Brienzersee

The Brienzersee east of Interlaken captivates with its intense turquoise blue. On its shore the Giessbach Falls plunge into the lake over several tiers, and the historic Brienz Rothorn Railway, Switzerland's last steam cog railway, runs up. By the village of Brienz lies the Ballenberg open-air museum.

Highlights

• Intense turquoise-blue water
• Giessbach Falls right on the lake
• Brienz Rothorn Railway (steam cog railway)
• Ballenberg open-air museum

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

Lake Brienz in the Bernese Oberland is a long, deeply incised mountain lake whose unusually clear, turquoise water is fed by the glaciers of the surrounding mountains. Nestled between steep, wooded slopes, its basin formed in the Ice Age, when mighty glaciers scoured out the valley. Originally it formed, together with the neighbouring Lake Thun, a single large body of water, which was divided into two separate lakes only by the deposits of the Lütschine near Interlaken. On its southern shore the Giessbach Falls plunge spectacularly in numerous stages down to the lake’s surface.

On the northern shore lies the village of Brienz, famous for centuries for its woodcarving and the building of violins, a fine craft that reached high flowering here and supported whole generations of families. Above the village steams the Brienz-Rothorn Railway, one of the last regularly steam-operated rack railways of Switzerland, up to a magnificent viewpoint summit with a wide view over lake and mountains. With the nearby Ballenberg open-air museum the region also preserves the rural building heritage of the whole country. So Lake Brienz combines unspoiled natural beauty with a tradition still alive today of fine craftsmanship and historic mountain railways, which preserve the heritage of the Bernese Oberland across the generations.