Each story is rooted in real local history and landmarks
The Writer automaton in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire comes alive at night and begins writing a story about himself, but his 40-character limit means the child must help him finish it. Piece by piece, across all the landmarks of Neuchâtel, the story unfolds — each chapter only 40 letters long.
A child discovers that the King of Prussia once ruled Neuchâtel from distant Berlin. They send the king a magical letter carried by a mechanical bird, showing him the lake, the mountains, and the people he has never met. The letter must convince him that Neuchâtel deserves to be free.
A mischievous fairy made of absinthe mist escapes from a clandestine still and leads a child on a moonlit chase through the Jura valleys. Along the way, she reveals the valley's secret distilling history — how the green fairy was banned for nearly a century but the people of Val-de-Travers never stopped believing in her.
A child notices that the local rosé wine has the exact colour of a partridge's eye. The partridge itself appears, alive and talking, and guides the child through Neuchâtel's vineyards, telling the story of the Roman monks who first planted the vines and the winemaker who gave Switzerland its first rosé in 1861.
A child finds a Celtic sword on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel and is transported to 200 BC, when the Helvetii built bridges and houses at La Tène. They must return the sword to the lake before the Laténium museum opens, or risk changing the course of European archaeology forever.
Young Louis Agassiz invites a child to his 'Hôtel des Neuchâtelois' on the Aar Glacier, where they discover that the entire land was once covered in ice. A frozen mammoth has something important to tell them about a world where glaciers stretched from the Alps to the sea.
On 1 March 1848, a child living in the castle wakes to hear the revolutionaries climbing the hill. They must decide whether to help the old Prussian governor or the republicans carrying torches and Swiss flags. One night's choice will decide whether Neuchâtel stays a monarchy or becomes a republic.
The Writer, the Draughtsman, and the Musician escape the museum and explore modern Neuchâtel, amazed by things they cannot understand — cars, phones, electric light. A child helps them navigate the city and find their way back before the Sunday demonstration begins.
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