Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois / edited by Gabriel Lory fils, Paris: Imprimerie J. Didot, 1822 [G. Lory, J. Hürlimann, C.C. Rordorf et F.W. Moritz]

The Enge offered a spectacular view of Bern with the ice giants of the Oberland in the background. It is therefore no wonder that this view was repeatedly drawn, the first time around 1770/80 by Johann Ludwig Aberli (1723-1786) and then by many others.

The area was already used as a recreational area in the 18th century. The promenades around the Viererfeld were lined with elm and lime trees, and the Engeallee for carriages and pedestrians ran along the eastern side.

Johann Gottfried Ebel (1764-1830) wrote in his travel guide: "After the Engi 1/4 hour away, in summer a pleasant place of amusement for the people of Bern; near the entrance on an open square you can enjoy the most extensive view of the Alps from the whole area of Bern."

"In this picture we see one of the workshops of Bernese industry, one of those little factories of rural happiness, where activity and peace reign, where manners are simple though rough, where luxury consists in the general cleanliness, in the beauty of the herds and the good cultivation of the land, and from where prosperity spreads from one place to another in all classes of society."

Certainly this view attempts to convey the image of a well-supplied, prosperous peasantry, as seems appropriate to Bern's self-image. The vast majority of the 226,700 inhabitants in 1803 were farmers and, according to a census in 1797, there were 188,253 head of cattle in the state of Bern before the cantons of Aargau and Vaud seceded.

The wealth of the Bernese countryside also caught the eye of tourists: "[...] the simplest details of the rural economy seem to be treated here with such careful attention that the appearance of these houses alone testifies to the wealth of those who inhabit them; one is not surprised to learn that a millionaire often lives in a thatched-roof hut."

Unfortunately, we do not know exactly where this large farm was located. However, based on the rocks in the background, we assume that it could be the Bantiger.

In the following pictures, we follow in the footsteps of the French archaeologist and travel writer Désiré Raoul Rochette (1789-1854), who visited Thun in August 1819: 
"The town of Thun is old, small and quite pleasant. But none of this would attract foreigners if it were not situated in an extremely picturesque landscape on the shores of the beautiful lake [...] exactly at the point where the Aare flows out of this lake [...]. To the south and west of the town stretch the mountain ranges, the highest points of which are the Stockhorn and the Niesen; and behind these mountains, through the opening of the deep valley that separates them, you can see the bleached steps of the high Alps, whose dazzling brilliance forms the most unique and picturesque contrast with the dark green of the fir trees and the delicate foliage of the meadows. The front of this enchanting picture is filled by the lake, whose waves, perfectly pure and transparent, like all those that come down from the Alps, and rarely moved by the wind of the breeze, formed, at the moment when I delighted in contemplating the moving picture, a sort of mirror in which the high mountains that surround it were reflected and painted from the base to the summit."

"However, if we measure the success of the fisherman who lives in this house by the trophies he has hung on his door and which attract the attention of passers-by, we have to agree that the pike to which these huge heads belong thoroughly deserve the effort that has been made to reach them. This industry has supposedly become much less productive since 1714, when the raging Kander river, which used to flow into the Aare below the town, was given direct access to the lake on its southern shore. Fishing for lavaret (eelpout) in particular has lost a lot here; perhaps the reputation of this excellent fish, the greed of its enemies and the constantly growing number of its lovers have something to do with it. This little hut does not look miserable; what we see rather suggests a certain prosperity, but it is far from the opulence we admired on a real Bernese farm."

In the spring of 1816, the German composer and violinist Louis Spohr (1784-1859) stayed in Thierachern near Thun with his wife, the harpist and pianist Dorette (1787-1834) and his three daughters. The area made a great impression on him:

"We have been here in our lovely little village for three days and are enjoying the first days of spring to the full in this area, which is charming beyond all description. We're not thinking about work yet, because we're already rushing outside early in the morning. We have already circled our little village for a mile and are constantly discovering new beauties. A special map of Switzerland that I bought in Bern serves as our guide and shows us everything that is worth seeing. The location of our apartment is beautiful beyond words; it is on a hill from which you can see the area in all directions. [...] And almost every day these mountains offer new views that differ from the previous ones. Sometimes the front mountains are covered with a heavy mass of cloud and the rear ones look majestically over them at a height where one can no longer imagine anything solid; sometimes the front ones stand there in clarity and only the highest peaks are shrouded in cloud. But the sight of these snow-covered mountains in the evening, shortly after the sun has set, is quite enchanting. When the valley is already completely shrouded in darkness and the lights of Thun shimmer across the lake, they still gleam in the most beautiful rose light, which turns into an equally beautiful blue as darkness falls. It's a sight you can't tear yourself away from!"

Around 1816, the Bernese mayor Niklaus Friedrich von Mülinen (1760-1833) had a monument erected on the Bächihügel hill to the medieval minstrel Heinrich III von Strättligen. Von Mülinen created a romantic park here on his country estate, reminiscent of the Middle Ages and pagan times, which attracted many high-ranking visitors. The bench now stands by the former gardener's house at Eichbühl Castle near Hilterfingen.

Désiré Raoul Rochette (1789-1854) describes his visit in 1819 as follows:

"The hill on which I wanted to walk [...] is a charming grove that nature and art have embellished together. You climb up a gentle, easy slope that winds its way up the hill under beech trees, and from the highest point you can enjoy the magnificent view of the lake and the Alps that crown it. A thatched roof, under which simple benches have been tastefully placed, offers shelter to travelers surprised by a thunderstorm and a study for nature lovers. Some distance away, under an oak tree whose ample shade invites you to rest, [...] I read an inscription dedicated to the memory of an old troubadour. Henry of Strættligen, of a noble lineage which, it is said, has produced kings, used to resound the sounds of his lyre in this place. [...] I moved away slowly and silently, for fear of being distracted by other thoughts from the sweet and touching emotion that filled my soul. I returned to my house, but as long as I could see him I still looked at the place where I had just stopped, and as long as I live I shall remember the Bachi grove. It is the country house of one of the present heads of the Republic of Bern, the Lord Bailiff of Müllinen, and the pleasant arrangement of this grove is both the work and the proof of his enlightened taste."

A medieval legend has it that around 100 AD, Saint Beatus, a British monk, lived as a hermit in the caves on Lake Thun. There he is said to have driven away a dragon that was terrorizing the locals. Until the Reformation, the cave was a much-visited place of pilgrimage. In 1530, the Bernese bricked up the entrance to the cave. The site later became a tourist destination:

"On the south-eastern side of the Wand-Flue lies the Beaten mountain, where the St. Beaten cave is located. You can either walk there from Merlingen in 1 hour, and in the meantime take the boat around the nose to Sunglau, where you descend again; or you can stay in the boat and get off on the other side of the nose, where you only have to climb 1/4 hour to the cave. The view from the latter is very beautiful; the Beaten stream plunges out of it. When you have descended again, you do not sail on the lake as far as its beginning, but end up at Neuhaus."

"This area is perfect for a stay of a few weeks. The nature between the lakes of Thun and Brienz and in the vicinity of Lauterbrunn, Grindelwald and Hasli, combines so much variety of the grand and sublime with the romantic and equestrian than can be found in few areas of Switzerland. The plain between the two lakes is highly fertile in terms of meadows and the largest fruit trees. Nut trees of such a size that a single one yields 40-50 fathoms of wood are found nowhere else in Switzerland. A walk in the large walnut tree avenue under a full moon is a rare treat."

In 1844, Karl Baedeker (1801-1859) was less enthusiastic:

"Interlachen has no so-called curiosities and even the most conscientious traveler need not regret not having been here. However, its charming and healthy location in a fertile valley, with a full view of the snowy peaks of the Jungfrau, the proximity of some of the most beautiful places in Switzerland and the cheapness of the food have gradually spread its reputation throughout half of Europe and have currently made the small valley a completely English settlement. Wherever you walk and stand, you are surrounded by English sounds, even the natives begin to address every stranger in English."

This and the following view are from the pavilion on the Hohbühl, which was financed by a German traveler and lover of this view.

"The pavilion under which we have settled is placed at a fairly high altitude above the valley floor; it was erected at the expense of a German traveler and passionate lover of Interlaken, who deposited a sufficiently large sum for the perpetual maintenance of this monument to his admiration."

From this pavilion, looking east, you have a beautiful view of Lake Brienz and the Goldswylerhubel with its ruins.

"This waterfall has only been known for a few years. It had been unfolding its full splendor for centuries in an unknown solitude when a lucky coincidence led a respected painter, the father of the person who drew these views, there. Thrilled by his discovery, he hastened to share it with artists and travelers. From then on, the Giessbach became more and more famous and every year numerous lovers of beautiful nature come to admire it."

Gabriel Lory (fils) (1784-1846) thus claims the discovery of the Giessbach Falls for his father of the same name (1763-1840). In fact, he presented the waterfall to a wide audience in a printed view in 1797 (see this map experience). However, a brief search on the Bilder der Schweiz Online research portal also reveals a colored outline etching by the Winterthur landscape painter Heinrich Rieter (1751-1818), which is dated to the 1790s. Who was probably first?

"The Giessbach is the destination of a very pleasant cruise on the beautiful Lake Brientz. You return to Interlaken, where you usually stay for a few days to explore the surroundings and the valleys that all flow into this valley more comfortably. The route from Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, which we will take, leads through the gorge that separates these two mountains and directly to the Jungfrau, which is opposite us.
This house is similar to most of those scattered around the orchards of Interlaken. In almost all the houses you will find the same cleanliness, the rustic coziness, the fondness for flowers, decorations and carvings. The larch wood from which they are built lends itself well to this type of decoration, and the beautiful reddish coloration it takes on in a few years brings harmony to these details."

The Unspunnen ruins on the road from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen were primarily known to tourists because of the Unspunnen Festival, which took place there in 1805 and 1808. You can find out more about the Unspunnen Festival in this showcase.

The viewpoint of this view is probably near the entrance to the Lauterbrunnen valley on the way to Wengen.

"Lauterbrunn-Thal, in the canton of Bern, one of the most famous and most visited valleys in the whole of Switzerland. From Bern you can easily travel to this valley partly by car and partly by water. Not far from Unterseen is the only entrance to the Lauterbrunn valley, which stretches to the SW. 5 hours long and at most 14 hours wide between the highest mountains. It bears its name with good reason, for more than 20 streams tumble over the rocks of this valley. Lauterbrunn deserves the traveler's visit not only for the sake of the Staub stream, which has actually spread the fame of this valley so generally, but because of the extraordinarily sublime rocky nature," writes Johann Gottfried Ebel (1764-1830) in his travel guide, and continues: "Just behind the Hunnen-Flue, the view falls on the rocks of the Lauterbrunn valley and mainly on the sublime Jungfrau, the sight of which is indescribable."

"The Staub Bach cascades down the face of the Pletsch or Fletsch mountain 800 F. near the village, dissolves into the finest dust and floats in the air as an ethereal, dazzling white, ever-changing shape. Its beauty is particularly enjoyable in the morning when the sun casts its rays on it. As you approach, you can see the wonderful play of two circular rainbows. As the stream often carries stones down with it, you don't have to step too close; if you're not afraid of getting soaked, you can also stand between the fall and the rock face. In winter, the Staub-Bach shows its very own ice formations."

"After an hour of arduous climbing, you are above the large rocks of the Staubbach and now stand on the edge of the rocky outcrop from which it plunges into the valley; a cloud partially conceals its terrifying depth; but at the sight of this abyss it is difficult to resist a feeling of vertigo, you retreat in fright and seek refuge at the back of the cave, which is covered by the water of the waterfall like a curtain; the image that presents itself through this liquid veil is of unique effect, especially when the morning sun adds even more brilliance to this magical spectacle."

At the very back of the Lauterbrunnen valley, the falls of the Schmadribach draw the eye, in the words of Karl Baedeker (1801-1851):

"In beauty, few in Switzerland are inferior. A considerable mass of water, one of the sources of the Lütschinen, which flows directly from the Steinberg glacier, immediately plunges 200 feet from a slope and, before it reaches the valley, forms two more falls of lesser height but equal beauty."

The easiest route from the Lauterbrunnen Valley to Grindelwald leads back along the valley floor via Zweilütschinen. However, the route via Wengernalp and Kleine Scheideck had already been established as the royal stage of the Oberland Tour since the end of the 18th century:

"But anyone who is fit and has not lost sight of the purpose of a journey through Switzerland should, under all circumstances, take the route via Wengernalp or Kleine Scheideck, weather permitting. Of course, it is a hike that takes 8 hours and is particularly difficult at the beginning due to the steep ascent, but it is not in the least dangerous and is undertaken almost daily in summer when the weather is clear, even by women on foot or on horseback. The path is one of the most frequented by travelers in Switzerland, almost at all times you will find fellow hikers, so that even a guide can be dispensed with.

After crossing the Kleine Scheideck, the tourist caught sight of the valley of Grindelwald:

"This cheerful valley seems much more open than any other in the area, despite the high peaks that surround it; this impression is created by its circular shape and the nature of the ground, which rises in terraces on the left almost up to the mountain peaks. Grindelwald is a large meadow, irregularly dotted with beautiful groups of trees and small groups of houses: This is the only one that looks a bit like a village; you can see the church, the vicarage and the two inns."

At the beginning of the 19th century in particular, people in Grindelwald noticed the advance of the two glaciers. In the case of the lower Grindelwald glacier, people remembered a footpath in Valais that had been impassable for over 200 years because the glacier had grown so much:

"The advance of the two glaciers, which can still be seen today in the middle of the meadows of Grindelwald, dates back to the end of the sixteenth century. The effect of heat, however, seems to be stronger than the progress of this strange stream, for the traces of the old moraines can be seen a good quarter of a mile from the present limits of the ice.
It is known that in former times a well-walked path led through the gorge of the lower glacier into the Valais."

In 1841, the French lawyer and travel writer Adolphe Joanne (1813-1881) described the route through the Reichenbach valley as follows:

"Black Forest, chalet and inn (expensive) on the Schwarzalp. Here the path divides; one leads in an hour and a few minutes over the left bank of the Reichenbach to Sage, leaving the baths and the glacier of Rosenlaui at a fairly long distance; the other, which is 15 to 20 m[inutes] longer, is suitable for all hikers, It follows the right bank of the stream and leads after approx. 40 m to the Rosenlaui baths (a charming inn called Steinbock), which are located at the entrance to a dark, wooded ravine, where you can see a very beautiful waterfall of the Reichenbach stream about 5-6 m away. The spring was discovered in 1771. The baths were rebuilt in 1794 and restored again in 1824.
Before reaching the Rosenlaui baths, you have to leave the path that leads to the glacier of the same name. This glacier is one and a half lieues long and half a lieue wide and is sandwiched between the Wellhorn, the Wetterhorn, the Renferhorn, the Tossenhorn and the Engel. We cannot recommend enough to all travelers crossing the Scheideck to climb up to the Rosenlaui glacier (excursion of about 1 to 1.5 hours, there and back). The bridge you cross before reaching it, the extraordinary color of its ice, the magnificent vault under which you sometimes enter in the middle of summer, and the beautiful waterfall of the Weissbach stream that flows down from it will more than reward you for your efforts."

"The Reichenbach is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Switzerland. From the rear gallery of the Wirthshaus zum Wilden Mann you can see a small part of the upper fall. The path to the upper fall leads from Meiringen through Schwendi, from here you turn right; you can see the ruins of Resti Castle, the ancestral seat of an old Resti family. Anyone traveling over the Scheideck must take this route and enjoy the view as they pass by. You have to see it in the morning, when three circular rainbows form in the sunshine. The falling column is 20-30 feet in circumference, even at low water, and falls 200 feet almost vertically."

"The lower fall *), which is extremely picturesque and many people like it better than the upper one, must be seen in the afternoon and evening because it is only illuminated then; you climb to the upper fall in 1/4 hour. Without a guide you do not have to descend from above to the lower fall.

*) Of this, H. Rieter in Bern has provided a masterly sheet."

The colored outline etching by Heinrich Rieter (1751-1818) mentioned by Ebel was published in 1801 and can be found here.

"The inhabitants of Meyringen would be very happy if the waterfalls consisted only of falling water; they would then no longer be exposed to the danger of their houses being swept away by the force of the Alpbach, which every spring, with its water swollen by the melting snow, carries huge masses of debris made of stone and earth that accumulate in its basin and drive the river out of its bed. A mighty dam intended to protect the village from this danger often offers only powerless resistance to the force of the torrent: all the men in the area sometimes work for days and nights to divert the water and reinforce the protective wall. In 1815 in particular, there was a general sense of alarm in the region; people rushed to Meyringen's aid from all sides. Part of the mountain had collapsed into the river, which, after retreating for several hours, finally broke through the barrier and plunged from the rocks onto the unfortunate village. It was saved by the courage of its inhabitants and the devotion of their neighbors."

"We have left these beautiful regions, have just crossed the small, rounded valley of Imgrund, which is characterized by its freshness and beautiful foliage, and now reach the gateway to the desert; it opens amidst the irregular masses of rock that have tumbled down from the high cliffs."

This wildly jagged boulder on the Grimselstrasse near Innertkirchen still exists today. It is known as the "Achistein", but in reality it is not as spectacularly inclined as in this aquatint.

"About a quarter of a mile below the Sennhütte of Handeck, the river, which has risen from the Grimsel glaciers and has already grown in its rapid course, plunges into the famous waterfall, which is considered the most beautiful waterfall in the whole world. With the help of a small ladder, one climbs onto a rock overgrown with moss, from which one descends, not without some danger, back to the bottom of a ledge, which the Aare fills completely with its thundering floods. At the foot of a huge rock that the river has torn open to create a passage for itself, you can see it falling from a height of more than a hundred and fifty feet as if from the clouds, with a noise, a force and a volume that I won't even try to reproduce."

The Grimsel Pass was never one of the busiest passes in Switzerland, but was always of some importance for trade between central Switzerland, the Haslital, Valais and northern Italy. Sbrinz was exported to Piedmont and Lombardy along this route. Quite late, namely from 1847-94, the Bernese government built a road from Innertkirchen to Gletsch with the support of the Swiss Confederation. However, the route had always been interesting for tourists, even if they had to endure a few hardships:

"This journey is rich in the wildest and most extraordinary views of the high mountain nature. From Meiringen in the Hasli valley to the Spithal on the Grimsel 7 hours; from Obergesteln in Valais to the Spithal only 3 hours. If you are traveling on horseback, it is best to dismount at the worst parts of the road, where there are dreadful precipices and gruesome bridges."

From March to the beginning of November, a resident of the Haslital occupied the Grimsel Hospice and catered for the poor hikers. There were sometimes 96 people per seven regular beds. The hospice was financed by a collection throughout the Confederation. The Frenchman Désiré Raoul Rochette (1789-1854) was less than enthusiastic during his visit in 1819:

"I will not attempt to give you a description of this accommodation. It is really terrible, and the circumstances under which it was offered to me were not such as to diminish its horror. A herd of goats and another herd of cows had sought shelter from the storm in the stable that forms the first floor of the house. Their confused bleating fills the wooden house, a corner of which has been left to me, at this moment as I write to you; the whistling of the raging winds shakes the cold supports; and it is in vain that, to protect myself from their pungent breath, I wanted to stand for a while by a smoky hearth, where I burned without ceasing to be cold. As apparently no disgrace could be allowed to be absent from my sad adventure, I could not even change my clothes. The guide entrusted with this part of my luggage had lost his way amidst mists that hid a path he had already traveled a hundred times. The unfortunate man arrived more than an hour after us, in a state that made me feel sorry for myself, and I don't know how you would have felt if you could have seen me in the grotesque outfit that I had received from the generosity of my host. I have at last been able to remove my shirt from my body, soaked with sweat and rain; I have just finished a meal of which I can say without vanity that my appetite had to bear all the expense; and I am going to lie down with pleasure on a straw mat barely half covered with a dirty sheet. With all this, my present situation seems to me divine. I shall nevertheless endeavor to shorten it by removing myself tomorrow at daybreak from the most horrible desert and inhospitable hospice that exists in the world."

"Deeper than the hospital, towards evening, in a fairly narrow valley, lie the two Aare glaciers, to the south the Oberaar glacier, whose visit is tedious and not rewarding. The Vorderaar glacier, also known as the Lauteraar glacier, is all the more interesting because this is where the Aare makes its first appearance in daylight. You can reach it in two hours from the hospital. You can walk leisurely for 2-3 hours on the ice, as its level rises imperceptibly for hours, uninterrupted by any crevasses. Enormous granite debris lying on it, often carried by man-high ice columns, distinguish it from other glaciers. In the background, the Finsteraarhorn rises sky-high from an immense sea of ice."

As early as 1751, Johann Georg Altmann (1695-1758) described the Aargletscher based on his own observations, and the Saxon traveler Carl Gottlob Küttner (1755-1805) also visited the Aargletscher from the Grimselhospiz in 1785:

"I climbed the ice wall and walked on the ice for about a quarter of an hour; but neither Mr. B** nor I had any desire to go any further. Almost the entire surface of this ice vault is covered with stones and pieces of rock, which are constantly detached from the height on both sides of the valley. Walking is therefore extremely difficult and also dangerous further on, because the ice often has cracks that you can't see."

"A few miles ahead, we arrived in front of the terrifying Finsteraarhorn: It is a barrier before which one must stop; to cross it would be to look death in the face; yet some brave men, led by a hospice servant, undertook it in 1812 and accomplished it without accident: They went into the dark valley from which the chamois seemed to come, and then over the ridge, the beginning of which we see, connecting the summit of the Finsteraarhorn with that of the Schreckhorn, which is a mile to the right; at the back of this summit, called Straleck, they descended to the green island of Zesenberg, of which we spoke when we visited Grindelwald, and finally reached this last valley over the lower glacier. On another tour the previous year, they went through the Oberaar valley, which lies behind the left glacier, and planted a flag on the summit of the Jungfrau, which was considered inaccessible. During these various excursions, they were forced to spend several nights in the middle of these icy deserts: their lives depended absolutely on the deceptive duration of the fine weather; a fog would have buried them forever in this huge grave."

Due to a technical limitation of the map display, the peak of the Finsteraarhorn is not shown here. However, it is barely exaggerated in the view