Meiringen

Coat of arms

Meiringen

Location of Meiringen

Coordinates: 46°43.643′N 8°11.24′E / 46.727383°N 8.18733°ECoordinates: 46°43.643′N 8°11.24′E / 46.727383°N 8.18733°E

Country

Area

• Total

40.59 km² (15.67 sq mi)

Elevation

595 m (1,952 ft)

Population (Dec 2015)

• Total

4,737

• Density

120/km² (300/sq mi)

Postal code

3860

SFOS number

0785

Surrounded by

Brienz, Brienzwiler, Grindelwald, Hasliberg, Innertkirchen, Lungern (OW), Schattenhalb

Website

www.meiringen.ch
SFSO statistics

Meiringen is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Besides the village of Meiringen, the municipality includes the settlements of Balm, Brünigen, Eisenbolgen, Hausen, Prasti, Sand, Stein, Unterbach, Unterheidon, Wylerli and Zaun.

Meiringen is famous for the nearby Reichenbach Falls, a spectacular waterfall that was the setting for the final showdown between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty. The village is also known for its claim to have been the place where the meringue was first created.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is

In it, the closing words "the first" refer to the first tincture mentioned (that of the shield-like figure's background), namely "or", meaning gold[-colored]. It further implies, for each of the "ed"-suffixed nouns that precede the word "of", that whichever feature (of the heraldic animal) is specified by that noun shares that first-mentioned tincture.

Meiringen is located in the eastern Bernese Oberland region, in the Haslital on the upper reaches of the river Aare, upstream of Lake Brienz. It lies at the foot of several mountain passes, including the Brünig Pass to the valley of the Sarner Aa and hence central Switzerland, the Joch Pass to Engelberg, the Susten Pass to the upper valley of the Reuss, the Grimsel Pass to the valley of the Rhone and hence southern Switzerland, and the Grosse Scheidegg Pass to Grindelwald.

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Wikipedia