Stein, Meiringen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Meiringen () is a
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' ...
in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district 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
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 ...
. Besides the village of Meiringen, the municipality includes the settlements of Balm, Brünigen, Eisenbolgen, Hausen, Prasti, Sand, Stein, Unterbach, Unterheidon, Wylerli and Zaun. The municipal
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
shows a black eagle in a yellow field. (" Or an Eagle displayed
Sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...
crowned, beaked, langued and membered of the first.") Formerly the coat of arms of the entire
Oberhasli The Oberhasli is a historical '' Landvogtei'' or '' Talschaft'' in the Bernese Highlands, Switzerland, bordering on the cantons of Obwalden (OW), Nidwalden (NW), Uri (UR) and Wallis (VS). From 1833 to 2009, Oberhasli was incorporated as th ...
''
Talschaft In Swiss politics and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy, a is the body of voting population in a certain valley. The grouping of voters by valley rather than municipality is a tradition harking back to before the establishment of the curre ...
'', this design continues the imperial coat of arms. Meiringen is famous for the nearby
Reichenbach Falls Reichenbach Falls () is a waterfall in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland, which drop a height of . At , the upper Grand Reichenbach Fall () is one of the highest waterfalls in the Alps. The Reichenbach loses of height from the top of ...
, a waterfall that was the setting for the final showdown between
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
's fictional detective
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
and his nemesis
Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...
. The village is also known for its claim to have been the place where
meringue Meringue ( , ) is a type of dessert or candy, of French cuisine, French origin, traditionally made from Whisk, whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acid, acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or potassium bitartrate, cream of t ...
was first created.


Geography

Meiringen is located in the eastern
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 ...
region, in a valley of the upper reaches of 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 ...
, called
Haslital The Oberhasli is a historical ''Landvogtei (Switzerland), Landvogtei'' or ''Talschaft'' in the Bernese Highlands, Switzerland, bordering on the cantons of Canton of Obwalden, Obwalden (OW), Canton of Nidwalden, Nidwalden (NW), Canton of Uri, Uri ...
, upstream of
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 ...
. It lies at the foot of several
mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...
es, including the
Brünig Pass The Brünig Pass, at an altitude of , connects the Bernese Oberland and central Switzerland, linking Meiringen in the canton of Bern and Lungern in the canton of Obwalden. It is on the watershed between the upper reaches of the Aare, which flow ...
to the valley of the
Sarner Aa The Sarner Aa is a long river in the Swiss canton of Obwalden. It drains the area to the eastern side of the Brünig Pass, flowing through the Lake Lungern, Lake Sarnen and the Wichelsee, before entering Lake Lucerne near Alpnach. It goes by s ...
and hence central Switzerland, the Joch Pass to
Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Alongside the central village of Engelberg, the municipality enc ...
, the
Susten Pass Susten Pass (German: ''Sustenpass'') (el. 2260 m.) is a mountain pass in the Swiss Alps. The pass road, built from 1938–1945, connects Innertkirchen in the canton of Bern with Wassen in the canton of Uri. A 300-metre long tunnel crosses the pass ...
to the upper valley of the
Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) * Reuss (river) in Switzerland * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...
, the
Grimsel Pass The Grimsel Pass (; ; ) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, crossing the Bernese Alps at an elevation of . The pass connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with the upper valley of the Rhône. In so doing, and as the Aare is a t ...
to the valley of the Rhone and hence southern Switzerland, and the Grosse Scheidegg Pass to
Grindelwald Grindelwald 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 Bern (canton), Berne. In additio ...
. On the right bank of the Aare, the municipality of Meiringen rises from an elevation of on the valley floor to the Brünig Pass at and beyond that to a point at on the slopes of the Wilerhorn. On the left bank it stretches up into the
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
and reaches an elevation of at the summit of the Wellhorn. It includes the village of Meiringen and the settlements of Sand, Stein, Eisenbolgen, Hausen, Balm, Unterbach and Unterheidon in the valley, the village of Brünigen in the Brünig Pass and the
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of Prasti, Zaun and Wylerli on the slopes above the valley. The municipality has an area, , of . Of this area, or 43.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 32.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 7.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.3% is either rivers or lakes and or 15.0% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.3%. Out of the forested land, 29.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.3% is used for growing crops and 17.8% is pastures and 22.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 5.6% is unproductive vegetation and 9.4% is too rocky for vegetation.


History

Meiringen is first mentioned in 1234 as ''Magiringin''. Due to its strategic location at the foot of several alpine passes, the area around Meiringen was settled at least in the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
. The first village church was built in the 9th or 10th century. When it was destroyed in a flood the new church of St. Michael (first mentioned in 1234) was built about above the old church. The current church of St. Michael dates from the 15th century and was renovated in 1683–84. The Restiturm castle was constructed in the 13th century, whilst the Wyghus fortress in the Brünig Pass was first mentioned in 1333, though it was destroyed later. Meiringen was always the political capital of the surrounding valley (''
Talschaft In Swiss politics and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy, a is the body of voting population in a certain valley. The grouping of voters by valley rather than municipality is a tradition harking back to before the establishment of the curre ...
''). It was the capital of the Imperial ''
reichsfrei In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...
''
bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...
of Hasli. In 1275 it formed an alliance with the city of
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
. In 1311, Hasli was given to the house of Weissenburg by Henry VII. After an unsuccessful revolt in 1334, Hasli passed to the city of Bern as a subject territory in name but regained most of its earlier privileges. Under Bernese control it was the capital of the District of Oberhasli until 1798. Following the 1798 French invasion and the creation of the
Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...
it was the capital of the district of Oberhasli in the
Canton of Oberland Oberland (German for ''Highlands'') was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803), corresponding to the area of the Bernese Oberland, with its capital at Thun. History After the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the old B ...
(1798–1803) and then the capital of the District of Oberhasli in the canton of Bern. The village was the home of the ''Talschaft'' council and the regional court met at the cross street in front of the churchyard. Today it is still home to the Bernese District authorities, though many of the administrative offices and the district court are now in Interlaken. Meiringen was the only
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...
in the valley with a yearly fair starting in 1417. In 1490 this became a weekly market. Traders from the lowlands of
Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
came here to purchase cattle, horses, and cheese. Located at the foot of Brunig, Grimsel, Susten and Joch passes, Meiringen was a hub in the trade from the lowlands through the passes. Outside of Meiringen village the main occupation was agriculture or cattle farming until the 19th century. Originally there were six Bäuert (farming collectives) among the villages and hamlets in the valley. In the 1550s, a series of floods of the Aare destroyed the valley floor villages of Balm and Bürglen, both of which were abandoned. The old village of Unterheid was destroyed in 1762 when the Aare changed its course, though the village was rebuilt in a new location. In 1734 the Alpbach wall was built to protect against the river, though this problem was not solved until the 1866–80 Aare water correction project. The population growth after 1800 led to impoverishment and forced many to emigrate, mainly to America. Beginning in 1880, the growth of tourism brought new wealth into the valley. Increasing tourist traffic came over the roads that were opened over the Brünig (1859–61), the Grimsel (1847–94) and the Susten (1939–46) passes. The Brünigbahn (Brünig railway) opened in 1888, making it easier for tourists to come into the valley. Following fires in 1879 and 1891, much of the village was rebuilt with tourists in mind. In 1913 Meiringen had 18 hotels with 500 beds. In 1912, the Meiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht tramway was constructed to link the village to the Reichenbach Falls and Aare Gorge, two of the principle local tourist attractions; the line survived until closure in 1956. In 1892 Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
visited the
Reichenbach Falls Reichenbach Falls () is a waterfall in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland, which drop a height of . At , the upper Grand Reichenbach Fall () is one of the highest waterfalls in the Alps. The Reichenbach loses of height from the top of ...
outside Meiringen and subsequently used them as the setting for the struggle between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty in his story ''The Final Problem''. During World War II, the tourism industry collapsed, so the Federal Government created jobs by opening the Unterbach military airfield; the federal armory; the SBB depot; the power plants at Oberhasli AG and in hospitals. The municipal museum was founded in 1968 and the Sherlock Holmes Museum opened in 1991.


Demographics

Meiringen has a population () of . , 14.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of −2.1%. Migration accounted for −0.2%, while births and deaths accounted for −0.9%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 31-January-2012
Most of the population () speaks
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
(4,190 or 88.7%) as their first language,
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
is the second most common (120 or 2.5%) and Portuguese is the third (77 or 1.6%). There are 43 people who speak
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
, 62 people who speak
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and 2 people who speak Romansh. , the population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female. The population was made up of 1,888 Swiss men (41.2% of the population) and 342 (7.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 2,044 Swiss women (44.6%) and 309 (6.7%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012
Of the population in the municipality, 1,761 or about 37.3% were born in Meiringen and lived there in 2000. There were 1,326 or 28.1% who were born in the same canton, while 720 or 15.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 751 or 15.9% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.2%. , there were 1,940 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,222 married individuals, 356 widows or widowers and 205 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 1,968 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. There were 695 households that consist of only one person and 114 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,893 apartments (81.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 337 apartments (14.5%) were seasonally occupied and 90 apartments (3.9%) were empty.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 – Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011
, the construction rate of new housing units was 2.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.28%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1020 height:210 PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4900 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:964 text:"964" bar:1850 from:start till:2358 text:"2,358" bar:1860 from:start till:2514 text:"2,514" bar:1870 from:start till:2786 text:"2,786" bar:1880 from:start till:2807 text:"2,807" bar:1888 from:start till:2838 text:"2,838" bar:1900 from:start till:3077 text:"3,077" bar:1910 from:start till:3173 text:"3,173" bar:1920 from:start till:2996 text:"2,996" bar:1930 from:start till:3103 text:"3,103" bar:1941 from:start till:3285 text:"3,285" bar:1950 from:start till:3640 text:"3,640" bar:1960 from:start till:3749 text:"3,749" bar:1970 from:start till:3759 text:"3,759" bar:1980 from:start till:4072 text:"4,072" bar:1990 from:start till:4346 text:"4,346" bar:2000 from:start till:4723 text:"4,723"


Sights

The Hotel Sauvage, the
Swiss Reformed The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The PC ...
church with outbuildings, and the Reichenbachfall-Bahn are listed on the
Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...
. The urbanized village of Meiringen and the hamlet of Brünigen are both on the
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...
. The ruined castle of Restiturm lies just to the east of the centre of Meiringen, and once commanded the various trade routes that passed through the village. A museum dedicated to Holmes is located in the basement of the deconsecrated English Church, located in what has now been named Conan Doyle Place. Its highlight is a detailed and authentic recreation of the sitting room at 221B Baker Street, London. The museum was officially opened by Air Cdt Dame Jean Conan Doyle, Lady Bromet, the younger daughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in May 1991.


Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41.85% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (25.15%), the FDP (12.54%) and the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
(11.29%). In the federal election, a total of 1,432 votes were cast, and the
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
was 44.4%.


Economy

, Meiringen had an unemployment rate of 1.9%. , there were 186 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 72 businesses involved in this sector. 528 people were employed in the
secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...
and there were 55 businesses in this sector. 1,762 people were employed in the
tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...
, with 202 businesses in this sector. the total number of
full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often use ...
jobs was 2,021. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 110, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 490 of which 84 or (17.1%) were in manufacturing, 6 or (1.2%) were in mining and 369 (75.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,421. In the tertiary sector; 263 or 18.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 174 or 12.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 190 or 13.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 36 or 2.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 93 or 6.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 56 or 3.9% were in education and 339 or 23.9% were in health care. , there were 1,029 workers who commuted into the municipality and 560 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.8 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010
Of the working population, 10.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 36.8% used a private car.


Religion

From the , 815 or 17.3% were
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 ...
, while 3,134 or 66.4% belonged to the
Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 49 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.04% of the population), and there were 153 individuals (or about 3.24% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 153 (or about 3.24% of the population) who were
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic. There were 7 individuals who were
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, 16 individuals who were
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 270 (or about 5.72% of the population) belonged to no church, are
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...
or
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and another 194 individuals (or about 4.11% of the population) did not answer the question.


Transport

Meiringen is served by Meiringen station on the Brünig line, a
narrow-gauge 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 tighter curv ...
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
from
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 ...
to
Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...
. The same line's Brünig-Hasliberg station, on the Brünig Pass, is also within the municipal boundaries. Both stations are served by an hourly
InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...
service between Interlaken and Lucerne, whilst Meiringen is also the terminus of an hourly Regio service from Interlaken. Meiringen station is also the terminus of the local Meiringen–Innertkirchen railway, which links the village with the nearby village of
Innertkirchen Innertkirchen is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in Bern (canton), the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014, ...
. The first two intermediate stations on this line, at
Alpbach Alpbach (, ) is a town in western Austria in the state of Tyrol. History The earliest written record of the name Alpbach comes from 1150, although human settlement is known to have begun there before and around the year 1000, and a bronze axe f ...
and Aareschlucht West, are also within the municipal boundaries. The lower terminus of the
Reichenbachfall Funicular The Reichenbachfall Funicular (; RfB) is a funicular in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It links Willigen, near Meiringen, with the uppermost of the Reichenbach Falls, famous as the site of the apparent death of ...
, which links the village to the Reichenbach Falls, is located at Willigen, some 20 minutes walk, or a 6-minute bus ride, from Meiringen station. On the opposite side of the valley, a
cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** ...
runs to Reuti, from where a system of
Gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...
s runs to Planplatten, at over , via Mägisalp. The village is located on one of the two south-western road approaches to the Brünig Pass, which provides a connection from the Brünig Pass to the Grimsel Pass, and hence a route between
Central Switzerland Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug. Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 s ...
and the Rhone Valley. The other south-western approach to the Brünig Pass, from
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 ...
, passes west of the village but through part of the municipality. A third road joins the previous two along the valley of the
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 ...
, providing a route from Interlaken to the Grimsel Pass and Susten Pass. The Meiringen air base is one of three main
air base An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...
s of the
Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...
. It is the only Swiss Air Force Base to still use its
aircraft cavern Aircraft cavern, a calque of the German language, German word ''Flugzeugkaverne'', is an underground hangar amongst others used by the Swiss Air Force. Historical During World War II, the neutral Switzerland, Swiss military airfields were equippe ...
regularly. It is located in Unterbach. Among other aircraft, it operates mainly
F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...
fighter jets.


Education

In Meiringen about 1,846 or (39.1%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 451 or (9.5%) have completed additional higher education (either
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
or a ''
Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...
''). Of the 451 who completed tertiary schooling, 63.4% were Swiss men, 22.4% were Swiss women, 6.7% were non-Swiss men and 7.5% were non-Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory
Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
. During the 2009–10 school year, there were a total of 635 students attending classes in Meiringen. There were 5 kindergarten classes with a total of 91 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 6.6% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 8.8% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 15 primary classes and 289 students. Of the primary students, 12.8% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 12.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 12 lower secondary classes with a total of 228 students. There were 6.6% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 5.7% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2009/10 pdf document
accessed 4 January 2012
, there were 105 students in Meiringen who came from another municipality, while 59 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Meiringen is home to the ''Bibliothek Kapellen'' library. The library has () 9,916 books or other media, and loaned out 20,617 items in the same year. It was open a total of 169 days with average of 8 hours per week during that year.


Notable people

*
Christian Menn Christian Menn (March 3, 1927 – July 16, 2018) was a renowned Swiss civil engineer and bridge designer. He was involved in the construction of around 100 bridges worldwide, but the focus of his work was in eastern Switzerland, especially in can ...
(1927–2018), a bridge designer from Switzerland. * Pierre Haubensak (born 1935) a painter


Climate

This area has a long winter season with 5 months average temperature more than 10 °C, with little precipitation mostly in the form of snow, and low humidity. The Köppen Climate System classifies the climate in Meiringen as temperate oceanic climate, and abbreviates this as ''Cfb''.


References


External links

* * *
Municipality of Meiringen web site
(in German) {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern Bernese Oberland Oberhasli Populated places on the Aare Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern