Lake Brienz

Geschichte

Lake Brienz is a lake just north of the Alps, in the Canton of Berne in Switzerland. It has a length of about 14 kilometres, a width of 2.8 kilometres and a maximum depth of 260 metres. Its area is 29.8 square kilometres, and the surface is 564 metres above the sea-level. It is fed by the upper reaches of the Aar river at its eastern end and by the Lütschine river, flowing from the valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, at its south-western corner. It flows out into a further stretch of the Aar river at its western end. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the Finsteraarhorn at 4,274 metres above sea level.
The village of Brienz, from which the lake takes its name, lies to its eastern end. In the west the lake is terminated by the Bödeli, a tongue of land that separates it from neighbouring Lake Thun. The village of Bönigen occupies the lake frontage of the Bödeli, whilst the larger resort town of Interlaken lies on the reach of the Aar river between the two lakes. The village of Iseltwald lies on the south shore, whilst the villages of Ringgenberg, Niederried and Oberried are on the north shore.