LA GRUYERE, Switzerland,(dpa) – Most of the 500,000 tourists who visit the Gruyere region in the Swiss canton of Fribourg come for the landscape, the cheese and the mediaeval Gruyere Castle. But should they chance into a different castle, they’re in for a shock.
The small St. Germain Castle in the centre of Gruyere was bought in 1998 by Swiss artist Hans Ruedi Giger, to exhibit the horrific creatures he made for the cult “Alien” Hollywood movies.
Anyone planning a visit to the Gruyere Castle passes by the HR Giger Museum and many rub their eyes in amazement when they see the threatening draconian figure over the entrance.
Visitors Tymen Veldhuizen and Inge Fortgens were not shocked: “We came from Holland especially to see this museum,” said Tymen, who was sporting a T-shirt with the words “UFO” and a photo of a flying saucer on the front.
HR Giger, as he calls himself, became internationally famous in 1979 through his collaboration with director Ridley Scott for the movie “Alien”.
His designs for the successful film monsters, from the alien egg to the alien baby, which likes to attach itself to humans and eat them up from the inside, to fully grown extra-terrestials, are all on show in this exhibition. Even the Oscar which Giger won for his work has its own glass case. The walls lined with black fabric and rooms of grey plastic, create a really gruesome atmosphere.
But the thick ceiling beams and windows looking out over sun- drenched Gruyere landscape remind visitors that the museum is housed in a tiny 13th century castle.
An antique tapestry depicting Mary and Joseph on a donkey, has been preserved and serves as a reminder of the religious previous owners. But the same room also exhibits a table with feet made of six figures of Jesus.
HR Giger was born in 1940 in the Swiss canton of Grisons, and developed his attraction for the grim and gruesome from childhood. His special artistic style made him popular mainly with science fiction fans.
The artist himself calls his works “biomechanic,” a description that makes sense when you study his pictures. At first sight they look like endless technical landscapes, electrical circuits or futuristic architecture, but on closer closer inspection they turn out to be a chaotic mixture of hose pipes, spinal columns, organs and genitalia.
The horror museum attracts around 200 visitors per day at weekends, said the ticket seller. “I like some of his pictures but by no means all of them,” she grinned.
“Ugh, this is all too obscene for me,” said a mother visiting with her son and daughter. But her children loved it. “Cool,” said one. “The alien was especially exciting,” said the other. But he added: “Somehow, this is the wrong place for it.” His mother and sister agreed.
The experience may have been gruesome but it clearly wasn’t stomach-churning. The family set off afterwards for a cheese fondue on a terrace overlooking the lush green countryside.
