Bödeli (lit.: the

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

diminutive term for ground) is the tongue of land between

Lake Thun Lake Thun () 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 after the last gl ...

and

Lake Brienz Lake Brienz () 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 the upper reaches ...

in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Lake Thun and Lake Brienz were not yet separate after the last ice age. The rivers

Lütschine The Lütschine () is a Rivers of Switzerland, river in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The Lütschine proper runs from Zweilütschinen, where its two tribututaries join, to Lake Brienz at Bönigen. The Schwarze Lütschine, or Black Lüt ...

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 the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

flows from one lake to the other through the Bödeli. On the Bödeli are situated the villages and towns of

Unterseen Unterseen is a List of towns in Switzerland, historic town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. ...

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 ...

and Matten, which form a closed settlement area, and at the southern border are the villages of

Wilderswil Wilderswil is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerla ...

and

Bönigen Bönigen is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. It lies on the shore of Lake Brienz ...

. 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 ...

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