Eiger peak, Grindelwald, Switzerland:

Grindelwald is a village and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Besides the village of Grindelwald, the municipality also includes the settlements of Alpiglen, Burglauenen, Grund, Itramen, Mühlebach, Schwendi, Tschingelberg and Wargistal.Grindelwald village is located at 1,034 m above sea level in the Bernese Alps.The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are scattered neolithic tools which have been discovered around Grindelwald village. Several Roman era coins have also been found in the municipality. A castle was built on the Burgbühl hill above the village during the High Middle Ages.In 1146 King Conrad III, granted estates in Grindelwald to Interlaken Abbey. In the late 12th century, the barons of the alpine valleys in what became the Berner Oberland went to war against the expansionist Duke Berthold V of Zähringen. The Duke defeated a coalition of nobles in the Grindlewald valley in 1191. His victory allowed him to expand Zähringen power into the Oberland, to expand the city of Thun and found the city of Bern. Beginning in the 13th century, Interlaken Abbey began to purchase rights and land in Grindelwald and eventually forced the local nobles out of the valley. The Abbey continued to exert influence in the village and in 1315 and again in 1332 ordered the villagers to raid Unterwalden to further the political ambitions of the Abbot's patrons. In response to the raids, in 1342, Unterwalden attacked Grindelwald. A few years later, in 1348-49, the villagers joined in an unsuccessful rebellion against ecclesiastical power. In 1528 the city of Bern adopted the Protestant Reformation and proceeded to spread the new faith in Grindelwald against the populations' wishes. Bern was able to impose its will, converted the village and secularized Interlaken Abbey and the Abbey's lands. Grindelwald became part of the bailiwick of Interlaken, under a Bernese bailiff.The first village church was a wooden building from the mid 12th century. The wooden building was replaced with the stone St. Mary's Church in 1180. This church was replaced in the 16th century and the present church was built in 1793.The tourism industry began in Grindelwald in the late 18th century as foreigners discovered the scenic town. Pictures of the vistas were widely reprinted, quickly making the village internationally famous. In the 19th century many Englishmen came to the village to climb the alpine peaks around the valley. The Finsteraarhorn, the Wetterhorn, the Schreckhorn and the Gross Fiescherhorn were all climbed during the 19th century. The Grindelwald road was built in 1860-72 and the Bernese Oberland railway reached the village in 1890, both of which transformed an arduous journey into a simple trip and allowed tourists to flood into the village. The first resort opened in 1888 and there were 10 hotels in 1889 and by 1914 there were 33 in Grindelwald. A rack railway was built to Kleine Scheidegg in 1893 and it was expanded to the Jungfraujoch in 1912. Numerous ski lifts, cable cars, hiking trails and alpine huts were built in the late 19th and 20th centuries to allow tourists to explore the mountains. Today, almost the entire economy of Grindelwald is based on tourism.

Source:

Picture:Link:

Wikipedeia:Link: