Brienz ( , , ) is a village and municipality on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, at the foot of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain, and in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Besides the village of Brienz, the municipality includes the settlements of Kienholz and Axalp.

Politically, the municipality is located in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district of the canton of Bern.

History

thumb|left|A western view of Lake Brienz in the summer, taken from the quay at Brienz

thumb|left|An eastern view of Lake Brienz

The first settlements date from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. In the 5th century BC, the Celts settled in the alpine valleys among the sources of the Rhone, the Rhine and the Danube, eventually stretching from the headwaters down to Vienna and Belgrade. At the end of 1st century BC the Romans conquered this area. The Roman settlements were destroyed by the Alamanni in 259/60. They eventually settled in the area around 450. In any case, evidence has been found for a settlement by the Alamanni in the 7th century. Brienz is first mentioned in 1146 as Briens.

Geography

thumb|Brienz village from the [[Brienzer Rothorn.]]

thumb|Aerial view (1956)

The municipality of Brienz includes a number of communities along the upper end of Lake Brienz, and stretches into the neighboring mountains. It includes the village of Brienz on the right shore, the mouth of the Aare and the village of Kienholz to the north and the settlements of Engi and Schwendi on the left bank. Heading away from the right shore the land rises to the Rotschalp, Planalp and Giebelegg before reaching the Brienzer Rothorn (). Heading away from the left shore it rises over the Brienzerberg and Giessbach Falls, Tschingelfeld, Hinterburg and Axalp until it reaches the Schwarzhorn ().

The parish of Brienz includes Oberried am Brienzersee, Schwanden bei Brienz, Hofstetten bei Brienz and Brienzwiler.

Brienz has an area of .<!--47.99 - 48.02 km2--> Of this area, or 38.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 33.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 4.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.1% is either rivers or lakes and or 22.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. Out of the forested land, 29.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 7.2% is pastures and 30.5% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.3% is in lakes and 0.8% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 8.6% is unproductive vegetation and 13.3% is too rocky for vegetation.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per bend sinister wavy Azure and Argent overall a Lion rampant counterchanged langued and vilene Gules.

Demographics

thumb|A street in Brienz village

Brienz has a population () of . , 8.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of 1.5%. Migration accounted for 2.2%, while births and deaths accounted for -1.6%.

Most of the population () speaks German (2,746 or 92.9%) as their first language, French is the second most common (38 or 1.3%) and Albanian is the third (38 or 1.3%). There are 19 people who speak Italian and 2 people who speak Romansh.

, there were 444 households that consist of only one person and 93 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,226 apartments (65.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 516 apartments (27.5%) were seasonally occupied and 134 apartments (7.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.3 new units per 1000 residents.

<timeline>

Colors=

id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)

id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)

ImageSize = width:1020 height:210

PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:50 right:100

AlignBars = justify

DateFormat = x.y

Period = from:0 till:3000

TimeAxis = orientation:vertical

AlignBars = justify

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:600 start:0

ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:120 start:0

PlotData=

color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center

bar:1764 from:start till:799 text:"799"

bar:1850 from:start till:1789 text:"1,789"

bar:1860 from:start till:2280 text:"2,280"

bar:1870 from:start till:2606 text:"2,606"

bar:1880 from:start till:2757 text:"2,757"

bar:1888 from:start till:2535 text:"2,535"

bar:1900 from:start till:2580 text:"2,580"

bar:1910 from:start till:2514 text:"2,514"

bar:1920 from:start till:2474 text:"2,474"

bar:1930 from:start till:2525 text:"2,525"

bar:1941 from:start till:2637 text:"2,637"

bar:1950 from:start till:2861 text:"2,861"

bar:1960 from:start till:2864 text:"2,864"

bar:1970 from:start till:2796 text:"2,796"

bar:1980 from:start till:2759 text:"2,759"

bar:1990 from:start till:2849 text:"2,849"

bar:2000 from:start till:2956 text:"2,956"

</timeline>

Points of interest

  • During World War I a lake promenade was built along the village and the lake shore. It is highlighted by flower beds, tree plantings, and offers views unencumbered by traffic.
  • Ride the Brienz Rothorn Bahn, a steam train up the Brienzer Rothorn.
  • The Ballenberg open-air museum of nearly 100 original century-old buildings from all over Switzerland
  • wood carvings
  • Giessbach Falls with the Giessbachbahn, the oldest funicular in Europe

thumb|800px|center|A view of Brienz from Lake Brienz

Heritage sites of national significance

thumb|upright|Giessbach Hotel

The abandoned medieval and early modern alpine village of Axalp and the Giessbach Hotel Complex are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The urbanized village of Brienz and the Hotel Giessbach are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. The latter were used as filming location for the 2001 TV series Band of Brothers.

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 30.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (16.8%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (12.9%) and the FDP.The Liberals (12.3%). In the federal election, a total of 1,153 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 50.7%.

Economics

thumb|right|Brienz chalet mantel cuckoo clock, ca. 1900. Music box has 8 melodies.

Tourism and woodcarving are the main activities. The Cantonal Woodcarving School established in 1862 is well-known and respected in the trade.

The Swiss firm Lötscher makes the only genuine Swiss cuckoo clocks in existence today in Brienz. All of the initial steps involved in building these clocks are done in its woodworking facility in Brienz, the rest of the manufacturing process continues in Zurich where the timepieces are assembled, checked and adjusted.

, Brienz had an unemployment rate of 1.72%. , there were a total of 1,627 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 125 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 41 businesses involved in this sector. 484 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 54 businesses in this sector. 1,018 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 154 businesses in this sector.

, there were 596 workers who commuted into the municipality and 509 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.2 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 11.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 45.9% used a private car.

Education

In Brienz about 1,264 or (42.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 247 or (8.4%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 247 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.3% were Swiss men, 19.0% were Swiss women, 4.9% were non-Swiss men and 4.9% were non-Swiss women.

During the 2010–11 school year, there were a total of 363 students attending classes in Brienz. There were 3 kindergarten classes with a total of 43 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 9.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 7.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 9 primary classes and 177 students. Of the primary students, 6.8% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 9.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 8 lower secondary classes with a total of 143 students. There were 7.7% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 7.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language.

, there were 59 students in Brienz who came from another municipality, while 51 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

The lower terminal station of the Brienz–Rothorn rack railway is located across the street from the main Brünig line station, and provides summer only service to the summit of Brienzer Rothorn mountain. Unusually for a Swiss railway, most trains are operated by steam locomotives.

Also in summer only, a quay adjacent to Brienz railway station is also served by BLS AG shipping services, which operate on Lake Brienz serving various points between Interlaken and Brienz. One of these stops, which is also within the Brienz municipality, is at the lower station of the Giessbach Funicular, which gives access to the Giessbach Falls.

Several PostBus Switzerland services connect Brienz village to other local places, and call at the forecourt of the main Brienz station. Amongst other destinations, buses link to the Ballenberg open-air museum.

Twin town — sister city

Brienz is twinned with:

  • Shimada, Shizuoka, Japan
  • Tryavna, Bulgaria

Notable people

thumb|140px|[[Heinrich Federer]]

  • Elisabetha Grossmann (1795–1858), "The Fair Skipper of Brienz"
  • Oswald Wirth (1860–1943) occultist, artist and author; studied esotericism and symbolism
  • Heinrich Federer (1866–1928), Catholic priest and writer
  • Rosa Neuenschwander (1883–1962), vocational education pioneer and feminist
  • Fritz Abplanalp (1907–1977) a Swiss woodcarver.
  • Anita Studer (born 1944) accountant, ornithologist, conservationist and ecologist; is saving a forest in northeastern Brazil.
  • Martina Schild (born 1981) alpine downhill skier, silver medallist at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

References

  • Brienz website
  • Brienz-rothorn-Bahn
  • Ballenberg openair museum
  • Brienz wood carvings