The Sarine (; frp, Sarena ) or Saane () is a major river of Switzerland.6th longest, 7th largest basin, see List of rivers of Switzerland It is long and has a drainage area of . It is a tributary of the Aare. The Sarine rises in the Bernese Alps, near Sanetschhorn, in the

Canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...

. It forms the

Lac de Sénin __NOTOC__ Lac de Sanetsch (also ''Lac de Sénin'', German: ''Sanetsch See'') is a reservoir below Sanetsch Pass in Valais, Switzerland. Its surface area is . The Sanetsch dam was built in 1965. The gravity dam has a height of . See also *List of ...

(French; german: Sanetschsee) reservoir at 2034 m, and then enters the

Canton of Bern 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. ...

, traversing the Sanetsch falls between 1900 and 1400 m. It then forms the westernmost valley of the Bernese Oberland, flowing past

Gsteig Gsteig bei Gstaad is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Gsteig was formerly known by the French name of ''Châtelet''. History Gsteig is first mentioned in 1312 as ''Ch ...

, Gstaad and

Saanen Saanen (french: Gessenay; Highest Alemannic German, Highest Alemannic: ''Saanä'') is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimment ...

in the

Obersimmental-Saanen Obersimmental-Saanen District in the Canton of Bern 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, B ...

district. Downstream of Saanen, at 982 m, it enters the Canton of Vaud, passing Rougemont,

Château-d'Œx Château-d'Œx () is a municipality in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut. History Château-d'Œx is first mentioned in 1115 as ''Oit'', ''Oyz'', ''Oix'' and ''Oyez''. Prehistoric settlements Dur ...

and Rossinière, forming the ''Lac du Vernex'' at 859 m. At 833, it traverses the ''Creux de l'Enfer'' and enters the

Canton of Fribourg The canton of Fribourg, also canton of Freiburg (french: Canton de Fribourg ; german: Kanton Freiburg ; frp, Canton de Fribôrg rm, Chantun Friburg it, Canton Friburgo) is located in western Switzerland. The canton is bilingual, with French ...

, forming ''Lac de Montbovon'' at 777 m. From this point, it more or less follows the linguistic boundary between French- and German-speaking Switzerland across the bilingual canton of Fribourg (and is often identified as the geographic representation of the ''

Röstigraben (; literally "Rösti ditch" or "Rösti trench" also transcribed in order to reflect the Swiss German pronunciation ) is a term used to refer to the cultural boundary between German-speaking and French-speaking parts of Switzerland, the latter kn ...

'' division of Switzerland). Passing

Villars-sous-Mont Bas-Intyamon ( frp, Bâs-Enque-amont) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. The villages of Enney, Estavannens and Villars-sous-Mont formed it.Enney Bas-Intyamon ( frp, Bâs-Enque-amont) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Gruyère (district), Gruyère in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. The villages of Enney, Es ...

, Gruyères and

Broc Broc (; frp, Broc, locally ) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. History Broc is first mentioned in 1115 as ''Broc'' and ''Broch''. The municipality was formerly known by its German name ' ...

, it reaches

Lac de la Gruyère Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...

at 677 m. It then continues in serpentines towards Fribourg itself; the historical city was built in 1157 on a peninsula of the River Sarine, protected on three sides by steep cliffs. Downstream of Fribourg, it widens into the ''

Schiffenensee Schiffenenseehttps://s.geo.admin.ch/74090f6089
map.geo.admin.ch. or Lac de Schiffenen is an artificial ...

'' reservoir at 532 m (built 1963), and is then taken to

Laupen Laupen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district and its district capital, situated in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Laupen is first mentioned in 1130-33 as ''Loupa''. In 1173 it was mentioned, in French, ...

in a channel, where it is joined by the

Sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the cen ...

. Flowing north for another 6 km, it finally joins the

Aar AAR or Aar may refer to: Geography * Aar, a river in Switzerland, tributary of the Rhine *Aar (Lahn), a tributary of Lahn river in Germany, descending from the Taunus mountains * Aar (Dill), a tributary of Dill river in Germany, also in the bas ...

just downstream of

Wohlensee Lake Wohlen (German: ''Wohlensee'') is a reservoir in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland. Its surface is approximately 3.65 km² and its maximum depth is 20 m. It lies between the towns of Bremgarten bei Bern and Mühleberg. Lake Wohlen was comp ...

, at 461 m, some west of

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Reservoirs

References

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German language, German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French language, French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian language, Italian: ''Ufficio fed ...

: Map ''Saane/Sarine 1:100000'',

External links

Sarine Waterlevels
at

(682 m)
Sarine Waterlevels
at Fribourg (532 m)
Saane Waterlevels
at

(480 m)
Saane Information
at Gümmenen,

Mühleberg Mühleberg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Mühleberg is first mentioned in 1011–16 as ''Mulinberg''. There are several Hallstatt era grave mounds around Mühlebe ...

(473 m) * Rivers of Switzerland Bern–Fribourg border Rivers of the canton of Bern Rivers of Valais Rivers of the canton of Fribourg Rivers of the canton of Vaud {{Switzerland-river-stub