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Mürren is a traditional
Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Swiss Alps, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser peopl ...
mountain village in the
Bernese Highlands 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 ...
of
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 ...
, at an elevation of
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. It cannot be reached by public road. It is also one of the popular tourist spots in Switzerland, and summer and winter are the seasons when Mürren becomes busy with tourists. The village features a view of the three towering mountains
Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...
,
Mönch The Mönch (, German: "monk") at is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau, it forms a highly recognisable group of mountains, visible from far away. The Mönch lies on the border between the ...
, and Jungfrau. Mürren has a year-round population of 450, but has 2,000 hotel beds. Mürren has its own school and two churches, one
Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...
and one
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
.


History

Mürren is first mentioned in 1257 as ''Mons Murren'' (Mount Murren). It was probably an
alpine pasture Alpine transhumance is transhumance as practiced in the Alps, that is, a seasonal droving of grazing livestock between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures in summer (German language, German ' from the term for "seasonal mount ...
until the settlement of immigrants from
Lötschental The Lötschental () is the largest valley on the northern side of the Rhône valley in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies in the Bernese Alps, with the running down the length of the valley from its source within the Langgletscher ...
shortly after 1300. The first hotel was built in 1857 by Mürren's farming cooperative, the Bäuert. Before the opening of the Lauterbrunnen–Mürren Mountain Railway in 1891, guests could reach Mürren only by means of
mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...
traffic (see picture). Nevertheless, the quickly growing resort already had 310 hotel beds around 1888. Up to World War I, mainly British tourists came to Mürren. An
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
church was erected for them as early as 1878. Winter sports have been an important part of Mürren's history since the first British winter tourists arrived in 1911. During the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
wounded prisoners of war stayed here pending repatriation and played a role in developing winter sports. In 1924, the Kandahar Ski Club was set up by Sir Arnold Lunn (whose statue stands outside the rail station) and eight other British skiers. The club takes its name from the Roberts of Kandahar Challenge Cup, first run in 1911. This, the world's senior challenge cup for downhill ski-racing, was presented by Lord Roberts, who won the Battle of Kandahar in the
Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dy ...
.


Politics

Mürren is situated in the
canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...
, in the district of
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 belongs to the
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
of
Lauterbrunnen Lauterbrunnen () is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Swi ...
, together with the villages of Wengen, Isenfluh, Gimmelwald and
Stechelberg Stechelberg () is a small village in Switzerland located at the base of the Schwarzmönch mountain in the Bernese Alps, part of the district of Lauterbrunnen. History The name "Stächelbärg" is first recorded in 1749 to describe this part of th ...
.


Transport

Mürren station is the terminus of the Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren, which consists of a cable car and a connecting
narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
and connects Mürren to
Lauterbrunnen Lauterbrunnen () is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Swi ...
. A series of four cable cars, known as the ''Luftseilbahn Stechelberg-Mürren-Schilthorn (LSMS)'', provides transportation from Mürren downhill to Gimmelwald and
Stechelberg Stechelberg () is a small village in Switzerland located at the base of the Schwarzmönch mountain in the Bernese Alps, part of the district of Lauterbrunnen. History The name "Stächelbärg" is first recorded in 1749 to describe this part of th ...
, and uphill to the
summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...
of the Schilthorn and the
revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is a tower restaurant designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving wikt:platform, platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on the rev ...
Piz Gloria Piz Gloria is a revolving restaurant at the -high summit of the Schilthorn near Mürren in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. Overview The Aerial lift, cable car station and the restaurant were designed by Bernese architect Konrad Wolf. The Piz ...
. The Mürren station for these cable cars is approximately south-west of the railway station at the other end of Mürren. This was a principal filming location for the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
movie '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', released in
1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
, in which fictional spy James Bond (
George Lazenby George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian retired actor. Lazenby began his professional career as a model and had only acted in commercials when he was cast to replace the original James Bond actor, Sean Connery, playing ...
) made his escape from the headquarters of
Ernst Stavro Blofeld Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional supervillain in the ''James Bond'' series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of British MI6 agent James Bond. Blofel ...
(
Telly Savalas Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (; January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was a Greek-American actor. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on the crime drama series '' Kojak'' (1973� ...
) and fled four of Blofeld's henchmen in a car driven by his girlfriend Tracy (
Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 1938 – 10 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Tracy Bond, Teresa di ...
). There is an additional cable car that runs directly from Mürren to Stechelberg, but this is provided solely for the movement of freight and used for public transportation only in times of repair of the regular cable car. Mürren is also the lower terminus of the Allmendhubelbahn, a
funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...
.


Recreation

There are a total of 52 km (32 mi) of ski runs with 14
ski lifts A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/ Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial ...
(six cable cars, seven chair lifts, three railways, and two drag lifts). There is also off-piste skiing, but guiding is often needed and should be used. Within the village there is a large sports center with a 25 m swimming pool, sports hall, fitness room, café, information centre and other facilities. There is a large skating rink which is sometimes used for
curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...
competitions as well as a specific curling rink that in the summer is a tennis court. The ice rink is turned into a mini-golf course during the summer months. In the summer there are also tennis courts near the sports chalet, located at 1650 meters above sea level, they are some of the highest altitude tennis courts in the world.


Hotels

There are many hotels in Mürren, including the Hotel Alpenblick, Hotel Alpenruh, Alpina, Hotel Bellevue, Hotel Blumental, Hotel Edelweiss, Hotel Eiger, Eiger Guesthouse, Hotel Jungfrau, Hotel Regina and Sportschalet.


Highlights and events

In 1928, the Inferno Race was set up, and continues to this day. The International Inferno Race, comprising cross-country,
giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...
, and downhill races, is the longest (15.8 km, 9.8 mi) and largest amateur ski race in the world, with a limit of 1800 participants. It is held in January. The fastest entrants complete the 15.8 km from the Schilthorn to Lauterbrunnen in only 15 minutes. 4705 - Mürren - Niedenmatten.JPG, Street in Mürren Murren Village.jpg, Street in Mürren in winter Allmendhubelbahn Funicular Murren.jpg, The Allmendhubelbahn funicular in Murren, Switzerland. CH-NB Photoglob-Wehrli EAD-WEHR-32102-B.tiff, Aerial view by
Eduard Spelterini Eduard Spelterini (2 June 1852 – 16 June 1931) was a Swiss pioneer of ballooning and of aerial photography. Early life Spelterini was born in Bazenheid in the Toggenburg area in Switzerland as Eduard Schweizer.Degen, p. 39. His father ...
, between 1893 and 1924


References


External links

*
Tourism informationSchilthorn.chLive Webcam at Schilthorn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murren Bernese Oberland Car-free villages in Switzerland Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Villages in the canton of Bern