Go for gold

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1	Go for gold! Is gold recycling the future? Gold is valuable: nobody throws it away – or do they? There is gold in electronic devices such as smartphones. If you throw them away, the gold also ends up in the waste. Demand for gold has risen steeply. The extraction of this precious metal is not only costly, it’s also bad for the environment and for our health. Today, recycling is more important than ever. New techniques make it possible to recover gold even in small quantities from appliances no longer in use. And households contain lots of old gold which could be reused.
2	1 Celestial disk from Nebra (copy), circa 1600 B.C. The bronze disc from present-day Saxony-Anhalt is the oldest representation of the firmament. Sun, moon and stars are depicted in gold leaf. A boat crosses the celestial ocean from horizon to horizon.
3	2 Sheet from a book of hours, 15th century. Shell gold adorns the initials of this prayer book for the laity, enriching it with additional decoration.
4	3 Shell gold, 20th century. Shell gold is a water-soluble paint made from gold powder and gum arabic. It has been used in illumination since the 12th century. Its name comes from the fact that it was fixed and stored in shells.
5	4 Burgdorf silver-gilt bowl, 1648. This vessel is not only beautiful: the gold also prevents the unpleasant taste of silver. Rittersaalverein Collection
6	5 Gilt sugar bowl, second half of the 19th century. Porcelain is also known as “white gold”. Decorated with yellow gold, it brings a touch of luxury and elegance to the table. Rittersaalverein Collection
7	6 Gold ruby glass, 19th century. By adding a little gold dissolved in molten glass, a red glass is obtained. Gold ruby glass was much sought after in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is said to confer strength and healing.
8	7 Gilt frame, 19th century. The practice of framing images has its origins in religious art. In the early 14th century, people began to frame images to decorate altars. They used wood from old doors or chairs, covered with gold leaf. Rittersaalverein Collection
9	8 Gold wedding rings, 20th century. In days gone by, only women wore wedding rings. Only since the 16th century have bride and groom expressed their communion by wearing identical rings, usually on the ring finger of the left hand. This finger was believed to be directly linked to the heart.
10	9 “Mira Moo Gold” gilt ceramic cow, 2002. It all began with an artistic and advertising campaign in Zurich in 1998: all over the city were painted polyester cows. The idea travelled around the world and many cows were reproduced in a smaller format, like this cow by Margaret Pedrotti. The original figured in the 2002 “cow parade” in San Antonio, Texas.
11	10 Gold ring with textile structure made of coin gold, 2003. This ring was made by Burgdorf goldsmith Kurt Neukomm, who died in 2024. It is made of melted gold Vreneli.
12	11 Piece of jewellery “Binsenwahrheit”, 2005. An object by the Burgdorf goldsmith Kurt Neukomm. Gilded pebbles from the Emme River, silver rush stalk with a small yellow gold flower.
13	Alluvial gold Early Roman gold mining The Bessa hills lie at the foot of the Alps in Piedmont. They were formed when Ice Age glaciers and rivers deposited debris from the Alps. This debris contains gold. In the 1st century B.C., the Romans set up gold panning here. Enslaved people cleared the moraines. Large stones were piled up, and the gold-bearing sand taken to washing stations. A network of canals carried the water into wooden channels where the sand was washed. In the channels, marsh heather caught the gold. When burned, the gold remained in the ashes.
14	Piles of stones still bear witness to Roman gold panning at La Besse in Piedmont, north of the town of Biella. Photo: Werner Lüthi, 2009
15	Stone-fixed channels carried the water to the wooden washing facilities. Photo: Werner Lüthi, 2009
16	“Mountain destruction” Gold mining using water Ruina montium, destruction of mountains, was the name the Romans gave to a brutal method they used as early as the 1st century AD to extract gold. Thousands of enslaved persons dug tunnels and built canals and reservoirs. Water rushed through the galleries, causing the rock to collapse. The scree was washed into the plain. From this scree they washed the gold. The “Destroyed Mountains” of Las Médulas in Spain have been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1997.
17	Today, an eroded landscape of red rock and deep extraction furrows are testimony to the “destruction of the mountains” in Roman times. Photo: Hermann Käser, 2018
18	Water rushed through the Cueva la Encantada gallery and “destroyed” the mountains of Las Médulas. This is how the Romans extracted gold. Photo: Hermann Käser, 2022
19	This drawing explains the ruina montium technique for obtaining gold. Illustration: Hugo Prades for Fundación Las Médulas, Léon
20	1 Marsh heather. Marsh heather trapped heavy metals in wooden channels together with the gold. 2 Gold washed from the Elvo river. On the banks of the Elvo in the Bessa region of Piedmont, enslaved people washed gold for the Roman Empire.
21	3 Gold coin with portrait of Emperor Valentinian III. In 1749, construction workers found this coin from the 5th century in the courtyard of Burgdorf Castle. Rittersaalverein Collection
22	Little gold from old mines Gold mining from the Middle Ages to the present day After the fall of the Roman Empire, gold mining stopped in Europe. Only in the 10th century did miners start to extract gold again. At the end of the 15th century, the Spanish arrived in America and began subduing the continent. They stole huge quantities of gold from the people of Central and South America and brought it to Europe. Gold mining in Europe was no longer attractive. Until today, gold mining in Europe is of negligible economic importance.
23	Incas bring golden objects to conqueror Francisco Pizarro in 1533 to obtain the release of the captive king Atahualpa. Pizarro nevertheless had Atahualpa assassinated. Digitization: University of Heidelberg, America (volume 6), plate 10
24	Poison for gold Mercury in gold mining Mercury is used to separate the gold from the rock, which is firstly crushed and ground. With the gold it forms what is called an amalgam. If heated, the mercury vaporizes and the gold remains. Toxic mercury harms people and the environment. The United Nations Minamata Convention of 2013 aims to reduce the impact of mercury on the environment and limit its use in gold extraction.
25	Mercury amalgam mill powered by water. Mills like this were used in Piedmont to separate the gold from the rock and bind it with mercury. Photo: Werner Lüthi, 2009
26	Gold from rivers A poor craft Until the end of the 19th century, poor people earned a little extra income by panning for gold in the Aare or Upper Rhine river north of Basel. The gold miners would wash the river gravel with a lot of water over a washing ramp covered in wool. The heavy minerals and gold were caught in the wool. Mercury was used to separate the gold from the rest. After the Upper Rhine was straightened in the 19th century, the river carried less gold than before. Gold panning was definitely no longer profitable.
27	Reconstructed photo of the last goldpanner on the Rhine near Speyer in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1911. Digitization: Historical Museum of the Palatinate, Speyer
28	1 Fragment of a stone mill, early 20th century, Valle Anzasca, Piedmont. This mill was used to grind ore.
29	2 Ore from the Miniera de Cani, Valle Anzasca, Piedmont. The gold mine lies at the foot of Monte Rosa, not far from the Swiss border. The gold is contained in pyrite. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern
30	3, 4 Ore and ground gold ore from the mine near Macugnaga in Piedmont. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern 5, 6, 7 Mercury, gold amalgam and pure gold after calcination of gold amalgam.
31	8 Reproduction of “De re metallica libri XII” by Georg Agricola (16th century) with scenes mining. 9, 10 Alluvial gold from the Rhine near Istein in Baden-Württemberg.
32	All the gold in the world Gold mining in our time It is estimated that mankind has mined more than 200,000 tonnes of gold. With this quantity, we could form a cube with an edge 22-meter-long edge. Every year, another 3,000 tonnes are mined, mainly from China, Australia, Russia and Canada. The increase in gold mining is damaging both man and the environment. Industrial mines work with basic cyanide. If it escapes into nature, the effects are catastrophic. Mercury, which is used in small-scale mines (sometimes illegal), is also toxic.
33	Miner installs explosive charge in Goldmine Cook-2 at Randfontein near Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: Peter Grubenmann, 1988
34	A young man extracts gold-bearing soil underground in Gaoua, southern Burkina Faso. Photo: Gustav Bürke, 2017
35	Super Pit gold mine near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Australia’s largest gold mine descends to depths of over 400 meters. Photo: Christoph Kipfer, 2016
36	A village fights back Roșia Montană in Romania means river of gold. Gold deposits there are highly coveted: in 2002, the Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources offered the inhabitants a lot of money to vacate three villages to make way for gold mining. The company also planned to clear four mountains and build a reservoir for the toxic cyanide sludge. Most of the inhabitants were willing to accept the offer, but a minority resisted. With the support of Stephanie Roth, a Swiss-French environmental activist, they organized a national campaign that received international support. The campaign was a success: the Romanian parliament rejected a law that would have made extraction possible. The project has been abandoned for the time being.
37	View of the village of Roșia Montană. The mining group Gabriel Resources wanted to clear the hills to the left and right of the village. Photo: Stephanie Roth, 2024
38	Environmentalist Stephanie Roth in front of the village shop in Roșia Montană. The photos in the background show the location around the middle of the 20th century. Photo: Stephanie Roth, 2024
39	1 Ore containing gold and quartz from Alleghany, California. This area was the site of the famous gold rush of 1848. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern 2 Gold from the Crow Creek Gold Mine in Alaska. Mining using water pressure has been carried out here since 1896. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern
40	3 Nugget from the goldfields of Coolgardie, Australia. In 1892, a prospector struck gold in Coolgardie and triggered the greatest gold rush in Western Australia. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern
41	4 Gold-bearing rock with quartz from the Witwatersrand, Gauteng Province, South Africa. These are three billion-year-old river sediments. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern 5 Alluvial gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The civil war parties finance themselves with gold.
42	6 Ore from the gold mine near Brusson in the Aosta Valley. Crystallized gold is visible as well as quartz. The Evançon Gold Mining Company mined around 700 kilograms of gold at Brusson between 1904 and 1909. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern
43	7 Report on the gold mine planned at the time in Roșia Montană (Gold river) in Romania. Magazine “Das Magazin” from September 2012 8 Gold with quartz from Zlatna (Romania). Ore from the area of Roșia Montană is characterized by gold which is particularly well crystallized. Loan: Natural History Museum Bern
44	Safe and clean? Gold refineries in Switzerland Up to 70 percent of all gold mined worldwide is processed into gold bars by the four Swiss refineries. Once in ingot form, it is no longer possible to tell where the gold comes from. Gold is generally described as “clean” when its origin can be traced back to its source. This does not necessarily mean that it has been mined ethically or in an ecologically responsible manner. Banks and jewellery manufacturers are increasingly demanding proof from refineries that the mining of the gold they sell has neither violated human rights nor harmed the environment.
45	Transparency is the goal How can the origin of gold be traced? Haelixa, a spin-off from ETH Zurich, along with the Argor-Heraeus refinery in Ticino have developed a method: the gold mine marks the gold with artificial DNA. The refinery can read the markers which cannot be falsified. The University of Lausanne and the Metalor refinery take a different approach: they measure the proportions of other chemical elements present in the raw gold. This measurement gives a “fingerprint” that establishes the origin of the gold. The Max Havelaar Foundation and the Swiss Better Gold Initiative certify “Fairtrade gold” from small-scale mining in Peru. The certificates not only prove the origin of the gold, but also that the gold was mined in a manner respecting both human dignity and the environment.
46	Freshly cast standard ingots of 12.5 kilograms each. The Valcambi refinery casts ingots of various sizes – from from 100 grams to 12.5 kilograms. Photo: Valcambi SA, Balerna, 2014
47	Raw gold bars are the starting material for refineries. Pre-refined ingots and bars from the mines form the raw material for refineries. Photo: GYR Edelmetalle AG, Baar, 2012
48	Crucible with molten gold at the Valcambi refinery. After the gold has been separated from other metals, it is melted at 1200 degrees and cast into ingots. Photo: Valcambi SA, Balerna, 2014
49	Finished ingots are engraved with the name of the refinery and the purity. Photo: Valcambi SA, Balerna, 2011
51	1-5 One-gram gold ingots from Swiss refineries. Switzerland is home to four gold refineries: three in Ticino and one in the canton of Neuchâtel. Ingots from 1 to 100 grams of gold are sizes suitable for those on a budget. Such small ingots are a Swiss invention.
52	6 Fairtrade gold from Zürcher Kantonalbank. The gold certified by Max Havelaar comes from small-scale mining in Peru that respects human rights and the environment.
53	7, 8 Crucible for melting 1-kilogram ingots, copy of a 1-kilogram ingot from the Argor-Heraeus refinery in Mendrisio, Ticino. 9,10 Spray for artificial DNA, swab test. Haelixa uses this test to determine whether the DNA is on the gold. Donation: Haelixa AG
54	Recycling or upcycling? Coins from church treasures “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image”, says the Bible. The reformers took the second commandment literally and had depictions of God removed from churches. Many works of art were simply destroyed and lost to posterity. Despite being religiously motivated, the enterprise was also profitable: in 1528, the Bern Council decided to melt down church treasures made of gold and to mint coins from them.
55	Iconoclasm in Bern. From the history of the Reformation from 1528 by Zurich reformer Heinrich Bullinger. Digitalization: Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Reformationsgeschichte 1528, 321 v
56	From bracelets to dental gold Gold recycling in Switzerland It is believed that as much as a third as much gold as the National Bank owns is sitting in drawers as jewellery. Its owners have forgotten about it or no longer wear it because it is out of fashion. Old gold can be melted down and reused. Nowadays, many goldsmiths only work with recycled old gold. But be careful: anyone who goes to the dealer of old gold too soon risks destroying jewels of cultural importance.
57	Old gold is weighed, documented, melted down and thus returned to the cycle. Photo: GYR Edelmetalle AG, Baar, 2012
58	More than ashes Gold in the crematoria In Switzerland, 90 percent of corpses are cremated, and metals such as prostheses, dental implants and jewellery go with them into the cremation furnaces. How should these be handled responsibly? Crematoria remove from the ashes larger medical implants made of titanium or steel. Gold usually goes into the urn. Very few crematoria remove the gold and return it to the cycle.
59	1 Brass chalice, gilded, Rougemont church (Vaud), age unknown. Collection Rittersaalverein
60	2 Bernese guilder (copy). In 1530, the Bern Council decided to mint gold coins like these from the melted-down church treasury. 3 Bernese batzen (copy). In 1529, the Bern Council had silver coins like these minted from the melted-down church treasury. Loan: Bernisches Historisches Museum
61	1 Golden jewellery of varying purity. Refineries process old gold in order to reuse it. 2 Mixed goldsmith waste (German: Gekrätz). Goldsmiths carefully collect such waste to recycle it: it’s far too precious for the bin!
62	3 Gold dental crown with rock crystal, made into a pendant setting. 4 Gold from cremation ashes. The city of Solothurn has decided that all metals be removed and recycled after cremation, the proceeds of which go to the cemetery. Loan: Solothurn Crematorium
63	Misjudged treasures Waste is more than just rubbish For a sustainable approach to the world, we should reuse products instead of throwing them away. This is often difficult these days: many things are designed in such a way that they break quickly and cannot be repaired. Composite materials cannot be broken down into their components. Drinks cartons, for example, consist of layers of cardboard, very thin aluminium and polyethylene plastic. New technologies enable us to recover the aluminium. Recycled metal has a much smaller ecological footprint than metal derived from mining.
64	Gold in waste Valuable waste slag Half of Switzerland’s municipal waste is recycled, with the rest being sent to incineration plants. These plants produce heat that can be used to heat buildings, as well as flue gases, ash and slag. Waste slag contains various metals, including gold. Recovering the metals from the slag can be profitable and conserves resources. The Zentrum für nachhaltige Abfall- und Ressourcennutzung, (Centre for sustainable waste and resource utilization, ZAR), a foundation for the promotion of the circular economy, is committed to such recycling.
65	Waste incineration plant Zürcher Oberland (KEZO), Hinwil. The KEZO produces heat and electricity and recovers metals from the waste. Photo: ZAR Foundation, 2006
66	Delivery of household waste, KEZO Hinwil. The waste is weighed and then incinerated. What remains is refuse slag and fly ash. Photo: ZAR Foundation, 2010
67	Slag processing with crusher, screening and density separation, KEZO Hinwil. Photo: Michael Soom, 2024
68	The induction separator at KEZO Hinwil separates usable metals from the slag after the iron has already been separated. Photo: Werner Lüthi, 2024
69	1 Municipal waste. The Swiss produce around two kilograms of municipal per person per day, and rising. Every year, this means over 6 million tonnes of municipal waste.
70	2 Slag from the Zurich Oberland waste incineration plant in Hinwil. One tonne of waste leaves around 200 kilograms of slag after it has been burned.
71	3 Iron parts from slag. Iron parts are extracted from the slag by hand and with a magnetic separator. 4 Aluminium from slag. Aluminum for example from packaging. After incineration it is recovered from the slag. Donations: ZAR Foundation
72	5 Five kilograms of non-ferric metals. This is the quantity recovered from one tonne of slag by the induction separator. Donation: ZAR Foundation 6 Bowl with 400 milligrams of gold. The amount of gold contained in a tonne of slag.
73	Ideas for the future Gold from electronic waste To extract a single gram of gold from mining, some companies move several tons of rock. Recycling electronic waste is so much easier: forty smartphones also contain one gram of gold! Because gold does not oxidize and conducts electricity, particularly sensitive parts in electronic devices are plated in gold. It is worth it to recover the gold from the waste materials, but this requires a lot of energy and highly toxic chemicals. Researchers are therefore working on new techniques.
74	Whey sponge and gold If you want to recover gold from waste, you can use waste from cheese production! Researchers at ETH Zurich use whey, a by-product of cheese production, in order to recycle gold from electronic waste. First, they produce a sponge from whey protein. Then they separate the gold from the waste with acid. Next, they immerse the sponge in the acid bath, which binds the gold to its fibres. Burning the sponge, pure gold remains. In this way, a completely non-toxic, renewable material accomplishes what would otherwise require the use of toxic chemicals such as mercury or cyanide solutions.
75	Protein fibres obtained from whey. These fibres are formed at high temperatures. Photo: Michael Soom, 2024
76	The whey sponge pioneers (from left to right): Enrico Boschi, Prof. Raffaele Mezzenga, Dr. Mohammad Peydayesh. Photo: ETH Zurich, Alan Kovacevic, 2024
77	Whey protein fibre sponge is very light. It can concentrate gold. Photo: Advanced Materials, 2024
78	Schematic representation of gold extraction using whey protein. Illustration: Advanced Materials (edited by Mohammad Peydayesh)
80	1 Computer circuit boards. In such circuit boards, precious metals such as gold are finely distributed. Loan: intact Foundation, Burgdorf 2 Cup with whey (replica). Whey is a by-product of cheese production. Only a quarter of whey is used today.
81	3 Whey protein sponge. The sponge is obtained by treating whey in the laboratory with acid at high temperatures. Loan: ETH Zurich 4 Bottle with whey protein fibre sponge. The sponge binds to gold dissolved in acid. Loan: ETH Zurich
82	5 Ashes from a burnt whey protein sponge. The ashes contain minute particles of gold. Loan: ETH Zurich 6 450 milligrams of gold. The quantity of gold that can be recycled from twenty computer circuit boards.
83	Natural gold Another way to extract gold It’s not just Swiss streams and rivers that carry gold. This precious metal is also found in gravel pits. Gravel production produces sand with heavy minerals. The company Swissgolder washes gold from this sand, without having to use toxic chemicals. The gold is left in its natural purity and is sold under the name of natural gold.
84	Gravel pit on the Swiss Plateau. Gold can be extracted from gravel pits without using toxic chemicals. Photo: Geotest AG, 2017
85	Gold extracted from a gravel pit. Gold is poured into a crucible, then melted and reworked. Photo: Swissgolder, 2020
86	Small ingots are cut out of a sheet of gold. The weight and a motif are stamped onto the raw ingots. Photo: Swissgolder, 2024
87	“Green mercury” Dead leaves instead of toxic heavy metal To separate gold from other materials, mercury is often used, but its highly toxic nature harms the environment and health. In Colombia, indigenous people have long been extracting gold, using leaves of the balsa tree and the West Indian elm. A soapy foam made from these leaves traps minerals in which gold is found, and the gold remains behind. This foam would be a perfect non-toxic substitute. So far, however, there have been no plans to extract and export the active ingredient in these leaves.
88	Leaves of the balsa tree in Colombia. Photo: Oliver Schmieg, 2013
89	A person prepares the balsa leaf foam which is used for extracting gold. Photo: Oliver Schmieg, 2013
90	1 Rubber mat for washing gold. The rubber mat retains heavy minerals and gold in aluminium ducts. 2 Sand made from heavy minerals. In the sand, a by-product of gravel extraction, small gold flakes can be seen. 3 Natural gold from a gravel pit in northwestern Switzerland.
91	4 Two-gram ingots of natural gold. 5 «Granat» earring made of natural gold by goldsmith Julia Winkler, Langnau i E. 6 “Swiss cross” pendant, made by Marcel Siegenthaler from gold from the Napf region, Swissgolder.
92	The paper forest is the place for your thoughts: What do you think about gold? What is the best way to manage it? What do you wish for a sustainable future? Write it down on a piece of paper and attach it to this wire!
93	Legendary gold Myths, tales and legends Gold fires the imagination, and the imagination creates stories. In so many tales and legends around the world gold plays a central role. Gold stands for true values, but also for human greed. Gold reveals itself to good people – and deceives the bad. Immerse yourself in the wonderful world of gold! This audio station was created in collaboration with the Mutabor Märchenstiftung, Trachselwald.
94	Fancy more? Follow this link and discover a whole treasure trove of other legends about gold.
95	The golden tree trunk in Napf Emmental legend, recommended for ages 7 and up, 5 min.
	There were times when the people of Emmental were worse off. The people suffered under the great power of the authorities in Bern. They had to pay more and more taxes and hand over ever larger shares of the harvest. At the same time, their own possessions were worth less and less. And when a greedy, selfish bailiff was in charge of the area, things got really bad. And he was just such a man. One of the worse kind. He arbitrarily increased taxes even more and demanded even more levies. He convicted people for trivialities and locked them up. He preferred to pocket the debt money straight away. He knew no mercy. And so, his subjects got worse and worse. They suffered from hunger while he enriched himself. His treasury filled up more and more with gold. At some point, enough was enough: the people had had enough of the hard-hearted tyrant. They banded together and armed themselves with their axes, rakes, pitchforks and clubs to bring down the evil bailiff. He had caught wind of the uprising just in time. The uprising struck fear into his heart. He hastily gathered his gold treasure and fled, up and away over the Emmental hills in the direction of the Napf. He made it as far as the mountain and then climbed up. At the summit, however, he collapsed under his heavy load. “I can’t go on, I can’t take another step. This tiresome gold, it’s just too heavy. I have to hide it before they catch up with me in the end. I can get it back when better times come.” With a last-ditch effort, he hid the whole treasure in a mountain crevice. And immediately his pursuers caught up with him and in their great rage they slew the bailiff. But what happened to the gold treasure? The dwarves, who had been living in the Napf for thousands of years, took the treasure.The dwarves know their way around gold. In the mountain, they melted down the gold and, with great effort, shaped it into a golden Trämel (tree trunk). Ever since then, they have watched over and guarded this Trämel like the apple of their eye. Only sometimes, on particularly clear nights with a full moon, do they carry the Trämel outside so that they can admire its golden glow in the moonlight. The inhabitants of the Napfbergland can then see it shining from afar on the mountain above. “Look, look how it sparkles beautifully again!” “Yes, the mountain people must have brought the golden Trämel back to the cave.” “Look how the gold shines.” But anyone who dares to try and take away the golden Trämel with their own hands and wants to take possession of it must remain silent the whole time. One word is enough and the heavy Trämel goes back into the mountain with a thunderclap. To this day, no one has ever managed to pull the Trämel out of the mountain without a word. And so, it is still where it most probably belongs: in the dark treasure chamber of the Napf.
96	The dwarves of the Rotachen Gorge Emmental legend, recommended for ages 5 and up, 4 min.
	Many years ago, it is said that dwarves lived in a deep rocky cave in this very gorge. Sometimes you could see small lights flashing at the entrance to the gorge at dusk. These must have been the dwarves coming out of the gorge with their lanterns. They helped the farmers of nearby Brenzikofen with haying and grazing in the summer and picking the ripe fruit in the fall. They filled the baskets with nuts, pears and apples and placed the baskets in front of the farmers’ barn. It was not uncommon for a farmer to arrive in the barn early in the morning to find that his cows had already been milked. The milk churn, neatly filled with milk, stood in the barn and next to it the butter churn. This was also filled with churned butter. It was such a joy! At night, the dwarves sometimes secretly scattered some gold in the stream at the back of the gorge. The next day, the people of the village in the Rotachen gorge saw the gold flickering and glittering. They washed out the gold and some of them even became rich in the process. Yes, the people of Brenzikofen fared well in the neighborhood of these industrious dwarves. One day, however, the little dwarves came under the eye of a farmer. It was the middle of winter and bitterly cold. “Oh no! These dwarves are hardly wearing any clothes and must be freezing in this bad weather. They always help me so well. Now it’s my turn and I can do them a favor and thank them for their help.” The next day, the farmer went to the village tailor and ordered 12 small warm shirts. In no time at all, the shirts were made. Carefully, the farmer put one after the other into his most beautiful basket and placed it in front of the barn door. He hid himself. He didn’t have to wait long: the little fellows came and gathered around the basket: each one grabbed a shirt and slipped into it. Each shirt fit like a glove. They turned around and admired each other: they felt like little princes in their new clothes. “Heidieldum, Heideldum, turn around, turn around, Heidieldum, Heideldum, just turn around. Look at the beautiful shirts, from today, from today, we don’t have to work anymore, just look at them”. And so they danced home and one by one they disappeared into the gorge. And they were gone forever. From that day on, you never saw dwarves again. Only: if you look closely, you might see it: the glitter of gold in the Rotache. Who knows, maybe the dwarves are still there and sometimes secretly scatter a little gold in the stream at night.
97	The Dwarfs of the Seeland Fairy tale from the Bernese Seeland, recommended for ages 5 and up, 3 min.
	There were once dwarves in Seeland. They lived in small caves in the forest and were also known as earth people or wooden people because they ate from wooden bowls. The herb-loving dwarf women were called Holzmütterchen (wooden mothers). In those days, a poor day laborer lived in a simple hut near the large moss. He was so poor that his many children were always hungry. And this night his wife was due to give birth to another child. The poor day laborer could not afford a midwife. So he ran towards the forest to ask one of the little wooden mothers for help. The old dwarf woman went with him to the day laborer’s hut. She expertly helped the poor day laborer’s wife until the youngest child was born. Then she asked the day laborer to accompany her home again. When they arrived in the forest, she untied her apron and put something heavy from her cave inside. She put it in the day laborer’s hand and said: “Take this apron with you as a gift, you have a hard time with all the children now that everything has become so expensive. It will help you.” The day laborer thanked her and made his way home. The apron seemed very heavy to him. “There must be bricks in there,” he thought. In the dark, he reached into the fabric and let individual pieces fall out. But the little wooden mother had seen this and called out: “The more you drop, the less you will have!” The man was startled and carried the heavy apron home. How astonished he was when he found lots of gold pieces in the apron the next morning. From that day on, his family was better off and the children never had to go hungry again. But the dwarves no longer exist in Seeland. The story goes that they didn’t like the people becoming greedier and greedier. They left – no one knows where.
98	Mount Simeli A Grimm Brothers tale, recommended for ages 7 and up, 5 min.
	Once upon a time there lived two brothers. One was so poor that his children went hungry. The other was very rich, but no matter how much the poor man begged him, he would not help him in his need. Once the poor man was driving his cart through the forest when he suddenly noticed a rock that he had never seen before. At that moment he heard voices, and because he was afraid of robbers, he pushed the cart into the bushes and climbed a tree. Then he saw twelve men coming, standing in front of the rock and shouting: “Mount Semsi, Mount Semsi, open up!” The rock opened, the twelve men went inside and the rock closed behind them. After a while, the men came out again, laden with heavy sacks, and they called out: “Mount Semsi, Mount Semsi, close up!” The rock closed so that nothing could be seen of the entrance and the twelve men disappeared into the forest. The poor man waited a while longer, then he climbed down from the tree, stood in front of the rock face and called out: “Mount Semsi, Mount Semsi, open up!” Then the rock opened up, and inside was a cave full of gold and silver and pearls and gemstones. The poor man had never seen such riches in his life. He pondered back and forth, finally taking a handful of gold coins and leaving the other treasures behind. As he stepped out of the rock, he said: “Mount Semsi, Mount Semsi, close up!” The rock closed and the man drove home in his cart. With the gold coins, he was able to buy bread and warm clothes for his children so that they no longer had to suffer hardship. And because he was generous, he also gave something to the poor. When the gold was used up, he wanted to go back to the rock to take some of the treasures. He borrowed a bushel of grain from his rich brother, filled the gold coins into a bag in the cave and brought the bushel back in the evening. The rich man had long wondered why his brother was suddenly so happy and generous. When the poor man soon wanted to borrow the bushel one last time, the rich brother secretly coated the underside of the bushel with pitch. When the brother returned the bushel in the evening, a piece of gold was stuck to it. “Where have you been, scooping gold with a bushel?” he asked him threateningly. Then the brother had to tell everything, and he also revealed the secret with the magic spell. The rich man immediately had a large wagon hitched up, drove to the mysterious rock and called out: “Mount Semsi, Mount Semsi, open up!” The rock opened up and the rich man entered the cave with the treasures. He stuffed the gold and gemstones into his pockets, filled sacks and baskets, but it still didn’t seem to be enough for him. But when he finally wanted to leave the rock to return home with the treasures, he couldn’t remember the spell. “Mount Simeli, open up,” he called out, but the rock remained closed. Whatever name he gave the rock, it was the wrong one. So he had to stay in the mountain and when the rock opened in the evening, the twelve men entered and found the rich man in the midst of sacks full of gold and he lost his head and his life. When the rich man did not return home that evening, the brother set off in search of him. But both the rock and the treasure cave had disappeared. But if you ever found the rock, would you still know the spell from Mount Sam…, Sum…, Simeliberg?
99	The Little Golden Stars Tale from the Czech Republic, recommended for ages 5 and up, 3 min.
	Once upon a time there was an orphan girl called Božena. She was on her way to her aunt and had nothing left but the clothes she was wearing and a piece of bread that her poor godfather had given her to take with her. It was already fall and winter was just around the corner. All alone, Božena made her way to the village where her aunt had her little house. She met a beggar on the street and he asked for some food. The girl took the bread she had received from her godfather, gave it to the poor man and said: “God’s blessing for you.” Then she walked on and the path led into the forest. There Božena met a little girl who was shivering with cold because she was only wearing thin, torn clothes. Božena took pity on the girl and said: “Here, take my shawl, you need it more than I do.” The little girl gratefully took the shawl and Božena went on her way. In the forest, she met another girl who was so poor that she didn’t even have a warm skirt. Božena took off her warm woolen skirt and gave it to the little girl. Then she went further into the forest. Her thin shirt barely kept her warm, but she kept thinking about the grateful smiles of the beggar and the two girls, and that made her happy. Suddenly she saw stars falling from the sky. Yes, they fell in front of her on the path. She went and picked them up and suddenly she was wearing a warm skirt again – with an apron. The girl happily collected the stars in her apron and went on her way. At midnight, she sat down under a tree and fell asleep. When Božena woke up the next morning, one of the stars had turned into a Plinse, a pancake, so she didn’t have to go hungry. So she walked on all day until she reached her aunt’s cottage in the evening. Her aunt hugged and kissed the girl, and Božena said: “Look, look auntie, what I have in my apron!” But instead of the many little stars, lots of gold pieces rolled out of the apron. What a joy for Boženka and her aunt! Now they never had to go hungry again and could do a lot of good for others for the rest of their lives.
100	King Mohindra and the gold Tale from India, recommended for ages 7 and up, 4 min.
	Many thousands of years ago, a powerful king named Mohindra once lived in India. His empire was vast and his wealth so immeasurable that his gold coins filled many treasuries while his people suffered from hunger. But no matter how much gold the king possessed, it was still not enough for him. Once, King Mohindra sat in one of his treasure chambers until late at night, counting his gold. Then suddenly it became light, an angel appeared to him and said: “Tonight you have one wish. Tell me, what do you wish for?” Mohindra looked at the gold in his hand and said: “I wish that everything I touch turns to gold!” “Your wish will be granted. As soon as the new day dawns, everything you touch will turn to gold,” said the angel, disappeared and the room went dark again. King Mohindra could hardly wait for the next morning. Every hour he went into the garden to see if the sun had risen yet. As dawn turned the sky golden, the king walked through his garden full of anticipation. With his hand he touched a rose that was just opening its bloom, and before his eyes it turned gold. As if in a frenzy, Mohindra touched every flower, every plant and every tree and soon the garden shone in pure gold and the sun was reflected in it. At that moment, the king’s daughter entered the garden. She went to the golden rose and wanted to smell it, but the scent had disappeared. She became so sad that she cried. King Mohindra approached his daughter to comfort her. He took her by the hand and she turned to gold. Horrified, he let go of her hand and called desperately for help, but no one could give him back his child. He was brought food and drink, but everything he touched turned to gold. Then King Mohindra realized that although he was the richest man on earth with his wish, he would soon die of hunger, and he began to weep. He wept long into the night. Then the angel appeared to him again and King Mohindra asked: “Please take back my gift of gold. I want everything to be as it was before.” The angel took pity on the king and granted him this wish too. From that day on, however, King Mohindra understood the true value of the gold. He distributed the wealth among the poor and ruled justly for the rest of his life.
	Credits Project team: Yolanda Fischer, Werner Lüthi, Michael Soom, Tamara Suter Mediation: Yolanda Fischer, Philipp Meyer, Tamara Suter Audio plays: Heidi Bracher, Luciana Brusa, Claudia Büttler, Djamila Jaenike Technology: Tweaklab Exhibition texts: Marcel Hänggi Translations: Mirjam Grob, Paul Corken, Marine Jeangros Graphics: Häberli zur Grafik Printing: Lettra Design Carpentry work: Blockbau Burkhalter, Gfeller+Friedli Holzbau AG, Läng Schreinerei und Küchenbau AG Consulting: Daniel Furter, Katrin Rieder, Nela Weber We would like to thank for their help: Einwohnerdienste Stadt Solothurn ETH Zürich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology Fachstelle Sekundärrohstoffe, Universität Bern Historisches Museum Bern Haute Ecole Arc Conservation-restauration, Neuchâtel Mutabor Märchenstiftung, Trachselwald Naturhistorisches Museum Bern Rittersaalverein Burgdorf Stiftung intact Burgdorf Stiftung Zentrum für nachhaltige Abfall- und Ressourcennutzung ZAR Kehrichtverbrennungsanlage Zürcher Oberland KEZOAnd for their support of this project: BEKB-Förderfonds Burgergemeinde Bern Fondation Johanna Dürmüller-Bold Förderclub Museum Schloss Burgdorf Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft Burgdorf Stiftung Temperatio Stiftung Vinetum Verein Goldkammer Schweiz Zwillenberg-Stiftung