Lake Thun

Geschichte

Lake Thun is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore.
Lake Thun's approximate 2,500 km² catchment area frequently causes local flooding after heavy rainfalls. This occurs because the river Aare, which drains Lake Thun, has only limited capacity to handle the excess runoff.
Lake Thun was created after the last glacial period. Originally and up to the tenth century, present Lake Thun and Lake Brienz were one long lake, called Wendelsee. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the Finsteraarhorn at 4,274 metres above sea level.
The lake is fed by water from Lake Brienz to the southeast, which is 6 metres higher than Lake Thun, and various streams in the Oberland, including the Kander.
In 1835 passenger ships began operating on the lake. Ten passenger ships, operated by the local railway company BLS AG, serve the towns of Interlaken and Thun; the Interlaken ship canal and Thun ship canal connect the lake to Interlaken West railway station and Thun railway station respectively.
Fishing is important enough to keep a handful of professional fishers employed. In 2001 the total catch was 53,000 kg.