Visitor Centre at the Sempach Ornithological Centre now Open

While the architecture has now achieved its definitive state, the completion of the exterior space provides the impetus for growth and development.

The Sempach Ornithological Centre is a centre of research and knowledge regarding wild birds. The new visitor centre also makes it a rendezvous for bird enthusiasts from all over the country, and not least a retreat and breeding place for many native wild birds.

In the last few months there has taken shape around the two new rammed-clay cubic buildings on the shores of Lake Sempach a landscape which, on a small area, concentrates a wide variety of habitats for wild birds, while guiding human beings so to speak as mere onlookers through this world at a respectful distance.

In the buildings there are exhibitions campaigning for the protection of indigenous wild birds. These include attractions such as the ‘Singphony’ or the ‘ringing’ of guests, so that at the end of the tour, depending on their behaviour in the exhibition, they can be humorously assigned to a particular bird species.

The exterior space, by contrast, belongs primarily to the feathered guests. The greenery in which the paths and observation platforms are subtly embedded is still rather sparse.

It was conceived as an initial planting, in other words is the start of a growth process gently guided via the characteristics of the soil and the choice of species. In this way the various types of habitat can find their natural ecological balance. Change is part of planning, and makes every visit a surprise.