City guide · Interlaken
Interlaken
The gateway to the Jungfrau between two lakes, where paragliders land on the meadow in the middle of town
It sits on the alluvial plain between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz — the name translates directly as "between the lakes" — at about 570 metres above sea level. The town itself has no high mountains, yet it faces the snow wall of the Jungfrau head-on: on one side of the Höheweg avenue stand century-old grand hotels, and on the other the Höhematte meadow is deliberately kept empty, so as not to block the mountain view — paragliders land on this green in the town centre. Interlaken is the transport hub of the Jungfrau region, and the trains from the east station run south into the valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald.
History
How the city came to be
Interlaken originates with an Augustinian monastery founded around 1133, whose Latin name "Inter Lacus" ("between the lakes") is the source of the town's name. After the Reformation the monastery lands passed to the canton of Bern, and for a long time the town was merely a lakeside village. The Unspunnen folk festivals of 1805 and 1808 first drew European travellers' eyes to the mountain scenery here, and the spread of the landscape painters' and poets' work made it famous in the early 19th century. In 1835 and 1839 steamboats began on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz in turn; in 1872 the Bödeli Railway linked the two lakes, in 1890 the Bernese Oberland Railway reached Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, and in 1912 the Jungfrau Railway climbed to the highest railway station in Europe. Victorian grand hotels lined up along the Höheweg, and Interlaken became the golden gateway to Alpine tourism; today it also serves as an adventure base for paragliding and rafting.
- c. 1133The Augustinian monastery founded; the town grows from it
- 1805The first Unspunnen folk festival held
- 1835Steamboat service opens on Lake Thun
- 1839Steamboat service opens on Lake Brienz
- 1872The Bödeli Railway opens, linking the two lakes
- 1890The Bernese Oberland Railway reaches Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald
- 1912The Jungfrau Railway opens to the Jungfraujoch station
Trips beyond the city
These places can be explored from this city but lie outside it. See each place for transport and visiting guidance.
