Wengen, Switzerland
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Wengen is a car-free village in the Bernese Oberland. It belongs to the Jungfrauregion tourist area, along with the UNESCO world heritage site of Jungfrau.
It is reachable by the Wengernalpbahn from Lauterbrunnen. Wengen has 1,400 inhabitants; in the winter high season, however, there are more than 10,000 visitors and in the summer season, about 5,000.
Nearby are the Jungfrau and Eiger mountains, and the village of the Lauberhorn.
Wengen possesses a beautiful reformed church, constructed in 1953, which stands under monument protection. Wengen also has an English and a Roman Catholic church.
Wengen.jpg
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History
Wengen was mentioned for the first time in the year 1268 as "uf Wengen". The origin of the name is not known.
The first tourists came into the mountain village of Wengen during the 19th Century on the through railway journey from Lauterbrunnen over the Wengernalp to the Kleine Scheidegg and Grindelwald. In 1859, the first hotel in Wengen opened. In the 1890s, the railway was built over the Wengernalp, at that time the most modern means of transport.
Avalanches
In the winter of 1999, two people died in an avalanche. The school closed for one week, and the Wengernalpbahn had to stop service for a day. Further avalanches occurred in 2003.
Politics
Wengen belongs together with Mürren, Isenfluh, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen to the political commune of Lauterbrunnen. The diocese covers the entire Talschaft. Wengen nevertheless is in many ways (school, etc..) independent.
External links
- wengen.com - unofficial homepage (http://www.wengen.com/)
- School (http://www.educanet.ch/home/schulewengen/)
- Wengen Tourist Information - official homepage (http://http://www.wengen-muerren.ch/)