Bödeli (lit.: the
Swiss German
Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...
diminutive term for ground) is the tongue of land between
Lake Thun and
Lake Brienz 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 ...
of
Switzerland. Lake Thun and Lake Brienz were not yet separate after the last ice age. The rivers
Lütschine from the south and the
Lombach from the north brought enough debris to cause a partitioning over the millennia. Now Lake Brienz has a water level about higher than Lake Thun and 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 desce ...
flows from one lake to the other through the Bödeli.
On the Bödeli are situated the villages and towns of
Unterseen,
Interlaken
, neighboring_municipalities= Bönigen, Därligen, Matten bei Interlaken, Ringgenberg, Unterseen
, twintowns = Scottsdale (USA), Ōtsu (Japan), Třeboň (Czech Republic)
Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and mun ...
and
Matten, which form a closed settlement area, and at the southern border are the villages of
Wilderswil and
Bönigen
Bönigen is a village and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Swiss canton of Bern. It lies on the shore of Lake Brienz, near to the mouth of the river Lütschine, and adjacent to the resort town of Interlaken. ...
. From the south a hill range, the Ruuge, rises up.
Bödelibahn
Between 1870 and 1874 the
Bödeli Railway (Bödelibahn) was constructed to link the steamer quay at
Därligen
Därligen is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Därligen is first mentioned in 1244 as ''Tedningen''.
The earliest traces of settlement in the area are scattered B ...
on Lake Thun with the quay at Bönigen on Lake Brienz. The railway company cunningly arranged for the route to cross the Aare twice with bridges offering no headroom beneath for shipping, thus making it effectively impossible for a steamer company to compete with them.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodeli
Geography of Switzerland
Interlaken