Erlenbach im Simmental is located in the valley of the river
Simme, Bernese Oberland, which is part of the Canton of Berne,
Switzerland. There is no English home page for this village so
far but there are some links related to this village.
Facts and figures:
Demo-/geographic information:
Inhabitants:
1668 in 1997
Altitude:
681 m asl
higest elevation:
2190 m asl Mount Stockhorn
lowest elevation:
635 m river Simme
Coordinates:
608.7 X / 167.8 Y (from Bordeau, France)
7°33.20' E / 46° 39.76' N (from Greenwich)
Geografic area:
District Niedersimmental, Simmental, Bernese Oberland,
Canton of Berne
Erlenbach im Simmental (E.i.S.) history (Lit:
Stähli, Verena: Die Kirche von E.i.S., Bern 1979; Verena
Stähli-Lüthi, David and Dorothea Girling: The Wall
Paintings in the Church of Erlenbach, English summary of
the short guide; Jahn: Chronik. - Der Hinkende Bote 1919;
Historisches-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz, 1924;
Schweizer Lexikon; Erlenbach im Simmental - Führer der
Gemeinde):
The municipality is split into hamlets
(Bäuerten/Siedlungen) like Allmenden,
Balzenberg, Erlenbach, Eschlen, Latterbach,
Ringoldingen und Thal. The district hospital is
located in Erlenbach.
Architecture: Church: The medieval Church
(dedicated to St. Michael) was built in the 11th
century and it was extended in the 13th and 15th
centuries. There are famous wall paintings (Marienkrönung, 1420-1430 [1],
Christus in der Vorhölle,
1420-1430 [2]) and a pane
to see.They are some of the most beautiful
buildings in EiS. Most decorated with wooden
carving. The "Agensteinhaus" (1766) is
a very special example of the Simmental
architecture.
Erlenbach is one of the oldest villages of the
lower Simmental. Humans settled in the areas of
Erlenbach (Bronze Age) already 30 000 years ago.
A very often used shelter was the Chilchlihöhli
(Chilchli cave), which can be reached from the
alp Vorderstocken. Tools and weapons were found
at Pfrundhubel, the place where the primary
school is located now. Helvetian tribes had a
building there which was later taken over by the
Romans and enlarged to a strong guard tower. From
this point one could survey the links to Wallis,
Italy and Savoy. Roman Legionnaires left coins of
the emperors time. They even left coins on top of
Mount Stockhorn which is today a famous place for
excursions and skiing. The first time in history
it was mentionned was in 1133 as
"Arlimbac" as part of the
'Freiherrschaft von Arlumbach' (principality of
the baron of Arlumbach). They built the medieval
stronghold above on the Pfrundhubel. Very little
more is known about the destiny of these barons.
These families were the ancestors of 'Freiherr
von Weissenburg' (Freiherr: ruler not subject to
anyone but the Emperor; baron may be a good word
in English) which owned Erlenbach upon the 14th
century. The oldest frescos in the church were
painted in the time of the Weissenburgs. The
Weissenburgs ruled this region but had to respect
the old rights of the hamlets and their free
citizens. By inheritage Erlenbach was transferred
to 'Brandis' and was sold in 1439 to the City of
Bern. E.i.S. became one of the four
principalities (Herrschaften) of the newly
established District Niedersimmental and became
the place of 'Landsgemeinde' (place of reunion of
the voting people) of the valley every October or
November. In 17th century there were Baptist
movements in E.i.S. and its surrounding regions.
In the time of the Helvetian Republic E.i.S. was
one of the capitals of the districts of the new
Canton of Oberland (1798-1803).
In this region the resistance to the Reformation
was less than in other regions of the Canton of
Berne. It's said this was because of the
activities of Peter Kunz, the priest of E.i.S.
who became one of the most famous citizens of
Erlenbach.
In 1765, 15 houses were damaged by a large fire.
By the end of 19th century E.i.S. became linked by
railway to Spiez (16 Aug 1897) and later also to
Zweisimmen (31 Oct 1902). 15 Jul 1868 to 25 Jun
1926 there was a telegraph office. In 7 Sep 1897
first telephone with local switching was
installed.
Already in the 17th century Simmental was a
wellknown market for Simmental cattle. Some of
the cattle was exported to northern Italy. The
Erlenbach horse, which also was bred up there
mostly in 18th century was also exported to other
countries. By the end of 19th century, sometimes
up to 5000 cattle were sold in the autum months.
Stockhorn is the place where Johannes Brams had heard a
melody being blown with an Alphorn
which he integrated in the Symphony No. 1 in c-moll.
Families having their place of origin / inherited rights
of citizenship (Heimatort) with Erlenbach im Simmental: Andrist, Minnig
(Minnick), others will be listed later.
Erlenbach im Simmental
![Marienkrönung, 1420-1430 [1]](../images/kircheE1.jpg){kind=link}
![Christus in der Vorhölle, 1420-1430 [2]](../images/kircheE2.jpg){kind=link}
