Zimmerwald was an independent municipality in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland until 31 December 2003. It is located on a hill in the proximity of the city of Bern in the Bernese Mittelland. On 1 January 2004 Zimmerwald united with the municipality of

Englisberg Englisberg is a village in the district of Seftigen in Canton Bern, Switzerland. On January 1, 2004, the independent municipality merged with Zimmerwald to form the new municipality of Wald BE. Situated on the Längenberg, above the valle ...

to form the new municipality of

Wald WALD (1080 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to Johnsonville, South Carolina. The station is part of the Worship and Word Network and is owned by Glory Communications, Inc., based in St. Stephen, South Carolina. It carries an Urban Gosp ...

. On 31 December 2002 the population was 870. The coat of arms is three fir trees on three green mountain peaks with a background that ranges from silver to green. Zimmerwald entrance

History

Zimmerwald was only settled in the late phase of the Germanic colonisation of Switzerland. Between 800 and 900, Ciberni entering Southern Germany first settled on the ''Längenberg'' (Long Mountain), the hill on which Zimmerwald lies. The town is first mentioned in documents in the later Middle Ages. In 1999, Zimmerwald celebrated its 700th anniversary. Zimmerwald is remembered in world history for the

Zimmerwald Conference The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 to 8, 1915. It was the first of three international socialist conferences convened by anti-militarist socialist parties from countries that were originally neutral ...

held in September 1915. Prominent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

s met from across Europe, among them

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

and

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

. The conference was called by Robert Grimm of Bern. The international workers' movement split as a result of the conference into a

social democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

ic and a revolutionary wing.

Sites of interest

Wind instruments museum

The collection of the Zimmerwald wind instruments museum covers some 1,000

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitc ...

s from all periods, as well as percussion instruments. They include rare pieces such as bull horns, old Germanic

lur A lur, also lure or lurr, is a long natural blowing horn without finger holes that is played with a brass-type embouchure. Lurs can be straight or curved in various shapes. The purpose of the curves was to make long instruments easier to car ...

es,

serpent Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: * Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes Mythology and religion * Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature * Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts * Serp ...

s and flap trumpets, but also Swiss

alphorn The alphorn or alpenhorn or alpine horn is a labrophone, consisting of a straight several-meter-long wooden natural horn of conical bore, with a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece. Traditionally the Alphorn was made of one single piece, or two par ...

Zimmerwald Observatory

The

Zimmerwald Observatory The Zimmerwald Observatory (german: Observatorium Zimmerwald) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the AIUB, the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern. Built in 1956, it is located at Zimmerwald, 10 kilometers south of ...

is the reference point for the CH1903+ Swiss coordinate system.

Prominent citizens and residents

* Gunvor Guggisberg (1974), Swiss entertainer *

Bruno Messerli Bruno Messerli (17 September 1931, in Belp – 4 February 2019) was a Swiss geographer and university professor who focused on high mountains and highland-lowland linkages. He was appointed Full Professor of Geomorphology in 1968 by the Universit ...

(1931), geographer
Hans Rudolf Streit
(1910–1982), Swiss federal official

Swiss politician * Judith Wyder (1988), athlete

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Switzerland Former municipalities of the canton of Bern