Mürren

"Murren" redirects here. For other uses, see Murren (disambiguation).

Mürren

View from Niedenmatten (road), in Mürren, toward Gimmelwald

Mürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m (5,413 ft.) above sea level and unreachable by public road. Tourism is popular through the summer and winter; the village features a view of the three towering mountains: Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Mürren has a population of just 450, but has 2,000 hotel beds.

Mürren has its own school and two churches, one Reformed and one Roman Catholic.

Transport

Mürren Station, the terminus of the Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren

A series of four cable cars, known as the Luftseilbahn Stechelberg-Mürren-Schilthorn (LSMS), provides transportation from Mürren downhill to Gimmelwald and Stechelberg, and uphill to the summit of the Schilthorn and the revolving restaurant Piz Gloria. This was a principal filming location for the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, released in 1969, in which Bond (George Lazenby) made his escape from the headquarters of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) and fled four of Blofeld's henchmen in a car driven by his girlfriend Tracy (Diana Rigg). There is an additional cable car that runs directly from Mürren to Stechelberg, but this is provided solely for the movement of freight. Mürren is also connected to Lauterbrunnen by the Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren, which consists of a narrow gauge railway and a connecting aerial tramway. Mürren is also the lower terminus of the Allmendhubelbahn funicular.

Mürren Railway Station during winter

Due to its altitude and inaccessibility,there are no cars in Mürren.

Recreation

Schilthorn

There are a total of 52 km (32 mi.) of ski runs with 14 ski lifts (6 cable cars, 7 chair lifts, 3 railways and 2 drag lifts). There is also off-piste skiing, but guiding is often needed and should be used. Although there is good skiing, a popular activity is sledding (sledging). There are many paths that are used for sledding including a route from Mürren to Gimmelwald (once in Gimmelwald, you can follow the short path through the village and take a cable-car back to Mürren) and from Gimmeln to Mürren that are used solely for hiking and sledding. The "bobrun" (which was a bobsleigh track) is also used for sledding and hiking but is also a well used ski run, often used by the ski school.

Within the village there is a large sports center with a 25 m swimming pool, squash courts and a sports hall. There is a large skating rink which is sometimes used for curling competitions as well as a specific curling rink that in the summer is a tennis court.The ice rink is turned into a mini-golf course during the summer months. In the summer there are also tennis courts near to the sportschalet.

Politics

Mürren is situated within the canton of Bern, in the district of Interlaken and belongs to the political commune of Lauterbrunnen, together with the districts of Wengen, Isenfluh, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen. Also, the parish covers the entire valley.

Hotels

There are quite a few hotels in Murren that include hotel Alpina, hotel Alpenruh, hotel Edelwiess, hotel Alpenblick, hotel Jungfrau, hotel Blumental, Eiger Guesthouse, Eiger Swiss Quality Hotel, Sportschalet, Hotel Jungfrau and Hotel Regina.

History

Street in Mürren

Mürren has its roots as a farming village. However, it has grown in size and wealth owing to tourism in both summer and winter. Tourism and winter sports have been an important part of Mürren's history since 1911, when the first British winter tourists arrived. In 1924 the Kandahar Ski Club was set up by Sir Arnold Lunn and eight other British skiers. The club takes its name from the Roberts of Kandahar Challenge Cup, first run in 1911. This, the world's senior challenge cup for Downhill ski-racing, was presented by Lord Roberts, who, in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, won the decisive Battle of Kandahar.^[1]

Street in Mürren in winter

In 1928 the Inferno ski race was set up, and continues till this day. The International Inferno Race, comprising cross-country, giant slalom and downhill races, is the longest (15.8 km, 9.8 mi.) and largest amateur ski race in the world.^[2]

External links

• Schilthorn.ch - tourism
• Schilthorn - Piz Gloria
• Live Webcam at Schilthorn

References

1. ^ [ [1] |www.wengen-muerren.ch]
2. ^ International Inferno Race Website

Coordinates: 46°33′34″N 7°53′32″E / 46.55944°N 7.89222°E / 46.55944; 7.89222