Swiss Cable Car Museum

In the mountain resort of Kandersteg, part of a building formerly used as Swiss army pharmacy has become a museum of cable cars or ‘aerial lifts’. Switzerland can be said to be the home of the aerial lift for passengers, with over 100 still operating. While mining ropeways existed earlier, the first for passengers were built in the 1890s. The first in Switzerland was the Wetterhorn Elevator, which operated from 1908 to 1915, but many others soon followed. They were ideal technology to carry visitors up mountains: cheaper to build and run than funicular railways and not disrupted by snow. The museum collections were made by enthusiasts who saved objects and equipment such as gondolas and chairlifts, cable mechanisms, plans and photographs. The displays represent the many types of cable cars for passangers: aerial tramways, gondola lifts and chairlifts and ski lifts, together with funiculars and military and factory cable cars.