| Lauterbrunnen (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
Lauterbrunnen
Photographer Description of Lauterbrunnen
For those who love ice age geography, Lauterbrunnen valley is one of the classical valleys displaying all the features of glaciation. This is a deep U-shaped valley with hanging valleys further up the mountains and tall waterfalls cascading down the sides. At winter time, because of the depth of the valley, the sun does not shine directly into the valley for very long.Lauterbrunnen - Further Information
Panorama from Lauterbrunnen village showing the church and some of the surrounding hotels. Lauterbrunnen lies in Lauterbrunnen valley, which runs south from Interlaken in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Lauterbrunnen is the second largest village in the valley after Wengen. The other villages include Mürren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Isenfluh. The area is renown for outstanding natural beauty. The valley is a classical, and large, U-shaped valley and the town of Lauterbrunnen is built along the river Weisse Lütschine. This river is fed by melting snow water and there are numerous waterfalls in the area. The most famous of these is the Staubbach waterfall, visible to the right of the church in this panoramic photograph, which cascades 300m down the cliffs. In winter these falls can freeze.Lauterbrunnen is quite low, at an altitude of just 796m, but there is easy access to the higher villages. A series of railways, coaches and lifts links the village with Wengen, Keine Scheidegg and Mürren. The population increases both during the summer and winter holiday seasons, when people flock to the area to walk, climb or ski as conditions permit. There are numerous hotels, guesthouses and chalets in the village, and a helpful Tourist Information Office is found just next to Lauterbrunnen Station.
Lauterbrunnen has inspired numerous writers and poets. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe based his poem 'Gesang der Geister über den Wassern' (literal translation: song of the spirits above the waters) on the Staubbach waterfall in Lauterbrunnen while staying in a guesthouse here. Lauterbrunnen valley was the inspiration for the fictitious Rivendell valley of the elves in J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and the author made numerous sketches and watercolors of the area. Tourism to the area increased greatly on the construction of the Wengernalpbahn in the 1890's.