Wengen

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Church in Wengen

Wengen is a village in the Bernese Oberland situated at the foot of the Jungfrau mountain in central Switzerland. It is one of very few car-free resort villages in Europe, although there are the few necessary electric vehicles for taxiing to and from the train station.

It is reachable by rail, using the Wengernalpbahn from Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald, or by cable car from the Mannlichen. Wengen has approximately 1,400 year-round residents. This number swells to 5,000 during summer and to 10,000 during the winter peak tourist season. Wengen is internationally renowed for staging the Lauberhorn ski races.

Wengen is also the home of The Downhill Only Club, one of the very oldest British alpine ski clubs, founded there in 1925.

1 History
2 Politics
3 Recreation
4 External links

[edit] History

Wengen was first mentioned in official documents in 1268. The origin of the name is unknown.

Originally a farming community, the first tourists started to arrive in the mountain village during the early 19th century. One of the first visitors was Felix Mendelssohn. The first hotel opened in 1859 and tourism greatly expanded after the construction of the Wengernalpbahn in the 1890s.

Since 1930, the famous Lauberhorn ski races have been held in Wengen. The races traditionally consist of a downhill run, a slalom, and a combined event. In addition to being one of the technically most challenging downhill races, the Lauberhorn is the longest race in the FIS world cup circuit and arguably the most scenic. An average world cup racer completes the 4,455 metre run in about 2:30 minutes. The top speeds reached at Haneggschuss are the highest in the world cup circuit.

The famous Lauberhorn

Wengen countryside.

[edit] Politics

Together with villages of Mürren, Isenfluh, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen, Wengen forms the political commune of Lauterbrunnen.

[edit] Recreation

There are many activities that are open for visitors, even for those who do not ski. Although skiing is the main recreational activity in Wengen, the average tourist is not likely to be bored. In the winter time - especially around the holidays - there are many shops open selling various gifts and electronics. For the non-skier, one can learn to ice skate on either of the two rinks near the centre of the town. In addition, tourists can watch a curling practice or match which grew to popularity during the Winter Olympics. Besides all this, there are countless hiking trails with the beautiful scenery and occasional sledder (sledger) flying down a hill.