Interlaken

Interlaken is a municipality in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. The place is well known amongst tourists.

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It is located in the centre of Switzerland in close proximity to the Alps. The Aare River flows through the town. The town takes its name from its geographical position: between the lakes (in Latin inter lacus - but the name itself was only coined in 1891, replacing the old name Aarm?hle). Interlaken is located between Lake Brienz to the east and Lake Thun to the west.

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Interlaken is located at 570 metres above sea level. The original importance of the town was as the site of a convent of the Augustinian canons. The convent was built in 1130 and lasted until 1528. It later grew popular as a tourist resort. It is one of the oldest tourist resorts in Switzerland and remains one of the most popular ones.

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Tourists are often disappointed by the appearance of the town itself, but it is the magnificent view of the Jungfrau mountain (4158m) that attracts them. Many hotels are located along the H?heweg avenue which has good views on the mountains. In the past textiles and to a smaller extent watchmaking were of importance, but today tourism is the most significant source of income.

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Despite its small size (population 5200), the town features two train stations ("Interlaken Ost" and "Interlaken West") and two funicular railways, Harderbahn and Heimwehfluh. Train connections in Interlaken serve the Jungfrau region via the Berner Oberland Bahn, with narrow gauge lines also extending over the Brunig Pass to Luzern. Connections via the main line exist to serve Interlaken with Spiez, Thun and Bern.

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:See also: Bernese Oberland

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Canton of Bern: The Swiss canton of Bern is bilingual (German: Kanton Bern; French Canton de Berne) and has a population of about 947,000 (8,2% French-speaking and 84% German-speaking). It is located in west- central Switzerland and the city of Bern is its capital. People speak a local Swiss German dialect (Bernes...

Switzerland: The Swiss Confederation or Switzerland (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica) is a landlocked federal republic in Europe, bordering Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality, but also of international co-operation, and is hom...

Alps: :This article is about the Alps in Europe. For other mountain ranges see Alps (disambiguation)....