The magnificent municipality of Lauterbrunnen, in the Bernese Oberland, defies superlatives with its unique concentration of waterfalls in the Alps. Goethe composed a poem there, Tolkien found Rivendell there, and James Bond chased Blofeld there. Alpine paradise does exist — and it has an address.
Nestled at an altitude of 802 metres in the Swiss canton of Bern, the idyllic village of Lauterbrunnen lies at the bottom of a U-shaped valley carved by the glaciers of the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau. Limestone cliffs rise almost vertically on either side, rarely more than a kilometre apart. It is this narrowness that gives the valley its waterfalls: the meltwater has nowhere to go but downwards.
Clear springs
The village itself stretches entirely along a single street lined with dark timber chalets and brightly coloured shutters. Its name means “clear springs” in German — and with good reason: water murmurs everywhere, through channels, beneath wooden bridges, and among the moss-covered stones of the fountains. The municipality also encompasses several hamlets scattered across 165 square kilometres.
Yet it is here, on the valley floor, that the heart of the region beats, with its little white church standing opposite the Staubbach Falls. It is also from here that the hiking trails begin.
A dizzying waterfall
The Staubbach Falls plunge freely for 297 metres, making them the highest free-falling waterfall of their kind in Switzerland. Their name, meaning 'dust stream', comes from the thermal updraught that turns the water into spray before it reaches the ground.
In 1779, Goethe stayed in the nearby parsonage and composed his Song of the Spirits over the Waters, a poem later set to music by Schubert forty years afterwards. Lord Byron, meanwhile, saw in the falls the gallop of one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse in his dramatic poem Manfred.
Trümmelbach: Invisible yet audible
The path that follows the Weisse Lütschine river towards Stechelberg is almost completely flat — and even accessible with pushchairs — crossing meadows and conifer forests for nearly seven kilometres. Halfway along, the Trümmelbach Falls thunder through the inside of the mountain.
Ten waterfalls crash through the rock, accessible via a lift and galleries carved into the cliff face. The flow can reach 20,000 litres per second. These are the largest subterranean waterfalls in Europe, and the roar echoing from the mountain’s depths alone makes the visit worthwhile.
Tolkien and Rivendell
In 1911, a nineteen-year-old British student also walked through the valley. His name was J.R.R. Tolkien. His sketchbooks and watercolours would later serve as the visual inspiration for Rivendell, the Elven refuge in The Lord of the Rings.
The river Bruinen, which runs through the city in the novel, bears a name meaning “loud waters” in Sindarin. The resemblance is no coincidence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMvZSGrfF6s
Bond versus Blofeld
In 1969, the film crew of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service took over the Schilthorn, the summit overlooking the valley. The revolving Piz Gloria restaurant, at 2,970 metres, became the lair of Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
George Lazenby, playing James Bond, sped down the slopes on skis to escape him, pursued by Blofeld’s henchmen all the way to the village of Mürren. The restaurant still exists today, with views across to the Eiger.
Car-free villages
Mürren and Wengen, perched on terraces overlooking the valley, have banned cars altogether. They can be reached either by cable car or by the little cog railway from Lauterbrunnen. Between the two villages, the Panoramaweg stretches for four kilometres along a balcony trail facing the triumvirate of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
In winter, Wengen hosts the Lauberhorn downhill race, one of the longest events on the World Cup circuit, while Mürren stages the Inferno, the world’s largest amateur ski race, held since 1928. In summer, hikers reclaim the trails. The only sounds are rushing water and the crunch of boots on gravel.
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