Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Bern (BE)
Administrative district :	Interlaken-Oberhasli
BFS no. :	0584
Postal code :	3822
UN / LOCODE :	CH WNG (Wengen)
Coordinates :	636032  /  161077 coordinates: 46 ° 36 '0 "  N , 7 ° 54' 32"  O ; CH1903:  636032  /  161077
Height :	795  m above sea level M.
Height range :	707-4159 m above sea level M.
Area :	164.66  km²
Residents:	2290 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	18 inhabitants per km²
Mayor :	Martin Stäger ( SVP )
Website:	www.lauterbrunnen.ch/de
Lauterbrunnen with the church and Staubbach in the background
Location of the municipality

Lauterbrunnen is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland .

geography

The community is located in the Lauterbrunnen valley and consists of the villages Lauterbrunnen, Wengen , Mürren , Gimmelwald , Stechelberg and Isenfluh . The population of Lauterbrunnen is lower than that of Wengen, but is higher than that of the other four towns. The total area of ​​the municipality Lauterbrunnen is 164.5 km². The lowest point in the community is 728 m above sea level. M. and the highest at 4158 m above sea level. M.

Lauterbrunnen is traversed by the Weisse Lütschine , which overflows its banks on average once a year.

The most famous and spectacular tourist attraction of the place are the Trümmelbach Falls , several waterfalls inside a mountain.

history

Staubbach, oil painting by Johann Ludwig Aberli (around 1758)

Lauterbrunnen from the Mürrenbahn, by Leo Wehrli (1935)

After 1300, the barons of Turn , who were mainly wealthy in the Valais , settled in the rear Lauterbrunnen valley. In contrast to the rest of the Bernese Oberland, Lauterbrunnen was settled from the Valais. The village appears in the sources as claro fonte in 1240 and as Luterbrunnen in 1304 . The place name refers to the clear (louder) springs and streams (wells). In the 13th century, the Lauterbrunnen valley belonged in part to the Rotenfluh – Unspunnen dominion of the barons of Wädenswil , who had sold the Sefinental to the Augustinian priory of Interlaken in 1240 . The priory expanded its sphere of influence through the acquisition of self-owned people, tallow, Alps and jurisdictions. The Lauterbrunnen valley was economically, judicially and, as part of the parish of Gsteig near Interlaken, also ecclesiastically under the monastery rule. The valley people of Lauterbrunnen built their own church between 1487 and 1488 without monastic permission.

In 1669 the plague raged in the Lauterbrunnen valley. Starting from Wengen, 360 of the 580 people who lived in the valley at that time died within four months.

The Staubbach Falls inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on his second trip to Switzerland in 1779 to write his song of the spirits over the waters , which he wrote as a guest in the rectory of Lauterbrunnen.

On April 12, 2007, a German Bundeswehr tornado fighter plane crashed south of Lauterbrunnen on the north face of the Äbeni Flue , killing the pilot and injuring the weapons system officer.

church

In 1487 the valley residents built their first church without the permission of the Gsteig parish to which it belonged. They were actively supported by their relatives in the Lötschental . The Lötscher bell was cast five years before construction began . The 200 kilogram bell was then carried over the gap on foot . When the old church was demolished in 1830, the supporting structure was found with which this transport was carried out. The bell was damaged at the lower edge because it probably had to be dragged on the particularly steep passages. Today it is in the valley museum.

Lauterbrunnen has been an independent parish since 1528, after having been part of the Gsteig near Interlaken parish for a long time .

traffic

The Bernese Oberland Railway (BOB) runs from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen. There is a connection to the Wengernalp Railway to Wengen , the Kleine Scheidegg and Grindelwald, as well as the Lauterbrunnen – Mürren (BLM) mountain railway . The Air-Glaciers heliport is located a little south of the village .

population

Population development
year	1653	1783	1811	1827	1856	1900	1910	1930	1941	1960	1970	1980	2006	2009	2014	2018
Whole community	525	860	1'221		1,698	2,551	3,204	2,958	2,819	3,281	3,478	3,077	3,065	2,936	2,956	2,588
Lauterbrunnen				375			1,029		885	1,022	1,073	954		858	838	776

The entire municipality includes the villages of Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Isenfluh.

tourism

The vertical rock faces around Lauterbrunnen are fascinating and with the Staubbach Falls and the Trümmelbach Falls , several waterfalls inside a rock face, a lasting impression is certain. The Mürrenbachfall with a drop of 417 meters and the Buchenbachfall with a drop of 380 meters are considered to be the two highest waterfalls in Switzerland. At 297 meters, the Staubbachfall is the highest free-falling waterfall in Switzerland. The Mattenbachfall as a cascade waterfall with its 840 meters is the third and eighth highest waterfall in Europe, just behind the Vinnufallet and the Skorga. In addition, there are good train connections to the skiing and hiking areas Kleine Scheidegg -Männlichen and Mürren in the direction of the Schilthorn . There are also hiking opportunities in the rear Lauterbrunnen valley, which is protected in some areas. If there is enough snow, a cross-country ski run leads from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg.

Lauterbrunnen is a magnet for base jumpers from all over the world, who jump from the surrounding up to 1000 m high, steep rock faces such as the Mürrenfluh or the Staldenfluh . There are around 20,000 jumps every year. Base jumpers are known as jump points such as High Nose Ultimate, Nose and La Mousse . According to a 2013 survey, 15% of all fatal base jump accidents worldwide occurred in the Lauterbrunnen valley. In 1994 the first base jumper in the valley, Xavier Bongardt, who brought the sport here in 1989, died. So far, 59 base jumpers have died (as of July 30, 2019). The tourism organization does not advertise the sport and distances itself from it. As early as 2006, a temporary ban had been discussed in order to spare guests and residents of Lauterbrunnen these accidents.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Lauterbrunnen

gallery

• 

  Lauterbrunnen in the Lauterbrunnen valley

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  Staubbach Falls

• 

  View of Lauterbrunnen with the Weisse Lütschine

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  Lauterbrunnen train station

• 

  Lauterbrunnen valley

Web links

Commons : Lauterbrunnen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Lauterbrunnen
• Anne-Marie Dubler : Lauterbrunnen. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent resident population from STAT-TAB of the BfS , municipalities see also regional portraits 2020 on bfs.admin.ch, accessed on May 29, 2020
2. ↑ On Walser Traces through Lauterbrunnen Valley, Verlag Schlaefli & Maurer AG
3. ↑ Notes on Goethe's poem "Song of the spirits over the waters" ; Article on internetloge.de, Hamburg; Retrieved April 15, 2014.
4. ↑ Disaster: Tornado pilot killed in crash in Switzerland ; Article on welt.de from April 12, 2007.
5. ↑ Talschaftszytig No. 10, October 2008
6. ↑ klettersteig-muerren.ch
7. ↑ Thomas Burmeister: Base jumping: Every little mistake can kill. t-online, December 5, 2016, accessed October 22, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Patrick Gasser: “There are always more”. In: Jungfrau newspaper. June 21, 2013, accessed September 12, 2013 . 
9. ↑ Bastian Henrichs: Adventure Basejumping, In: mobil 08/2015 ( Memento from August 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), p. 64 (accessed on November 5, 2019)
10. ^ BASE Fatality List ; BLiNC Magazine, as of March 30, 2014
    The Death Gorge of Bern. 20minutes Online, October 9, 2007, archived from the original on October 12, 2007 ; Retrieved April 15, 2014 . Gabriella Massimi: Base jumping cannot be forbidden. Jungfrau-Zeitung, October 11, 2007, accessed on April 15, 2014 .