The Niesen is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
peak of the
Bernese Alps
, topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo
, photo=BerneseAlps.jpg
, photo_caption=The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau
, country= Switzerland
, subdivision1_type= Cantons
, subdivision1=
, parent= Western Alps
, borders_on=
, ...
in the
Canton of Bern,
Switzerland. The summit of the mountain is in elevation.
It overlooks
Lake Thun
Lake Thun (german: Thunersee) is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore. At in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton.
The lake was created af ...
, 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 ...
region, and forms the northern end of a ridge that stretches north from the
Albristhorn
The Albristhorn (or Albrist) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, overlooking Lenk and Adelboden in the canton of Bern. It is the highest summit of the chain lying between the Wildstrubel and Lake Thun and which is the watershed between the Simme ...
and
Mannliflue, separating the
Simmental
The Simmental ( en, Simme Valley) is an alpine valley in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. It expands from Lenk to Boltigen, in a more or less south-north direction (Obersimmental), and from there to the valley exit at Wimmis near Spiez it ta ...
and
Kandertal valleys.
Geography
Administratively, the summit is shared between the municipalities of
Reichenbach im Kandertal
Reichenbach im Kandertal is a village and municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Until 1957 it was known as Reichenbach bei Frutigen. Besides the village of Reichenbach, the muni ...
to the southeast, and
Wimmis
Wimmis is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Wimmis is first mentioned in 994 as ''Windemis''.
The oldest traces of a settlement in Wimmis include the Mesol ...
to the west and north. Both municipalities are in the
canton of Bern.
[
The summit can be reached easily by using the Niesenbahn funicular from Mülenen (near Reichenbach). The construction of the funicular was completed in 1910.
Alongside the funicular is the longest stairway in the world, with 11,674 steps. It is only open to the public once a year for a stair run event.]Paul Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...
, in which an abstracted pyramidal form is seen.[Rosenthal, Mark. “The Prototypical Triangle of Paul Klee.” The Art Bulletin, vol. 64, no. 2, aylor & Francis, Ltd., College Art Association 1982, pp. 299–310, https://doi.org/10.2307/3050222. “The title ''Niesen'' makes explicit another identity of the triangle besides the Egyptian pyramid. "Niesen" is the name of a pyramidally shaped mountain in the Bernese Alps on Lake Thun, not far from Klee's childhood home near Bern. The area was a favorite of Klee's for hiking and vacationing; in 1915 he spent several days with his friend Louis Millet in the town of Gunten, which faces the Niesen from directly across the lake. Klee's study of the mountain from a dramatic vantage point recalls his affirmation, six years earlier, that Cézanne was "the teacher ''par excellence''." As in Cézanne's ''Mont Ste.-Victoire'' paintings (Fig. 2), Klee, in ''Niesen'', contrasts the strength of the mountain stretching to the skies with a patchy landscape below.”]
See also
*
* List of mountains of Switzerland accessible by public transport
This is a list of mountains of Switzerland above 800 metres whose summits are accessible by public transport. This list includes mountains with a topographic prominence of at least 30 metres that have a station above the height of their key col an ...
*
*
References
External links
Niesen.ch: Niesen News website
Nesen-funicular.ch: Niesen Funicular website
Hikr.org: NiesenMeteocentrale.ch: Current weather data and forecast for Niesen-Kulm
Gallery
{{Authority control
Bernese Alps
Mountains of the Alps
Mountains of the canton of Bern
Two-thousanders of Switzerland