Oberstocken Lake

Geschichte

Oberstockensee is a small lake in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. Its surface area is 11.8ha. The lake is located above the village of Erlenbach im Simmental, below Mt. Stockhorn. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the "Oberstockensee" was often called the "Vorderstockensee" and/or "Spetbaerglisee." Local residents still refer to it as the "Spetbaerglisee." Vorderstocken and Spetbaergli are the two alpine meadows that are on opposite sides of the lake.Five people drowned in the "Oberstockensee" in a tragic accident on Sunday, 1 August 1869 (the Swiss national "Independence Day" holiday) on Mt. Stockhorn: • Johann Gottfried Batzli (1830-1869), the president of the Erlenbach im Simmental Community Council, who only shortly before had been the miller and baker at the lower mill on the "Wildenbach" creek in the village and was long remembered because of his winning personality and his friendly, gentle voice • Johannes Batzli (1862-1869), the seven-year-old orphaned son of a first cousin of the community council president • Rudolf Jutzeler (1853-1869), a sixteen-year-old godson of Susanna Katharina Buehler Zurbruegg (1800-1859), the mother-in-law of Johann Gottfried Batzli • David Sulzener Jr. (1851-1869), an eighteen-year-old hired hand working for the Batzli brothers on the "Hinterstocken" alpine pasture • Samuel Tschabold (1853-1869), the sixteen-year-old son of Jakob Tschabold Jr. (b. 1806), who had been working with his father on the "Spetbaergli" alpine pasture.Although hardly any specific details are known that caused the deathly course of events, oral history reports agree that the little boat set out on the east side of the lake below the "Oberstocken" alpine pasture heading for the herdsmen′s little hut on the "Spetbaergli" pastures on the west side of the lake.