Lauterbrunnen, 72 Waterfalls, Walser and monastery Inter lacus
14 January 2025
Nomen est omen: Lauterbrunnen (canton of Bern) takes its name from its many waterfalls and the babbling sound of streams and springs. The municipality of Lauterbrunnen consists of the villages of Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, Isenfluh, Mürren, Stechelberg, and Wengen.
The Staubbachfall, the highest waterfall in Switzerland
The Inter lacus monastery in Interlaken was also the major landowner in this valley at the end of the 15th century. Lauterbrunnen resisted the reformation in 1528, and troops from Bern had to convince the village. Thereafter, Bern also expropriated the Inter lacus monastery’s property in this valley.
Incidentally, the relationship between the monastery and the village was not optimal for a long time either. Around 1480, the village built its church without the monastery’s permission. The church was also about money, and the monastery feared losing income. In his ‘Swiss way’, however, an arbitration committee came to a compromise.
The church today
Another peculiarity of this municipality is the immigration of Walser in the 13th and 14th centuries, especially in the villages of Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, and Mürren. The second wave of immigration is much better known: the arrival of (English) tourists during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
(Source and further information: Gemeinde Lauterbrunnen)
The valley of 72 waterfalls (Tal der 72 Wasserfälle)