Lauterbrunnen is a
municipalityCommunes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the
Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative districtInterlaken-Oberhasli District in the Canton of Bern was created on 1 January 2010. It is part of the Oberland administrative region. It contains 29 municipalities with an area of and a population of 48,763....
in the
cantonThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Bern in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
The
municipalityCommunes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
lies in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and comprises the villages Lauterbrunnen,
WengenWengen is a village in the Bernese Oberland in the canton of Bern, located in central Switzerland at an elevation of 1274 m above sea level, and is part of the Jungfrauregion. Wengen has approximately 1,300 year-round residents...
,
MürrenMürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m above sea level and unreachable by public road....
,
GimmelwaldGimmelwald is a small village in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland, halfway up the mountain between Stechelberg and Mürren, at an elevation of 1363 meters...
,
StechelbergStechelberg is a small village in the glacier carved Lauterbrunnen valley of the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland, sitting at the base of the Jungfrau mountain...
and
IsenfluhIsenfluh is a hamlet in Switzerland, north of the road from Wilderswil to Lauterbrunnen.In 1973, Isenfluh, together with Wengen, Muerren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen, became part of the municipality of Lauterbrunnen....
. The population of the Lauterbrunnen village is less than that of Wengen, but greater than that of the others.
History
Lauterbrunnen is first mentioned in 1240 as
in claro fonte. In 1304 it was mentioned as
Luterbrunnen.
Geography
Lauterbrunnen has an area, , of 164.56 square kilometres (63.5 sq mi). Of this area, 36.79 square kilometres (14.2 sq mi) or 22.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.84 square kilometres (11.1 sq mi) or 17.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.31 square kilometre (0.891895986348756 sq mi) or 1.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.08 square kilometre (0.416990331279938 sq mi) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and 95.39 square kilometres (36.8 sq mi) or 58.0% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.5%. 13.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.5% is pastures and 18.9% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 10.3% is unproductive vegetation, 31.3% is too rocky for vegetation and 16.3% of the land is covered by glaciers.
The river
Weisse LütschineThe Lütschine is a river in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.It flows from Zweilütschinen, where its two tributaries join, on a length of 8.6 km through the Bödeli and into Lake Brienz at Bönigen....
flows through Lauterbrunnen and overflows its banks about once a year. The source of the river comes from melting snow high in the mountains, thus making it a very pure and clean source of water. It is common practice in the camp sites to chill drinks in the water.
Lauterbrunnen lies at the bottom of a hanging or U-shaped valley that extends south and then south-westwards from the village to meet the 8 kilometres (5 mi)
Lauterbrunnen WallThe Lauterbrunnen Wall is a north-west-facing mountain wall in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It runs for 8 kilometres from the Gletscherhorn in the east, through the Ebnefluh, , the Mittaghorn and the Grosshorn , to the Lauterbrunnen Breithorn in the west, where the wall comes to an end at...
. The valley of Lauterbrunnen (
Lauterbrunnental) is one of the deepest in the Alpine chain when compared with the height of the mountains that rise directly on either side. It is a true cleft, rarely more than one kilometre in width, between limestones precipices, sometimes quite perpendicular, everywhere of extreme steepness. It is to this form of the valley that it owes the numerous waterfalls from which it derives its name. The streams descending from the adjoining mountains, on reaching the verge of the rocky walls of the valley, form cascades so high that they are almost lost in spray before they reach the level of the valley. The most famous of these are the
Staubbach FallsThe Staubbach Falls is a waterfall in Switzerland, located just above Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland. The waterfall drops about 300 metres from a hanging valley that ends in overhanging cliffs above the Lütschine River.The stream, on reaching the verge of the rocky walls of the valley,...
within less than one kilometres of the village of Lauterbrunnen. The height of the cascade is between 800 and 900 ft (243.8 and 274.3 m), one of the highest in Europe formed of a single unbroken fall.
Demographics
Lauterbrunnen has a population (as of ) of . , 19.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -14.3%. Most of the population speaks German (85.2%), with Portuguese being second most common (4.9%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (2.0%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the
SVPThe Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
which received 38.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the
FDPThe Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
(19.8%), the
SPSThe Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(14.5%) and the
Green PartyThe Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...
(10.5%).
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 22.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.7%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Lauterbrunnen about 66.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a
FachhochschuleA Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
).
Lauterbrunnen has an unemployment rate of 3.57%. , there were 186 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 64 businesses involved in this sector. 197 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 32 businesses in this sector. 1557 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 194 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year |
population |
| 1764 |
828 |
| 1850 |
1,756 |
| 1900 |
2,551 |
| 1910 |
3,204 |
| 1920 |
2,593 |
| 1950 |
2,876 |
| 1980 |
3,077 |
| 2000 |
2,914 |
- Since 1973 includes Isenfluh
Origin of the name
According to locals, the name Lauterbrunnen is a combination of
lauter meaning many, and
brunnen meaning
springA spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
, fountain, or well. However, there is considerable dispute about the meaning of 'lauter', with some translating it as louder and others as clear, bright, or clean.
Transport
The
Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB) train runs to
InterlakenInterlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
.
The
WengernalpbahnWengernalpbahn is a 19.091 km long, gauge rack railway line in Switzerland, which runs from Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg, making it the world's longest continuous rack and pinion railway....
(WAB) train leads to
Kleine ScheideggThe Kleine Scheidegg is a high mountain pass below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. It connects Grindelwald with Lauterbrunnen. The name means "minor watershed", even though it is actually higher than the neighbouring Grosse Scheidegg...
and on to
GrindelwaldGrindelwald is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The village is located at above sea level in the Bernese Alps.-Winter sports:...
,
The
cable carAn aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...
and connecting train, both operated by the
Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-MürrenThe Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren is a mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland area of Switzerland, which connects the villages of Lauterbrunnen and Mürren. The enterprise consists of a connected aerial cableway, also known as the Grütschalpbahn, and a adhesion worked railway.-Operations:The...
(BLM), provide service to
MürrenMürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m above sea level and unreachable by public road....
. An alternative route to
MürrenMürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m above sea level and unreachable by public road....
is available using the bus via the
TrummelbachThe Trummelbach Falls in Switzerland are a series of ten glacier-waterfalls inside the mountain made accessible by tunnel-lift and illuminated....
Falls to
StechelbergStechelberg is a small village in the glacier carved Lauterbrunnen valley of the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland, sitting at the base of the Jungfrau mountain...
and then the Luftseilbahn Stechelberg-Mürren-Schilthorn (LSMS).
In other media
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
's poem
Gesang der Geister über den Wassern (literal translation: Song of the Spirits above the Waters) was written while he stayed at the parish house near the
Staubbach FallsThe Staubbach Falls is a waterfall in Switzerland, located just above Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland. The waterfall drops about 300 metres from a hanging valley that ends in overhanging cliffs above the Lütschine River.The stream, on reaching the verge of the rocky walls of the valley,...
waterfall in Lauterbrunnen. The Lauterbrunnen valley also provided the pictorial model for
J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's sketches and watercolours of the fictitious
valleyIn geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
of
RivendellRivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...
, and possibly also the name of the Bruinen river (meaning 'Loudwater') which flowed through it.
Lauterbrunnen featured in several scenes from the 1969
James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film
On Her Majesty's Secret ServiceOn Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
, including a car chase in which Bond (played for the only time by
George LazenbyGeorge Robert Lazenby is an Australian actor and former model, best known for portraying James Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.-Early life:...
) was driven away from henchmen of
Ernst Stavro BlofeldErnst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and a supervillain from the James Bond series of novels and films, who was created by Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory. An evil genius with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond and is arguably...
by his girlfriend
Tracy di VicenzoTeresa "Tracy" Bond is a fictional character and the main Bond girl in the James Bond film and novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service...
in a dramatic pursuit which culminated in them shaking off the pursuers in a stock car race.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064757/locations The 360 degree revolving restaurant
Piz GloriaPiz Gloria is the name of the revolving restaurant on the Schilthorn near Mürren in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. The cable car station and the restaurant were designed by the Bernese architect, Konrad Wolf...
which crowns the Schilthorn peak was used to film Blofeld's hideout. In the movie Bond escapes from it by skiing down the mountain to reach the village of
MürrenMürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m above sea level and unreachable by public road....
at its base.
External links