![Downtown Schaffhausen Switzerland is kown as the home to the luxury watchmaker IWC watches](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-switzerland-thetastesf-1000031.jpg)
If you love watches, a stop in Schaffhausen is a must on any trip through the German side of Switzerland. Less than 40 minutes from Zurich by train, this small town on the Rhine is probably best known today as the home of the International Watch Company. It’s also just upstream of the Rheinfall, Europe’s largest waterfall. Beautifully preserved Renaissance-era buildings line the narrow streets. The city has a small Christmas market of its own, so we warmed up with a hot Aperol while we admired the architecture.
![Visit Schaffhausen Switzerland Christmas market in the main square with a giant Christmas Tree](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-switzerland-thetastesf-1000006.jpg)
![Visit Schaffhausen Switzerland at Christmas time for their Christmas market and a snack or a cup of hot mulled wine](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-switzerland-thetastesf-sarah-stanfield-1000015.jpg)
![Schaffhausen Switzerland is decorated for Christmas with shops hanging large bundles of mistletoe over their doorways and serving hot mulled wine](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-switzerland-thetastesf-sarah-stanfield-1000020.jpg)
![Historical Kirche St. Johannin Downtown Schaffhausen Switzerland](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-switzerland-thetastesf-1000019.jpg)
We stopped for just a few hours to tour IWC’s museum, which is located in its historic manufacture. The train ride from Zurich was beautiful, with the city giving way to views of the Rhine and vineyards. IWC is just a five-minute walk from the Schaffhausen train station if you don’t stop, but it is through the city’s old town, which proved to be quite a distraction.
While IWC recently completed construction of a modern, state of the art manufacture outside of Schaffhausen, the original is still in use and (like everything in Switzerland) beautifully maintained. On Saturdays, a watchmaker is on-site at the museum to explain how mechanical timepieces work, demonstrate the intricate process by which watches are assembled, and answer literally any question you could possibly have about the inside of a watch.
![On Saturdays an IWC Watch maker is available to answer questions at the IWC museum in schaffhausen Switzerland](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-iwc-museum-switzerland-thetastesf-1000025.jpg)
![Watch maker shows The Taste how to make a watch at the IWC museum in schaffhausen Switzerland](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-iwc-museum-switzerland-thetastesf-1000024.jpg)
The first room of the museum houses a collection of watches going back to IWC’s founding in 1868. To us, the most impressive item on display was Winston Churchill’s pocket watch. It’s displayed next to a thank you note Churchill wrote to IWC for sending him the watch. The second room of the museum shows the evolution of the modern collections over time.
If touring the IWC museum gets you in the mood to buy a watch, there is an adjoining boutique. We are told it’s the first IWC boutique to get new references as they are released. We got a chance to check out the first Portugieser Chronograph made with an in-house movement before heading back to Zurich in time for pre-dinner cocktails.
![IWC museum in Schaffhausen Switzerland displays historic watches, including Winston Churchill's pocket watch.](https://thetasteedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/schaffhausen-iwc-museum-winston-churchill-pocketwatch-switzerland-thetastesf-1000027.jpg)