Grindelwald
Your child becomes the hero of a story set right here in Grindelwald — at the city's real landmarks, in the familiar streets, in front of the buildings they know from everyday life.
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Or become part of the history of Grindelwald
Below you find the historical tales of Grindelwald — from old legends to famous local events. Create a free account, pick one as your starting point, your child takes a role inside it.
Historical tales from Grindelwald
Real stories from the past of Grindelwald — pick one and your child takes a role
The last ice harvesters of Grindelwald
In 1863, a child helps the ice cutters at the Lower Grindelwald Glacier, loading blocks onto sleds bound for Paris. But the glacier is alive and has something to say about losing its ice — a story that interweaves the old trade of ice harvesting with the glacier's own ancient memories of the Little Ice Age.
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From 1863 to 1914, the Bernese company Schegg & Bohlen held the concession for commercial ice harvesting at the Lower Grindelwald Glacier. Ice blocks were transported by road to Interlaken and then by train as far as Paris for use as refrigerant. In 1864 alone, 17,473 hundredweight of ice were extracted. The trade ended with the invention of electric refrigeration and the outbreak of World War I. The glacier has retreated dramatically — 1.9 km since 2007 alone.
The Eiger's secret window
A child discovers a hidden door inside the Eigerwand railway station — carved into the mountain at 2,865 meters — that leads into the heart of the Eiger itself. There, the mountain tells the stories of all the climbers who challenged its fearsome north face, from the 1936 tragedy to the triumphant first ascent in 1938.
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The Eiger North Face (Eigernordwand), nicknamed "Mordwand" (Murder Wall), rises 1,600–1,800 meters above the valley. In July 1936, four climbers perished in a harrowing attempt; Toni Kurz, age 23, died suspended on the rope within sight of rescuers at the Eigerwand railway station window — one of mountaineering's most haunting tragedies. The first successful ascent came on July 21–24, 1938, by Heckmair, Vörg, Harrer, and Kasparek.
The Velogemel race
A shy child builds a Velogemel with old Christian Buhlmann's ghost, enters the world championship, and discovers that the wooden sled steers itself when you believe in it. The story of a disabled inventor who turned his limitation into Grindelwald's most beloved tradition.
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The Velogemel was invented in 1911 by Christian Buhlmann, a physically disabled sawmill manager and woodcarving school graduate who needed a way to move around the village in winter. He built a bicycle-like wooden sled from ash and maple wood and patented it on April 1, 1911. Since 1996, Grindelwald has hosted the annual Velogemel World Championship. Manufacturing occurs exclusively in Grindelwald, with 30 to 50 units produced annually. It is recognized as a living tradition of Switzerland.
Ride to the Top of Europe
A child boards Adolf Guyer-Zeller's first train in 1912, traveling through the Eiger tunnel as construction workers' lanterns flicker in the dark. Emerging at the Jungfraujoch — 3,454 meters, the highest railway station in Europe — into blinding sunlight and eternal ice, the child witnesses a dream 16 years in the making finally come true.
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The Jungfrau Railway was conceived in 1893 by textile entrepreneur Adolf Guyer-Zeller. Groundbreaking began on July 27, 1896. The electric rack railway runs mostly inside a tunnel through the Eiger and Mönch mountains. Thirty workers died during construction. The first passenger train reached the Jungfraujoch (3,454 m) in July 1912 — 16 years after construction began. The 9.3 km route from Kleine Scheidegg earned the name "Top of Europe."
The glacier that remembers
The Lower Grindelwald Glacier is shrinking and forgetting its own past. A child walks the Glacier Gorge and collects the glacier's scattered memories — the marble quarried from its depths, the ice blocks shipped to Paris, the Little Ice Age when it reached into the village — before they melt away forever.
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The Lower Grindelwald Glacier once extended close to the village. Around 1730, Grindelwald marble was discovered in its frontal region and used to decorate the Swiss Parliament building. Around 1820, artist Samuel Birmann captured the glacier at its Little Ice Age maximum. The glacier was 8.3 km long in 1973 but had shrunk to just 6.2 km by 2015, with 1.9 km of retreat since 2007 alone — a dramatic symbol of climate change.
The flying elevator of the Wetterhorn
In 1908, a child is the first passenger on Wilhelm Feldmann's miraculous aerial cableway, soaring 420 meters above the glacier in a tiny cabin while the inventor's spirit rides alongside. Switzerland's first public aerial cableway — with its extreme 116% gradient — becomes a journey of wonder and the courage to fly.
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The Wetterhorn Elevator, designed by German engineer Wilhelm Feldmann, was inaugurated on July 27, 1908 — Switzerland's first public aerial cableway for passenger transport. It climbed 420 meters at an extreme 116% gradient above the Upper Grindelwald Glacier. Feldmann tragically died on June 2, 1905, before seeing it open. It ceased operations during World War I when tourism collapsed, and a rockfall later destroyed the lower station.
Forty-five meters into nothing
A child afraid of heights must cross the First Cliff Walk to deliver a message to the alpine choughs nesting on the other side. Suspended 45 meters out from the sheer rock face at 2,168 meters, with the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau filling the horizon, the child discovers that the mountains hold you up when you trust them.
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The First Cliff Walk by Tissot, opened in September 2015, is a suspended metal walkway and hanging bridge bolted to the sheer rock face on the west side of the First summit (approximately 2,168 m). Its viewing platform juts 45 meters out into the void, offering dramatic views of the Grindelwald valley and the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Jungfrau Railways invested over CHF 1.5 million in the construction; it is free for all visitors who reach the summit by gondola.
The seven Bergschaften
Each of Grindelwald's seven mountain communities holds a piece of an ancient key. A child must visit Bussalp, Holzmatten, Bach, Grindel, Scheidegg, Wärgistal, and Itramen to assemble the key and unlock the secret of the "barred forest" — the meaning hidden in Grindelwald's own name since 1146.
Historical contextCreate This Story
Grindelwald was first mentioned in 1146 as "Grindelwalt," meaning "barred forest" or "enclosed woodland" from Old High German "grindel" (bar, barrier) and "walt" (forest). The valley was governed through seven mountain communities (Bergschaften): Bussalp, Holzmatten, Bach, Grindel, Scheidegg, Wärgistal, and Itramen — cooperatives operating under a valley charter dating from 1404/1538, updated as recently as 2002.
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