Interlaken

After the last ice age, Lake Brienz and Lake Thun were a single body of water known as Wendelsee. Over millennia, debris from the rivers Luetschine and Lombach cascading down from the mountains created the Boedeli, a flat alluvial plain at 568 meters above sea level. By roughly the 10th century, the process was complete: the one lake had become two, separated by the new land on which Interlaken would grow. Today the Aare river connects the two lakes, flowing from Lake Brienz, which sits 2 meters higher, westward to Lake Thun.

In 1133, Baron Seliger von Oberhofen founded an Augustinian monastery on the Boedeli between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II placed it under imperial protection that same year. The monastery's Latin name 'inter lacus' (between the lakes) gave the town its name. By 1310, 30 priests, 20 lay brothers, and 350 women lived there. A women's convent was added in 1257. The monastery was secularized in 1528 during the Protestant Reformation.

The Jungfrau Railway runs 9.3 kilometres from Kleine Scheidegg (2,064 m) to the Jungfraujoch (3,454 m), the highest railway station in Europe. Swiss industrialist Adolf Guyer-Zeller conceived the route on 27 August 1893 while hiking above Muerren. Construction took 16 years with a primarily Italian workforce. Workers struck 6 times, management changed 8 times, and 30 workers died, mostly from blasting accidents. The 7-kilometre tunnel through the Eiger and Moench includes windows carved into the Eiger's north face at Eigerwand station, opened in 1903. The first tourist train ran in July 1912.

The Unspunnenfest was first held on 17 August 1805 near the ruins of Unspunnen Castle, organized by Bern's mayor Niklaus Friedrich von Muelinen. Competitors hurl the Unspunnen Stone, an 83.5 kg block of Aare granite. On 3 June 1984, members of the Belier Group (young Jura separatists) stole the 1808 replacement stone from the Interlaken Museum of Tourism. They vandalized it, chiselling European stars and the Jura coat of arms into the surface. The stone was returned in 2001 but stolen again in 2005 from the Victoria-Jungfrau Hotel lobby. As of 2024, the stone has not been recovered.

In 1912, local teacher August Flueckiger in Matten bei Interlaken initiated an open-air performance of Friedrich Schiller's 'Wilhelm Tell' with his pupils and the local Dramatische Gesellschaft. The Tellspielverein (Tell Play Association) was established in 1930. Performances take place in the Rugen woods in Matten, a natural forest amphitheatre. The ensemble consists of approximately 200 amateur actors with live horses, goats, and cows. Key scenes include the swearing of the Ruetli Oath and the famous apple-shooting. By today, over 1,250 performances have been staged for more than 2 million spectators, making it Switzerland's longest-running open-air theatre.

Harder Kulm at 1,322 meters is Interlaken's local mountain, offering panoramic views of both lakes and the Eiger-Moench-Jungfrau trio. The Harderbahn funicular opened on 15 May 1908, built with the support of Lausanne banker Ernest Chavannes. The track is 1,435 meters long with a gradient of up to 64%, climbing 734 vertical meters in about 10 minutes. The castle-like Bergrestaurant at the summit resembles a fairytale castle. The Zwei-Seen-Steg (Two Lakes Bridge) viewing platform features a glass floor section from which visitors can see both Lake Thun and Lake Brienz simultaneously.

Felix Mendelssohn first visited the Bernese Oberland as a 14-year-old in 1822, composing two Swiss symphonies inspired by alpine folk melodies. He returned multiple times, writing in 1842 that Interlaken was 'the finest of all in this unbelievably beautiful country.' In 1847, after the death of his sister Fanny, a grieving Mendelssohn came to Interlaken and painted 13 watercolours of the area and composed his Quartet in F minor as a requiem. It was his final visit; he died later that year on 4 November 1847.

The Hoehematte is a vast 14-hectare green meadow in the centre of Interlaken, offering an unobstructed view of the Jungfrau. Originally owned by the Augustinian monastery, the meadow became open land after secularization in 1528. In 1860, local citizens banded together to buy the land to ensure it remained open and publicly accessible. In 1864, a legally binding covenant was established: no trees may be felled, no buildings constructed, and the land cannot be divided -- a protection that holds to this day. The Hoheweg runs along one side, lined with grand hotels.