The Grimselsee or Lake Grimsel is an

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

near the

Grimsel Pass The Grimsel Pass (german: Grimselpass; french: Col du Grimsel; it, Passo del Grimsel) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, crossing the Bernese Alps at an elevation of . The pass connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with t ...

in the

Canton of Berne The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. With a volume of 95 mio m³ (20.9 billion imperial gallons, 20.1 billion US gallons), it is larger than other hydroelectric

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s in the region:

Oberaarsee Oberaarsee is a hydroelectric reservoir in the Grimsel area, part of the municipality of Guttannen, Switzerland. Its surface area is . The Oberaar dam was completed in 1953, and is operated by Kraftwerke Oberhasli. It is drained by the Oberaarbach ...

Räterichsbodensee Räterichsbodensee is a lake in Guttannen, Oberhasli, Switzerland. The reservoir has a volume of 25 mio m³, a surface area is and is operated by Kraftwerke Oberhasli. It is connected to the river Aare. See also *List of lakes of Switzerland *L ...

and

Gelmersee Gelmersee (or Lake Gelmer) is a reservoir in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. The hydroelectric reservoir was completed in 1932, at about the same time as the Grimselsee reservoir, and both are operated by Kraftwerke Oberhasli. The reservoir's volu ...

. The

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

was completed in 1932 and is operated by

Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG ''Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG'' (KWO) is a Swiss energy supply company, based in Innertkirchen and operating several hydroelectric plants in the Oberhasli area of the Canton of Berne. It also operates a number of tourist attractions in the same area ...

(KWO). It is located in the municipality of

Guttannen Guttannen is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Origin of the name Guttannen is the name of a meadow, which became the name of the municipality. It comes from the phrase ''ze ...

External links

*
KWO: Lake Grimsel

Grimsel The Grimsel Pass (german: Grimselpass; french: Col du Grimsel; it, Passo del Grimsel) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, crossing the Bernese Alps at an elevation of . The pass connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with the ...

Reservoirs in Switzerland RGrimselsee Bernese Oberland Oberhasli Lakes of the canton of Bern Dams completed in 1932 {{bern-lake-stub