Swiss Carved Wood Exhibition: Tradition & Diverse Uses

An exhibition showcasing a fascinating collection of “Kerbhölzer” – notched sticks historically used as wooden records – opened Sunday at the Ortsmuseum Habkern in Switzerland. The exhibition, titled “Was Schweizer alles auf dem Kerbholz haben” (What Swiss People Have on Their Kerbholz), explores the diverse applications of these wooden tallies, which served as a form of documentation long before the advent of paper records.

The practice, known by various names including Beilen or Tesseln, was used for centuries to track alpine rights, milk settlements, agricultural obligations, water access, and as registers or receipts, according to exhibition materials. The exhibition draws from a rare collection held by the Alpine Museum in Bern, offering a glimpse into a time when rights and responsibilities were recorded through simple, yet ingenious, methods.

The opening, held from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM, was free to the public. The Ortsmuseum Habkern will continue to host the exhibition with regular opening hours every Thursday from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM, and on select Sundays – April 12th, May 3rd, June 7th, July 12th, August 9th, September 6th, and October 4th – also from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. The exhibition is scheduled to run through October 29, 2026.

The exhibition’s title plays on the Swiss German idiom “etwas auf dem Kerbholz haben,” which translates to “to have something on one’s kerbholz” and colloquially means to have a past or something to hide. The exhibition takes the phrase literally, presenting the kerbholz as a tangible record of past transactions and obligations.

A separate exhibition, “Seen, Spiegel der Schweiz” (Lakes, Mirrors of Switzerland), opened on March 12, 2026, at an unspecified location in the Bern region. Drawing from the collections of the Swiss National Library, this exhibition explores the history and mythology surrounding Switzerland’s lakes, and their impact on the country’s economic, social, and cultural development. A vernissage for this exhibition was held on March 12th, 2026.