thumb|[[Hubert Sattler (painter)|Hubert Sattler (1817–1904): View of Engelberg]]

thumb|View of Engelberg from Hotel Ramada Balcony

thumb|Stand-Klein Titlis cableway (July 2010)

Engelberg (lit.: mountain of angel(s)) is a village resort and a municipality in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Alongside the central village of Engelberg, the municipality encompasses additional settlements, including Grafenort, Oberberg and Schwand.

The municipality of Engelberg is an exclave, entirely encircled by the neighboring cantons of Bern, Nidwalden and Uri.

Engelberg is a mountain resort in Central Switzerland. In the Middle Ages, the area garnered recognition for its Benedictine monastery, known as Engelberg Abbey. As time progressed, particularly from the 19th century onwards, Engelberg became a well-known mountain resort. The city of Lucerne serves as the nearest major urban center.

While the official language of Engelberg is German, the predominant spoken language is the local variation of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.

History

Engelberg's earliest mention dates to 1122, denoted as Engilperc, concurrent with the founding of the Abbey. Prior to this, the Alpine pasture of Trüebsee was already collectively utilized by the locals.

The mid-19th century ushered in Engelberg's emergence as a vacation destination, known for its therapeutic mineral water, milk serum and fresh air. The efforts of families such as Cattani, Hess, and Odermatt led to the establishment of a number of hotels, cementing the region's status as a tourist destination. Related developments included the construction of a broader road between 1872 and 1874, as well as the inauguration of the Stansstad-Engelberg electric railway in 1898.

Engelberg has an area (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 27.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 43.5% is unproductive land. In the 2013/18 survey a total of or about 1.9% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1980/81 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by and is now about 0.61% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is fields and grasslands and consists of alpine grazing areas. Since 1980/81 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by . Over the same time period the amount of forested land has increased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality.

The average altitude of Engelberg is . However the village is surrounded by the Alps, creating very steep terrain. The highest point in the borders of the municipality is the Titlis. The Engelberg Valley () is drained by the Engelberger Aa, a tributary of Lake Lucerne. The valley is located southwards from the lake.

A free bus system provides daytime transport within the village, with a network of seven routes during the winter season (from December through to April) and a single route during the summer season (from April until October).

Drahtseilbahn Engelberg–Hotel Terrasse, a funicular from the village to Hotel Terrace operated from 1905 to 2008, with some interruptions. Gerschnialpbahn opened in 1913.

Tourism

The tourist activities in the village and surrounding area include skiing and other snow sports in the winter season, and hiking and mountain activities during the summer.

In the village itself the main sights are the Benedictine monastery Engelberg Abbey which incorporates a cheese factory and demonstration shop, the Talmuseum showing the history of the area and Swiss rural life, and a number of old chapels.

The winter sports season generally lasts from December until April, although the high altitude glacier areas on the Titlis can sometimes be used (by advanced skiers) from October until May. Snow coverage is generally reliable, although in recent years artificial snow machines have been installed on some of the lower altitude runs in order to improve snow cover.

thumb|upright|[[Gross-Titlis-Schanze]]

Engelberg hosts a round of the ski jumping World Cup at the Gross-Titlis-Schanze jump.

thumb|1 August parade in Engelberg

In common with the rest of Switzerland, there is a village celebration for Swiss National Day on 1 August, with parades and events throughout the day.

alt=Der Alpabzug in Engelberg|thumb|Der Alpabzug

On the last Saturday in September the Alpabzug takes place, when the cattle are brought from the mountain pastures back to their winter barns in the village and valley.

There are three main mountain areas, accessible from the village, offering various activities in winter and summer. The cable cars generally run all year round, providing access for hikers and mountain bikers as well as skiers.

Titlis

The Titlis in the south of Engelberg at above sea level is the highest summit of the range north of the Susten Pass, between the Bernese Oberland and Central Switzerland.

The Titlis mountain massif is accessible by cable cars of the Titlis Bergbahnen. The cable car bottom station is also the central terminus of the village bus services. A funicular railway (dating from 1913) runs up to station Gerschnialp () and a wide Alpine pasture called Gerschni, with easy snow areas suitable for beginners and cross country ski trails, and a toboggan run leading back down to the valley station. In the summer there are two cheese dairies, with walking trails leading up to Ober Trüebsee and back down to the village, or level trails leading to Unter Trüebsee to the west.

The "Titlis Xpress" gondola lift, opened in 2015 to replace an older one dating from the 1970s, runs from the valley station () up to the middle station Trübsee () and on to Stand (). This area provides more challenging skiing, on the lower slopes of the Titlis and via further chair lifts to the Jochpass () and below the Jochstock at . A continuous ski piste leads down to Unter Trüebsee and back to the cable car valley station. In summer the lake is a destination for walkers, with rowing boats available on the lake and picnic places around it. Walking routes lead over the Jochpass to Engstlenalp and Melchsee-Frutt, or directly from Engleberg over the Juchli Pass () or Storegg Pass ()) into the Melchtal.

The "Rotair" cable car ("the world's first rotating cable car") runs up to the Kleintitlis mountain station () where there is a restaurant and shops, an observation terrace and access to the glacier and summit. The high altitude glacier runs down from the peak are suitable for advanced skiers, with off-piste routes leading down to Trüebsee and the Laubersgrat ridge.

Brunni

The Brunni mountain area, to the north of the village, is accessible from the cable car station which runs up to Ristis (), with a further chair lift up to Brunnihütte (). The ski runs here are of a beginner to medium standard, although sometimes not having so much snow cover as the Titlis side due to the south facing aspect. There is another toboggan run from Brunnihütte back down to Ristis. In summer there are a number of walking trails starting from here, including the Walenpfad leading to Bannalp and the Rot Grätli ridge across the mountains to the north and northeast. There are also a number of prepared rock climbing routes ().

Fürenalp

At the eastern end of the Engelberg valley, there is a cable car up to Fürenalp (), passing over the Fürenwand rock climbing area. From the top station or from the valley, summer walking routes with views of the Chli Spannort () and Gross Spannort () mountain peaks lead to the Surenenpass () in the east.

Heritage sites

Engelberg is home to three sites that are Swiss heritage sites of national significance; Engelberg Abbey with its library, archives and music collection, the mansion (Herrenhaus) in Grafenort and the Holy Cross chapel in Grafenort.

<gallery>

File:Engelberg Kloster 085.jpg|Benedictine Abbey

File:HerrenhausGrafenort.jpg|Mansion in Grafenort with Garden Pavillon

File:Grafenort-Herrenhaus.jpg|Holy Cross Chapel

</gallery>

Demographics

The historical population is given in the following table:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Population

|-

|1709

|678

|-

|1799

|1,468

|-

|1850

|1,737

|-

|1900

|1,973

|-

|1950

|2,544

|-

|2000

|3,544

|-

|2010

|3,859

|-

|}

Notable people

thumb|140px|[[Hermann Hess Helfenstein, 1950]]

  • Baroness Felicitas von Reznicek, (1904-1997 in Engelberg), German writer, a British agent during WWII
  • Herbert Matter (1907–1984) an American photographer and graphic designer, used photomontage
  • Giuseppe Piazzi (1907–1963 in Engelberg), bishop of Bergamo
  • Hermann Hess Helfenstein (1916-2008) a Swiss naturalist, explorer, climber and engineer.

Sport

  • Rolf Olinger (1924–2006) a Swiss alpine skier and bronze medallist at the 1948 Winter Olympics
  • Erika Hess (born 1962), bronze medallist at the Alpine skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympics
  • Dominique Gisin (born 1985), gold medallist at the Alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics
  • Denise Feierabend (born 1989) a Swiss former World Cup alpine ski racer.
  • Michelle Gisin (born 1993) alpine ski racer, gold medallist at the 2018 & 2022 Winter Olympics.
  • Lena Häcki (born 1995), Junior Biathlon silver medallist.
  • Fabian Bösch (born 1997), Olympic freestyle skier and 2015 slopestyle gold medallist
  • Fabio Scherer (born 1999), racing driver

References

  • Municipality Engelberg
  • Engelberg Tourism website
  • Titlis website
  • Brunni website