streets. We were astonished as we had never noticed it before, having used many of the stairways to reach the castle & the church.

Returning home, d*** managed to find some reasonably priced sneakers.

After dinner we walked across the railway & followed the road out of town for about 2km. We passed about 20 young soldiers & airmen walking towards Thun. Military service is compulsory in Switzerland & they were probably National Servicemen.