Try now to put yourself back 500 years to the time of the Reformation, the division of Christianity and ecclesial renewal in various directions. A tremendous upheaval in society! The common people had hardly any rights and daily had to fight for their survival. A small group – who became known as the “Anabaptists” – had different convictions and chose to go their own way. What the authorities and society did not like was also fought over in Switzerland for centuries. And so dissenters – among whom for a long time the followers of free churches also belonged – were persecuted, excluded and threatened for centuries. First and foremost, the Anabaptists. To here follow Jacob Baltzli's life is to immerse oneself in that time of persecution, the struggle for life and the hope for a better time. It's good to know that this fearful and brutal time in Berne is long gone.

The Station Way is a joint project of the Bern Mennonite community and the minster parish. They commissioned Swisscovery to build a route showing the Bernese Anabaptist history like the popular Foxtrails. Thereby, those who take part have an opportunity to immerse themselves in the history of the Anabaptists with all their senses. Each station provides a fun, playful and educational message, a task and, with the right solution, a hint for finding the next one.

Striking images and interactions provide an impression of the intents and way of life of the Anabaptists and their decades-long collision with the social majority. Since it is impossible to tell the full story on the station way, only a few, impressive “snapshots” have been chosen. The history is told from the point of view of a fictional Anabaptist, knowing that the time period does not completely agree with what is protrayed.

The life and times of Jacob Baltzli are told along the way in the form of an entertaining, but also serious game and made so they are emotionally felt and experienced. Just as in a novel, the happenings and persons are protrayed without being necessarily scientifically accurate. In order to be true to the historical context, the historical facts are displayed at the stations. The same information is also presented on this website.