The living space of an old village house — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Drawer beds (see photo within the photo) allowed two or three to sleep in a bed — Matterhorn Museum.

Cowshed/barn with traditional Quartzite stone slab roof — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Taxidermied owl and hawk — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Alpine dairy where cheese was made after the cows were moved to Alpine pastures — Matterhorn Museum.

Teahouses back in the day also served as gift shops — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Mock up of the English Church ... the mirror makes it look whole — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

St Jodern returning on the back of satan with the bell gifted by the Pope — Matterhorn Museum.

The first mountaineering boots were made by Burgener in his small shoe atelier in Zermatt in 1879.

Mountaineering boots through the years — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

The Seasons — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Female ibex and kid — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Foxes being watched by a marmot — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Nutcracker — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Replica of the Monte Rosa, one of the first hotels built in 1865 with the rise in tourism in Zermatt

Miniature rooms and replica of the Monte Rosa Hotel front desk — Matterhorn Museum.

"X" marks the spot where four of the seven first ascenders fell to their death — Matterhorn Museum.

In the words of Peter Taugwalder, Jr. — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

The second rope that snapped as four of the seven first ascenders fell — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Doll with traditional 20th century costume of Zermatt worn on Sundays — Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt.

Zermatt: Day 2 … Matterhorn Museum

July 28 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F

With rain sprinkling again, we headed to the Matterhorn Museum after our meander around the village.

The museum is open from 2:00p to 6:00p daily … CHF 10pp senior rate. It is promoted as Zermatlantis … a reference to the exhibits that take visitors back to the old days … and perhaps also to its subterranean construction.

The museum is well done, but it was very crowded. No surprise I guess since indoor rainy-day activities in Zermatt are limited. Mock-up of buildings provide insight into life in the 19th century. Taxidermied animals familiarize visitors with some of the creatures of the area. Most of the signage is in German only. Nonetheless, the exhibits were interesting.

When we had dinner at the Pollux Hotel, we’d been told of the connection the hotel has with the Matterhorn. Apparently, Peter Taugwalder, an experienced mountain guide — and uncle of the men who built the Pollux Hotel —was one of the seven to make the first ascent of the Matterhorn via the Hörnli route.

The party made it to the summit, but on the way down, one of the climbers — the most inexperienced of the seven men — slipped and knocked another climber off his feet. Within seconds, four of the seven were falling to their deaths. The remaining three, including Taugwalder, were on a separate rope that wasn’t strong enough to arrest the pull of the four men who were falling and snapped. The rope in question is now exhibited in the museum. What struck me was the thinness of the rope … it didn’t look to be strong enough to stop one man from falling, let alone four of them.

We left the museum wondering if the Matterhorn will ever give up the location of the body of Lord Douglas … the only one of the four bodies that has yet to be recovered.

*** For anyone interested, this link tells one version of the story of the misadventure: https://everesttoday.com/four-lives-one-rope-th…Read more