At the heart of Môtiers, the Maison de l'Absinthe is a cultural centre that brings together a heritage building, a museum, a botanical garden and tasting spaces. The museum unfolds across several dimensions, to be explored at your own pace.
When you enter, you enter a terroir and a living culture. Plan your visit, while leaving room for discovery.
The Museum
A justice building turned into a place of transmission.
The Maison de l'Absinthe occupies the building that once housed a police station, a post office and a courthouse. This past resonates strongly with the history of absinthe, since those who produced it clandestinely were tried here.
The idea of dedicating this building to absinthe was born in 2004, and the project came to life in 2012; the Maison de l'Absinthe was inaugurated on 3 July 2014. Today, it is an interpretation centre whose mission is to celebrate the terroir of Val-de-Travers and to reflect a culture recognised as Swiss intangible cultural heritage.
The spaces of the Maison.
Our permanent trail highlights the plants, uses and history of absinthe, to be discovered on a self-guided or guided tour through the world of the Fée Verte. After the visit, the bar invites you to share in a selection of local absinthes and other drinks. Treat yourself to a tasting, accompanied by a local produce board.
Your experience continues in the shop (books, regional products, etc.) and, for those who want to go further, workshops and experiences are available on registration.
The absinthe garden.
The garden showcases the emblematic plants of absinthe, inviting you to explore them as living botanical specimens. Engage all five senses to find, on site, what you discovered on the trail.
On fine days, the terrace extends the bar: savour a glass while enjoying the calm and the delicate scents of the plants.
A contemporary and living trail.
Between origins, plants, clandestine history and rituals, the permanent trail offers an accessible understanding, without simplifying.
Temporary exhibitions explore a particular angle of absinthe: an object, a period or a particular voice.
Currently on display, discover the extraordinary story of Henry-Louis Pernod: that of a visionary craftsman who transformed a remedy into a pleasure, and a pleasure into an art of living. The Maison de l'Absinthe dedicates an original temporary exhibition to him, tracing the birth of Pernod Fils in Pontarlier in 1805 and the rise of a distillery that would shape the history of the aperitif.
Through thirteen bilingual panels, original objects, a portrait film and an animated map, the exhibition plunges you into the origins of an extraordinary human, industrial and cultural adventure. A story of passion, boldness and resilience — which begins here, in Val-de-Travers.