Kandersteg

Kandersteg

State :	Switzerland Switzerland
Canton :	Canton Bern Bern (BE)
Administrative district :	Frutigen-Niedersimmentalw
BFS no. :	0565i1 f3 f4
Postal code :	3718
UN / LOCODE :	CH KAN
Coordinates :	618 124 / 149510 coordinates: 46 ° 29 '48 " N , 7 ° 40' 29" O ; CH1903: six hundred eighteen thousand one hundred twenty-four / 14951046.496664 7.674719 1174
Height :	1174 m above sea level M.
Height range :	1103–3694 m above sea level M.
Area :	134.31 km²
Residents:	1298 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	10 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.gemeindekandersteg.ch
View from the Allmenalp cable car. Behind the valley to the Oeschinensee
Location of the municipality
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Kandersteg is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland .

geography

Kandersteg is located at the end of the Kandertal at 1,174 m above sea level. The community has around 1,230 inhabitants on an area of 134.58 km², making Kandersteg the fourth largest community (twenty-fourth largest in Switzerland) in the canton of Bern. However, due to the alpine location, only about 30% of the area can be used. Highest point: Balmhorn , 3,698 m, lowest point: Bühl, 1,150 m

population

Population development
year	1764	1799	1818	1880	1900	1920	1940	1950	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2015
Residents	197	244	206	406	445	777	835	913	957	959	1,062	1,131	1,273	1,328

languages

The language is German, more precisely Chanderstägertütsch , a special dialect of the Bernese Oberland with references to the Valais dialect.

Denomination

Reformed - 88.50%
Roman Catholic - 11.50%

politics

Legislative is the twice yearly parish assembly, which is chaired by the mayor.

The executive is the local council with seven honorary members including the council president.

The voting shares of the parties in the 2015 National Council elections were: SVP 48.5%, BDP 13.7%, SP 11.9%, FDP 7.7%, glp 6.7%, GPS 5.0%, EVP 1.9 %, EDU 1.0%, CVP 1.0%.

economy

From an economic point of view, Kandersteg is shaped by tourism all year round. There are also agricultural and construction businesses as well as the Lötschbergbahn as a transport company. The workforce is employed in the following sectors: agriculture and forestry (5%), handicrafts and construction (21%) and trade, hospitality, services (74%).

tourism

The Kandersteg region with Oeschinensee

Today tourism in Kandersteg is particularly geared towards families. Kandersteg has 19 hotels with around 1,000 beds and 800 holiday apartments with 2,000 beds, a campsite and 22 restaurants. In 1850, a hotel with 5 beds was enough as a transit area for traders who brought their goods over the Gemmi Pass .

Several mountain railways are in operation in summer. Numerous hiking options, including comfortable hiking trails and high-alpine via ferrata, are available to guests and locals alike. Numerous mountain bike routes complete the leisure offer. The place itself offers a heated swimming pool, tennis courts, wellness offers and a climbing wall.

In winter, there are six transport systems (Oeschinen and Sunnbühl) and 100 km of cross-country ski trails in the Kandersteg ski region.

The most popular excursion destinations are the Oeschinensee , Sunnbühl (Gemmipass), the Gasterntal (Kander glacier ), Allmenalp , Ueschinen and the Blausee (fish farming; in the area of the municipality of Kandergrund).

Kandersteg is part of the extended UNESCO World Natural Heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch .

traffic

Kandersteg train station

The road leads from Spiez (A6 motorway from Bern ) via Frutigen to Kandersteg. There is a connection by car train to Goppenstein in the canton of Valais and to Iselle in Italy during the holiday season .

There are rail connections to Bern and Brig with the Lötschbergbahn .

Kandersteg has a local bus and a bus connection to Frutigen.

Olympia 2026

In the course of the Swiss application to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, which was withdrawn in June 2018 , the intention was to host ski jumping on the normal hill and the Nordic combined in Kandersteg . For this purpose, the community assembly on June 8, 2018, approved a loan of 1.2 million francs for the expansion of the access road to the ski jump.

history

Kandersteg, between 1893 and 1924, taken by Eduard Spelterini

The place name goes back to an old crossing over the Kander , which led to the Gemmi and Lötschen pass . These passes made it possible for the Romans to cross the Alps from Valais to the Bernese Oberland . Kandersteg was first mentioned in 1374 as a place to stay on the spice trade route coming from Italy over the Lötschenpass. The customs house in Schwarenbach also bears witness to the trade via the Gemmi .

Construction of the first village church began in 1511. The most famous house in the Kandertal is the richly decorated Ruedi house , built in 1753 for the soldier Peter Germann.

Kandersteg belonged to 1850 to the municipality of Frutigen and formed thereafter with Kandergrund the community Kandergrund. In 1908 Kandersteg became an independent municipality, the original municipality area of Kandergrund totaling 16,665 hectares was divided up: 3,207 hectares went to Kandergrund and 13,458 hectares were given to Kandersteg.

The construction of the Lötschberg tunnel from 1906 to 1913 created an important north-south connection and formed the basis for the Lötschbergbahn car transporter, which is still widely used today . The connection to the rail network promoted tourism; many of today's hotels and guest houses were built during this period. Before the First World War, Kandersteg already had 30 hotels and guest houses with a total of more than 1,300 beds.

In 1923, the Boy Scouts World Association founded WOSM with the Scout Center Kandersteg one of the first permanent international meeting places for scouts . Nowadays, around 10,000 scouts meet every year on the grounds of the center.

In the 1980s, the Swiss government bunker , known as the K20 guide system (cavern 20) , was built in the area of the Kandersteg community.

1991 was in Kandersteg theravada - Buddhist monastery Dhammapala founded.