Nothing but the acquisition of honour

The walk tells why the ruling class around Lake Thun set out, what they brought home – and where the people from here went on pilgrimage who never got that far. The title quotes Konrad von Scharnachtal of Oberhofen, who had it certified in 1449 that on his journeys he sought «allein ueberkomnus der eren» – nothing but the acquisition of honour.

Along the way you meet the Zähringer and Kyburg families, who took the cross before Thun belonged to them; Adrian von Bubenberg, lord of Spiez, who sold a castle in 1465 in order to travel to Jerusalem; the Bernese gentlemen who outdid one another with knighthoods at the Holy Sepulchre and at Sinai; the pilgrimage places around the lake from Einigen to the cave of Saint Beatus – and finally the Scherzligen Passion panorama of 1469, a Jerusalem ten minutes’ walk from here.

Children follow the walk with a pilgrim’s passport and collect stamps at five stations – complete the set and receive the pilgrim’s certificate at the ticket desk.

At a glance

Place: Knights’ Hall in the keep, Thun Castle
Dates: 4 October 2026 until the end of January 2027
Admission: included in the museum admission, freely accessible during opening hours
Languages: panels in German – the full texts in English and French, also via the QR code on every panel
For children: pilgrim’s passport with five stamp stations
Created for: Swiss Castle Day 2026

Please note the opening hours: from November to January the castle is open on Sundays, and daily from 25 December to 10 January.