Grindelwald
Encyclopedia
Grindelwald is a municipality
in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district
in the canton
of Bern in Switzerland
. The village is located at 1034 metres (3,392.4 ft) above sea level in the Bernese Alps
.
destination with slopes for beginners, intermediates and the challenges of the Eiger glacier for the experienced, there are activities for the non-skiers, from toboggan
ing to groomed winter hiking tracks. It is the usual starting point for ascents of the Eiger
and the Wetterhorn
. Nowadays Grindelwald is also a popular summer activity resort with many miles of hiking trails across the Alps.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.6%. 12.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.1% is pastures and 23.8% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 6.6% is unproductive vegetation, 24.0% is too rocky for vegetation and 21.6% of the land is covered by glaciers.
The municipality is quite large and is divided into seven mountain communities. However the municipality is dominated by the large village and tourist center of Grindelwald.
Grindelwald has a population (as of ) of . , 15.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased by 3.4%. Most of the population speaks German (86.8%), with Portuguese being second most common (4.5%) and French being third (1.7%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP
which received 54.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(14.2%), the Green Party
(10.1%) and the SPS
(8.6%).
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 62.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Grindelwald about 66.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
).
Grindelwald has an unemployment rate of 2.66%. , there were 365 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 138 businesses involved in this sector. 378 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 53 businesses in this sector. 1,961 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 225 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
.
The Wengernalpbahn
connects Grindelwald to the Kleine Scheidegg
from where the Jungfraubahn
ascends inside the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch
and trains descend to Wengen
.
The Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen
connects Grindelwald with the Männlichen
and with onward travel on the Luftseilbahn Wengen-Männlichen
offers an alternative route to Wengen
.
The minor summit of First
is accessible by ski lift from Grindelwald.
were shot in the region of Grindelwald, particularly on the north face of the Eiger. The James Bond
film On Her Majesty's Secret Service
includes a chase through a skating rink and Christmas festival in Grindelwald. Grindelwald's mountains were used as the basis for the view of Alderaan in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
.
Some of the action scenes in The Golden Compass were also shot in Grindelwald.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district
Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district)
Interlaken-Oberhasli District in the Canton of Bern was created on 1 January 2010. It is part of the Oberland administrative region. It contains 29 municipalities with an area of and a population of 48,763....
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Bern in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The village is located at 1034 metres (3,392.4 ft) above sea level in the Bernese Alps
Bernese Alps
The Bernese Alps are a group of mountain ranges in the western part of the Alps, in Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Valais, Lucerne, Obwalden, Fribourg and...
.
Winter sports
Long famed as a winter touristTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
destination with slopes for beginners, intermediates and the challenges of the Eiger glacier for the experienced, there are activities for the non-skiers, from toboggan
Toboggan
A toboggan is a simple sled which is a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people down a hill or other slope for recreation. Designs vary from simple, traditional models to modern engineered composites...
ing to groomed winter hiking tracks. It is the usual starting point for ascents of the Eiger
Eiger
The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...
and the Wetterhorn
Wetterhorn
The Wetterhorn is a mountain in the Swiss Alps close to the village of Grindelwald. First climbed in 1844, the 1854 ascent by Alfred Wills and party is more celebrated and is generally regarded to have marked the beginning of the golden age of alpinism.The mountain is composed of three distinct...
. Nowadays Grindelwald is also a popular summer activity resort with many miles of hiking trails across the Alps.
Geography
Grindelwald has an area, , of 171.08 km² (66.1 sq mi). Of this area, 49.47 km² (19.1 sq mi) or 28.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.02 km² (10.8 sq mi) or 16.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.06 km² (1.2 sq mi) or 1.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.37 km² (0.528959957271773 sq mi) or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and 89.21 km² (34.4 sq mi) or 52.1% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.6%. 12.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.1% is pastures and 23.8% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 6.6% is unproductive vegetation, 24.0% is too rocky for vegetation and 21.6% of the land is covered by glaciers.
The municipality is quite large and is divided into seven mountain communities. However the municipality is dominated by the large village and tourist center of Grindelwald.
Demographics
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
which received 54.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
(14.2%), the Green Party
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...
(10.1%) and the SPS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(8.6%).
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 62.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Grindelwald about 66.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
).
Grindelwald has an unemployment rate of 2.66%. , there were 365 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 138 businesses involved in this sector. 378 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 53 businesses in this sector. 1,961 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 225 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1764 | 1,816 |
| 1850 | 2,924 |
| 1900 | 3,346 |
| 1920 | 2,998 |
| 1950 | 3,053 |
| 2000 | 4,069 |
Transportation
Grindelwald can be reached by train (Berner Oberland Bahn) from InterlakenInterlaken
Interlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
.
The Wengernalpbahn
Wengernalpbahn
Wengernalpbahn is a 19.091 km long, gauge rack railway line in Switzerland, which runs from Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg, making it the world's longest continuous rack and pinion railway....
connects Grindelwald to the Kleine Scheidegg
Kleine Scheidegg
The Kleine Scheidegg is a high mountain pass below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. It connects Grindelwald with Lauterbrunnen. The name means "minor watershed", even though it is actually higher than the neighbouring Grosse Scheidegg...
from where the Jungfraubahn
Jungfraubahn
The Jungfraubahn is an gauge rack railway electrified at 3-phase 1,125 volts 50 Hertz, which runs 9 kilometres from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch...
ascends inside the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch
Jungfraujoch
The Jungfraujoch is a col or saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, inside the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area....
and trains descend to Wengen
Wengen
Wengen may refer to:*Wengen, a village and winter resort in Switzerland*La Val, a commune in South Tyrol, Italy with the German name "Wengen"*in Germany:**Wengen , a village in the municipality of Nennslingen in Mittelfranken...
.
The Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen
Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen
The Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen is a gondola cable car linking Grindelwald with Männlichen. It is the third longest passenger-carrying gondola lift in the world.-History:*1977 Company was founded....
connects Grindelwald with the Männlichen
Männlichen
The Männlichen is a 2,343 metre mountain in the Swiss Alps located within the Canton of Berne.It can be reached from Wengen by the Luftseilbahn Wengen-Männlichen cable-car, or from Grindelwald using the Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen gondola. It then takes 15 minutes to walk to the summit...
and with onward travel on the Luftseilbahn Wengen-Männlichen
Luftseilbahn Wengen-Männlichen
seen from the upper Männlichen terminus of the cableway.]]The Luftseilbahn Wengen-Männlichen is a cable car linking Wengen with the Männlichen in Switzerland.-History:*1949 The Wengen committee was formed.*1953 Construction started....
offers an alternative route to Wengen
Wengen
Wengen may refer to:*Wengen, a village and winter resort in Switzerland*La Val, a commune in South Tyrol, Italy with the German name "Wengen"*in Germany:**Wengen , a village in the municipality of Nennslingen in Mittelfranken...
.
The minor summit of First
First (Grindelwald)
First is a minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is mostly known as a cable car station above Grindelwald and as a popular hiking area with the Bachalpsee in proximity. It is also the destination of the classic hike: Schynige Platte-Faulhorn-First.-External...
is accessible by ski lift from Grindelwald.
In the media
Many scenes of the documentary film The AlpsThe Alps
The Alps is a 2007 American documentary film about the climbing of the north face of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps by John Harlin III, son of John Harlin who died on the same ascent 40 years earlier...
were shot in the region of Grindelwald, particularly on the north face of the Eiger. The James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
includes a chase through a skating rink and Christmas festival in Grindelwald. Grindelwald's mountains were used as the basis for the view of Alderaan in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....
.
Some of the action scenes in The Golden Compass were also shot in Grindelwald.
Famous residents
- Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
- Martina SchildMartina SchildMartina Schild is a Swiss alpine skier competing in downhill and Super-G.At the 2006 Winter Olympics, she won the silver medal in the women's downhill. She placed 6th in the women's Super-G....
, alpine skier, runner-upRunner-upRunner-up is a term used to denote a participant which finishes in second place in any of a variety of competitive endeavors, most notably sporting events and beauty pageants; in the latter instance, the term is applied to more than one of the highest-ranked non-winning contestants, the...
in the 2006 Winter Olympics2006 Winter OlympicsThe 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
women's downhill race - Hedy SchluneggerHedy SchluneggerHedy Kaufmann-Schlunegger was a Swiss alpine skier. At the 1948 Winter Olympics, Hedy Schlunegger was the first Olympic Gold medalist in Lady's Downhill skiing....
, Olympic champion 1948 in downhill skiing - Oleg ProtopopovOleg ProtopopovOleg Alekseyevich Protopopov is a Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his partner Ludmila Belousova, he is a two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion .- Career :Protopopov started skating relatively late, at age 15...
and Ludmila BelousovaLudmila BelousovaLudmila Yevgenyevna Belousova is a Russian pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With her partner Oleg Protopopov, she is a two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion .- Career :Belousova started skating relatively late, at age 16. She met Protopopov in 1954 and they began...
, 1964 and 1968 Olympic figure skating champions
External links
- Grindelwald official website
- Webcams