Swiss Heritage Center – Berne, Indiana – Part 1 – Believe in the Magic Traci Diary

As I previously said, Berne, Indiana really did not have a lot to explore. If you wanted Amish furniture, you could certainly find it. The clock tower and the architecture is wonderful. It’s a small town so there is not much there.

There is one other interesting place. That is the Swiss Heritage Center. Berne was settled by Amish and Mennonites immigrants from Switzerland. They were being persecuted in their native country so they came to America. Eventually they moved and settled in Adams and Allen County.

We were pleasantly surprised when we got to the Heritage Center. They had a guide to take us around the grounds which was neat. The guide was a 73 year old lady named Char. She was a wonderful storyteller. It was almost as though she was there when the American flag was being created or when the Amish were being persecuted in Switzerland. Hubby kept wanting her to tell us more.

She had a golf cart for her to ride from place to place. There was a total of four guests plus herself trying to get on this golf cart more than once. Some of the buildings were a small distance. On a nice day, it would be a good stroll. Not on the chilly and then rainy day we visited.

The first building we visited was the One Room School Room. She talked about the reasons why girls were more educated than boys, the history of the American flag, and how many school buildings were in the county at one point.

Ringing the bell
In Trouble

After we left the schoolhouse, we went to the Lunginbill House. The Lunginbill House was the house of Peter and Barbara Luginbill. It was built in 1856 and moved to the Heritage Center in 1987.

While we were in house, we learned about the typical day of the family, how they built the original house, and how they made soap back in the day. Char also told stories about Barbara.