In search of new touristic shores

In the 19th century, steamships and railways transformed travel into a fast and comfortable affair. As modern forms of mass transport, they not only connected cities but also opened up tourism to previously remote areas – a development further accelerated by the expansion of additional transport networks. The steamship services on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz illustrate this well: here, travel by ship long remained an important means of getting around.

This aquatint print depicts the Bellevue, the Bernese Oberland’s first paddle steamer, approaching a hotel of the same name in Thun. Thun Castle stands in the background. — Bellevue: A hotel and a ship of the same name. Interestingly, both were owned by the Knechtenhofer family from Thun. (Wilhelm Ulrich Oppermann: Hôtel et pension Bellevue près Thoune, ca. 1836-1840, Prints and Drawings Department GS-GRAF-ANSI-BE-176)

“Discovering” the Bernese Oberland

The Bernese Oberland long had a reputation for scenic beauty, shaped in part by poems such as “The Alps” (1729) by Albrecht von Haller and early travel guides written by and for the upper classes. The authors were mostly men who had both the time and the means to explore the mountains and publish their experiences.

In the early 19th century, improved road connections between towns, combined with a new system of frequent horse changes, allowed travellers to cover a lot more ground by using the infrastructure for express mail. The journey from Geneva to Bern, for instance, could now be completed within a single day rather than three.

Steamships drive tourism

Once steamships were introduced to Switzerland’s biggest lakes in 1823 – first in wood, later in iron – visitor numbers grew considerably, especially in the mountain regions of the Bernese Oberland. The most convenient way to reach this area had always been via the lakes of Thun and Brienz, but steamships definitely made the journey faster and more comfortable than it had been with sailing or rowing boats.

Lake Thun received its first steamship in 1835, with Lake Brienz following suit in 1839. Business owners in the hospitality and hotel sector initiated both ventures, as they had a vested interested in the growth of the tourism industry.

This 1908 folding brochure shows a map of the Bernese Oberland marking the steamship routes on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, alongside a detailed plan with Interlaken’s public transport links. — Foldable brochure, “Berner Oberland, Dampfschiffahrt Thuner- und Brienzersee” (1908), from the collection of tourism brochures held by the Schweizerische Verkehrszentrale (today: Switzerland Tourism), call number V 4800

Railways fuel the boom

Tourism in the Bernese Oberland received a further boost once Bern and Thun were connected to the international rail network, in 1857-58 and 1859, respectively. Steamship passenger numbers reflected this development, climbing from roughly 80,000 to 130,000 by 1861. Meanwhile, the canton of Bern continued building main roads throughout the Oberland region, helping tourism spread into the valleys as well.

In 1844, before any railway connection existed, Karl Baedeker (1801-1859) advised the readers of his Swiss travel guide how to see the Bernese Oberland in three days if they were short on time: Bern to Grindelwald, Grindelwald to Meiringen, and Meiringen to Brienz and then back to Bern.

The Bernese Oberland in a single day

Just like in a modern travel guide, Baedeker proposed a one-day itinerary for travellers with time constraints who nonetheless wished to experience the highlights of the Bernese Oberland: depart Bern for Thun by express coach at 5 a.m. (three hours), then board a steamship (!) bound for Neuhaus at 9 a.m. (in the municipality of Interlaken) – a ninety-minute crossing – before continuing via Unterseen to Lauterbrunnen to see the Staubbach Falls.

The idea was for tourists to stop in Interlaken for lunch. To be back in Bern by 9 p.m., as Baedeker suggested, travellers needed to board the steamship at Neuhaus at half past three and then catch the express coach for Bern at 6 o'clock.

Expansion of transport networks drives tourism

By 1912, the fleet had grown steadily to eight vessels on Lake Thun and four on Lake Brienz. Starting in 1869, the enterprise was run by the Vereinigte Dampfschifffahrt-Gesellschaft für den Thuner- und Brienzersee (United Steamship Company for Lake Thun and Lake Brienz), which was later taken over by the BLS in 1912. During this period, passenger numbers experienced remarkable growth, climbing from roughly 25,000 to a staggering 1,232,000.

The back of this brochure contains the timetables of rail connections for the steamships, including the Lake Lucerne boat schedules — Foldable brochure, “Berner Oberland, Dampfschiffahrt Thuner- und Brienzersee” (1908), from the collection of tourism brochures held by the Schweizerische Verkehrszentrale (today: Switzerland Tourism), call number V 4800

This surge was a direct outgrowth of a major expansion of the transport network (railways, mountain rail and toothed rack rail) that had taken place over the previous years. Steamship services continued to play a central role in Bernese Oberland tourism, which a brochure from 1908 clearly illustrates: the front displays a map of the steamship routes, while the back shows timetables for all connecting rail services, the boats on Lake Lucerne included.

Bibliography and sources

Foldable brochure, “Berner Oberland, Dampfschiffahrt Thuner- und Brienzersee” (1908), from the collection of tourism brochures held by the Schweizerische Verkehrszentrale (today: Switzerland Tourism), call number V 4800 (not listed in online catalogue)

All catalogues and databases
Research services
Assisted research on site

Swiss National Library

SwissInfoDesk
User services
Hallwylstrasse 15
Switzerland - 3003 Bern

Reading room