A keen eye for mushrooms

Autumn marks the start of mushroom season – and Saanenland is home to a veritable expert brimming with knowledge and a passion for all things mushroom: Bert Inäbnit. This kind-hearted native of Bern learned the art of mushroom picking from his father and has deepened his wide-ranging expertise on fungi by writing more than 35 books on the subject. Bert has been an avid collector of items from the natural world ever since he was a young boy. His fascinating finds, including ancient rocks, butterflies, reptiles and other rare discoveries, are now assembled in Switzerland’s smallest natural history museum. If you’re interested in the natural world, make sure a trip to Bert’s museum is on your agenda. Keen visitors can enjoy a tour of the private collection by prior arrangement. Bert’s love of mushrooms and longstanding experience have made him a renowned authority in his field. He now shares his knowledge with other mushroom lovers on exclusive trips, where he passes on invaluable tips for a successful mushroom hunt.  

Bert and his wife Nora moved to Saanenland around 18 years ago. It was here that the mushroom expert really threw himself into his passion for nature and woodland creatures. Alongside a degree in architecture, he also devoted himself to ornithology (the study of birds), making him a bona fide expert on all the flora and fauna of the forest.  

Mushroom-picking is not without its risks; many mushrooms can be highly toxic, which is why Bert warns against setting out on your own without knowing what you’re doing. If you have suspicions about a particular mushroom, he suggests having it looked over by a mushroom inspector – or not picking it in the first place. In Bern canton, there is also a quantity limit of 2 kg per person, per day. Once you’ve picked your mushrooms, they should be kept somewhere where the air can circulate around them, such as a basket or cloth bag. Every year, Bert supplies some 200–300 kg of ready-to-cook mushrooms exclusively to the Romantik Hotel Hornberg and the kitchen of the Hotel Kernen in Schönried.  

Besides mushrooms, Bert also picks berries and alpine herbs. Using great care and attention to detail, he turns these herbs into delicious tea that can be purchased exclusively from his daughter Lea’s gift and flower shop Lea like in Schönried. This joint project brings father and daughter together in a very special way, giving them the chance to share their love of nature and its healing powers. Every morning Bert enjoys a mug of his own homemade tea, comprising no fewer than 25 different herbs from the Saanenland. Since he started doing this, he very rarely falls ill. 

Bert’s insider tip is to carefully twist the mushroom out of the soil without damaging the base of the stalk. Then the hole left in the ground should be covered over again to protect the mushroom’s roots from damage. In any case, mushroom lovers aren’t overly keen to reveal their routes and picking sites. Bert still has clear memories of 1974, his record-breaking year when he and his friends picked more than 74 kg of porcini mushrooms in France. 

Bert Inäbnit has a keen eye for mushrooms – and he is enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge and passion for nature and these forest dwellers. If you’re interested in the mushrooms and natural treasures of the Saanenland, then he’s the man to see.