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Pocket Switzerland

Brienzer Rothorn

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Summit · cantons of Bern and Lucerne · 2350 m

Viewpoint above Lake Brienz, served by a historic steam railway.

From the basket

On the north shore of Lake Brienz, the Brienzer Rothorn stands a little apart from the great peaks, and that is just what gives it its strength: nothing blocks its view. The balloon reaches it by following the jade-coloured water of the lake, then climbing pastures up to a limestone crest studded with rocks.

Once above the summit, turn to face south. The whole great Oberland range lines up in one piece on the far side of the lake: the Rosenhorn, the Eiger, the Mönch, the Jungfrau. To the north and west, by contrast, the Prealps roll in gentler waves, and the eye runs as far as Pilatus, above Lucerne.

This summit is also a meeting point. Three cantons touch here: Bern, Lucerne and Obwalden. For Lucerne it is even the highest point of the whole canton. At the top a small pyramid marks a triangulation point, one of those reference marks surveyors used to measure and draw the map of the country. Since 1892 a rack railway has climbed from Brienz to just below the summit, and a cable car comes up the other side from Sörenberg.

The wind is often brisk on this ridge, open to every horizon. Let it carry you along the Brienzergrat, the long backbone that runs west above the lake, before you drop back down towards the water.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Brienzer Rothorn” (French and German editions).

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