Lake Thun (german: Thunersee) is an

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

lake in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

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 ...

named after the city of

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thou ...

, on its northern shore. At in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton. The lake was created after the last glacial period. After the 10th century, it split from

Lake Brienz Lake Brienz (german: Brienzersee) is a lake just north of the Alps, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It has a length of about , a width of and a maximum depth of . Its area is ; the surface is above the sea-level. It is fed, among others, by ...

, before which the two lakes were combined, as ''Wendelsee'' ("Lake Wendel"). The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the

Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and thi ...

at above sea level. Lake Thun's approximate catchment area frequently causes local flooding after heavy rainfalls. This occurs because the river

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descen ...

(german: Aare), which drains Lake Thun, has only limited capacity to handle the excess runoff. The lake is fed by water from

to the southeast, which is higher than Lake Thun, and various streams in the Oberland, including the Kander. In 1835, passenger steamships began operating regularly on the lake. Ten passenger ships, operated by the local railway company BLS AG like , serve the towns of

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss A ...

and

; the

Interlaken ship canal The Interlaken ship canal (german: Interlaken Schiffskanal) is a long canal in the Swiss canton of Bern. It connects Lake Thun with a quay in the town of Interlaken adjacent to Interlaken West railway station, thus allowing shipping services on ...

and

Thun ship canal The Thun ship canal (german: Thuner Schiffskanal) is a long canal in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. Together with a navigable reach of the Aare of similar length, it connects Lake Thun with a quay in the town of Thun adjacent to Thun rail ...

connect the lake to

Interlaken West railway station Interlaken West is a railway station in the resort town of Interlaken, in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is on the Thunersee line of the BLS AG, and is one of two stations in the town, the other being Interlaken Ost. In addition to trains operate ...

and

Thun railway station Thun is a railway station in the town of Thun, in the Swiss canton of Bern. At the station, the Swiss Federal Railways owned Bern to Thun main line makes a junction with the other lines, all owned by the BLS AG. These lines are the Gürbeta ...

respectively. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and up until 1964, the Swiss Government disposed of unused munitions into Lake Thun. The quantity of munitions dumped is reported to be from 3,000 to more than 9,020 tons.

References

External links

*
Lake Thun Tourism Portal

The River Aare sluices
{{Authority control

Thun Bernese Oberland LThun

Lakes of the Alps