Reichenbach Falls

Geschichte

The Reichenbach Falls are a waterfall cascade of seven steps on the creek called Rychenbach in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. They drop over a total change of altitude of about. At, of which the Grand Reichenbach Fall, the upper one, is by far the largest one and one of the higher waterfalls in the Alps and among the forty highest in Switzerland. The Rychenbach loses of height from the top of the falls to the valley floor of the Haslital. Today, a hydro-electric power company harnesses the flow of the Reichenbach Falls during certain times of year, reducing its flow.In popular literature, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave the Grand Reichenbach Fall as the location of the final physical altercation between his hero Sherlock Holmes with his greatest foe, the criminal Professor Moriarty in "The Final Problem".LocationThe falls are located in the lower part of the Reichenbachtal, on the Rychenbach, a tributary (from the south bank) of the Aare. They are some 1.5km south of the town of Meiringen, and 25km east of Interlaken. Politically, the falls are within the municipality of Schattenhalb in the canton of Bern.