Oeschinen Lake — lake
Günter Seggebäing, Coesfeld · CC BY-SA 3.0

Oeschinen Lake

Oeschinensee

  • Elevation1,578 m
  • 2 min read
  • 46.498° N 7.727° E

Interesting facts

  • Recent dating suggests the rockslide that created the lake fell only around 2,300 years ago, far later than geologists once assumed.
  • Modelling of that collapse shows the debris from the Doldenhorn reached the valley floor in roughly 20 seconds and came to rest within about a minute.
  • The landslide left a scar ringed by cliffs up to about 80 metres high, and its boulder field covers roughly 1.1 square kilometres at the lake's outlet.
  • Water leaving the lake seeps through the old landslide debris and re-emerges below as the Öschibach, which supplies Kandersteg with drinking water and electricity.
  • Before a small dam was built at the outlet, the lake periodically overflowed, and a flood from it in 1846 may have been set off by an unseen rockfall.
  • The lake is fed by meltwater streams from a ring of peaks over 3,000 metres: the Blüemlisalp, Oeschinenhorn, Fründenhorn and Doldenhorn.
  • In the 17th and 18th centuries sulphur was mined on the Oeschinenalp, the pasture beside the lake.
  • Sediment layers on the lake bed record at least six later rockfalls, some possibly shaken loose by prehistoric earthquakes.
  • In December 2015 an unusually thin snow cover let the frozen lake open to ice skaters for the first time in 19 years.
  • Above the lake, geologists track the slowly moving rock of the Spitze Stei, where thawing permafrost has made the mountainside increasingly unstable.

Why it is worth it

Oeschinensee is a lake set at the foot of a wall. At 1,578 metres above Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland, it lies in a basin closed on three sides by the cliffs and glaciers of the Blüemlisalp and the Doldenhorn, which tower far above the water. Its colour shifts with the light, and on still mornings the rock faces and the hanging ice above them are mirrored almost perfectly across the surface. Since 2007 it has been part of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau–Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The lake owes its existence to a catastrophe. In prehistoric times a huge rock avalanche, most likely from the northern flank of the Doldenhorn, or possibly an earlier one from the Fisistock, came down across the valley and dammed it. The basin behind filled to cover a little over a square kilometre, with depths of up to 56 metres. There is no visible outlet: the water drains away underground through the rubble of the old landslide. In winter the lake freezes, and the ice is walked on when conditions allow; in summer, rowing boats go out under the cliffs.

The way to see Oeschinensee is from above as well as from the shore. A trail climbs from the lake up the flank of the valley to the alpine pastures of Heuberg and Oberbärgli, and from that balcony path the whole sweep of water, cliff and ice is laid out below, with the tiny boats giving it scale. Further on, routes lead to the mountain huts of the Swiss Alpine Club beneath the Blüemlisalp and the Doldenhorn, for walkers who want to stay a night among the peaks.

Getting there

Kandersteg, the village below the lake, is reached by train from Spiez and Brig; the town of Thun lies about 29 km away, and Bern Airport (BRN) about 49 km, although most international visitors arrive through the larger Swiss airports and continue by rail. From Kandersteg station it is a 10 to 15 minute walk to the valley station of the gondola. From the top station a walk of about half an hour leads to the shore; alternatively, a steeper footpath climbs from the valley station in around an hour and a half.

Plan your visit

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Nearby places

On these lists

The Most Beautiful Places in Bern 13The Most Beautiful Places in Switzerland 44The Most Beautiful Water Wonders in Switzerland 5The Most Beautiful Lakes 105The Most Beautiful Water Wonders 429

From the encyclopaedia

Oeschinen Lake is a mountain lake in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, located above the village of Kandersteg. It lies at an elevation of 1,578 metres, covers 1.115 km², and reaches a maximum depth of 56 metres. The lake was formed by prehistoric landslides. Since 2007 it has formed part of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau–Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

46.49833, 7.72694per Wikidata