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Grindelwald
See this website: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The municipality is quite large and is divided into seven mountain communities. However the municipality is dominated by the large tourist center of Grindelwald. The village is surrounded by the mountains of the Faulhorn, Schwarzhorn, Wellhorn, Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn, Lauteraarhorn, Agassizhorn, Fiescherhorn, Mönch, Eiger, Lauberhorn and Männlichen, all of which are either within or on the border of the municipality.[4]
Grindelwald has an area of 171.33 km2 (66.15 sq mi).[1] Of this area, 49.47 km2 (19.10 sq mi) or 28.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.02 km2 (10.82 sq mi) or 16.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.06 km2 (1.18 sq mi) or 1.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.37 km2 (0.53 sq mi) or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes, and 89.21 km2 (34.44 sq mi) or 52.1% is unproductive land.[5]
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.6%. Out of the forested land, 12.9% of the total land area is heavily forested, and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.1% is pastures and 23.8% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 6.6% is unproductive vegetation, 24.0% is too rocky for vegetation, and 21.6% of the land is covered by glaciers.[5]
On 31 December 2009, Amtsbezirk Interlaken, the municipality’s former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Interlaken-Oberhasli.
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The View Of The Mountains Around Grindelwald …… see the photographs below ….. there is always the view of the wonderful mountains. Sometimes there are clouds over the mountains but they drift on then you have a view of the mountains again.
Grindelwald in the winter season ….. snow is everywhere!! We were there in late summer in the northern hemisphere in September. For Ken and Harriet Aitken, this would be an unusual sight. We come from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and we have a subtropical climate. Australia’s winter, from June to August, offers snow skiing in the Australian Alps.
….. Mountains in the late afternoon just on sunset …….
…. Some of the side streets of Grindelwald alternating with chalet – style buildings and green open space…..
…. A closeup of one of the chalet – style buildings …… a little balcony with tubs of geraniums engenders a very communal feel to the area ….
….. One of the chalet – style apartments (seeing it thrives on skiing in winter time) …. again engenders a very communal feel to the area ….
….. the presence on the street view in craftshops of various pieces of sculpture, gives a very hand – made personal feel to the town ….. this in contrast to the vast impersonal mountains in the distance outside the town ….
….. some of the home gardens around the town, again gives a very hand – made personal feel to the town ….
…… the image of the construction crane is in direct contrast to the vast impersonal mountains in the distance outside the town and the very hand – made personal feel to the town …..
….. the cafe with the outside table, the garden plantings, the sculptural water feature, and the hand – written signs gives very hand – made personal feel to the cafe ….. come inside a get something to eat or drink ….
…. a shop portraying a personal sense of presence with the balcony and the geraniums and yet with practicality with the Toyota car sign …..
…. A big statue of a cow with a big cow bell, says something about the importance of cows in Swiss culture. Read the following website:
The “Cow Culture” of Switzerland’s Berner Oberland …. read especially the last section on the high alps.
….. the use of the wooden cow yoke and the hanging pottery pot, again appeals the importance of cows in Swiss culture ….
….. Again this cafe gives very hand – made personal feel to the cafe ….. come inside a get something to eat or drink ….
. ….. the hand – made fence around the children’s play area, gives very hand – made personal feel to the play area and that region of town ……
….. the looming natural presence of the mountain is in strong contrast to the straight construction lines of the buildings……
….. a craft shop featuring hanging sculptures made from drilled stones. I, Ken Aitken, are personally interested in this sort of sculpture as I have been doing some similar sculpture in Brisbane, Australia. See my post on this website:
Post 12: Birdsnest Sculpturing
…. A beautiful shot of the mountains from down a side street …..
…… In a public square were two pieces of wooden sculpture ….. a moose and a goat …….
….. the orangery colour of the house and the straight lines are in sharp contrast to the greenery of the foliage on the mountain, the grey colour of the cliffs and the informal misty whiter shapes of the drifting clouds …
…. a beautiful piece of sculpture made from big wooden fork of a tree, some boulders, a small pool cut out of a horizontal log and a water fountain, spouting from an angled branch …..
…. Looking down the main street in Grindelwald …..
…… A bus zone in Grindelwald ….
…. The Berner Oberland train which goes to another town …. Interlarken ….
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