A view of Aarmühle in the 1860s (on the left bank of the Aare) – better known as Interlaken.
A view of Aarmühle in the 1860s (on the left bank of the Aare) – better known as Interlaken. e-pics

The birth of Interlaken

Aarmühle was a place in the Bernese Oberland. As a name it was rather uninspiring and thus unlikely to appeal to potential visitors from all over the world. Hence the renaming of Aarmühle as Interlaken in 1891, which turned the town into a tourist destination of international renown.

Michael van Orsouw

Michael van Orsouw

Michael van Orsouw has a PhD in history and is a performance poet and author. He regularly publishes historical books.

Website: geschichte-texte.ch
The area between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz has been a popular settlement site since time immemorial, stretching back 1,000 years or more. But the official name of Interlaken is just 133 years old. How come? It was initially called Matten. In 1837, what is now Interlaken separated from the commune of Matten and became a separate commune known as Aarmühle after the former monastery mill by the river Aare. When more visitors started coming to the area during the 19th century, usually to climb or at least marvel at the Jungfrau, the commune of Aarmühle wanted to change its name, not least because the locals were in the habit of pronouncing it as ‘Rameli’. They wanted to rename Aarmühle or ‘Rameli’ as Interlaken.
Before the name Interlaken became official, there is no record of any uniform name.
Before the name Interlaken became official, there is no record of any uniform name. Swiss National Museum
This new name was not the brainchild of a local tourism development office or advertising agency, it actually came from the medieval Augustinian priory Interlaken, named “inter lacus Madon” in a document dating from 1133. However, the monastery had long since been consigned to the history books, having been shut down in 1528 during the Reformation.

Official name change from ‘Rameli’ to Interlaken

So the reversion to the monastery’s name was somewhat random. Although, as the Town Parliament pointed out, ‘Interlaken’ was still in common use at the time as it was the name of the administrative district. Even the famous German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe with his feel for ‘le mot juste’ made mention of a place called Interlaken following a trip there in 1779. The Englishman Lord Byron did the same in 1816. Besides, Interlaken sounded much more cosmopolitan, international and thus appealing to tourists than Aarmühle. Following approval by the residents’ meeting, this led the commune to lodge an official application with the Canton of Bern on 4 March 1891 to change its name to Interlaken.
Portrait of Johann Wolfgang Goethe around 1800.
Both Johann Wolfgang von Goethe... Swiss National Museum
Portrait of George Gordon Byron from the year 1813.
... and Lord Byron visited Interlaken. Wikimedia
The government of the canton of Bern then requested a response from its Prefect Jakob Ritschard from Unterseen. However, he dragged his feet, or maybe he just couldn’t make his mind up. In any case, he was issued a reminder on 13 October, whereupon the prefect promised to deliver his report within a short time. He wanted first of all to look into the matter in more detail and consult with other people. However, the Cantonal Government was not prepared to wait any longer and demanded the report within eight days. So, the prefect came to a decision under time pressure: he recommended rejecting the name change, as it had not been discussed with the neighbouring communes of Matten and Unterseen. But the Cantonal Government did not agree and approved the name change on 5 December 1891.
A notice in the NZZ on 13 December 1891 reporting the name change.
A notice in the NZZ on 13 December 1891 reporting the name change. e-newspaperarchives

Finally, Interlaken came into being. […] The commune of Aarmühle is hereby authorised to change its political place name to Interlaken, which is in common usage.

NZZ of 13 December 1891
The Cantonal Government stressed: “The keepers of the public records must also take note of this name change and use the new name Interlaken in future”. Ever since, Aarmühle has been known by the catchier name of Interlaken. This brought the town out of the shadow of neighbouring Unterseen and made it a leading tourist destination in the region.
As tourism flourishes, more greeting cards are sent. One such card from the late 19th century.
As tourism flourishes, more greeting cards are sent. One such card from the late 19th century. e-pics
Interlaken’s main street in the early 20th century.
Interlaken’s main street in the early 20th century. Swiss National Museum
The people of Interlaken welcomed the change, as it evolved from a new name into their very own brand. In 2016, there was a celebration to mark Interlaken’s 125th anniversary, and keynote speaker Peter Hollinger, a member of the Interlaken Town Parliament serving as that year’s President said: “Aarmühle had the right idea back then to secure its place on the national and international stage: the acquisition of this exclusive right to the Interlaken brand clearly shows foresight.”

New name, new glamour?

Incidentally, Aarmühle was not the only place in Switzerland to change its name to attract the tourists. The Swiss spa towns were especially keen to advertise their waters: Ragaz became Bad Ragaz in 1937 (Bad means ‘bath/spa’ in English), Birrenlauf was renamed Schinznach-Bad in 1938 and Zurzach became Bad Zurzach in 2006. In Ticino, the Lugano suburb of Calprino upgraded its name to Paradiso in 1929. However, the most striking renaming was surely in 1890, one year before the Bernese Oberlanders came up with Interlaken: the people of Graubünden changed the name Schweiningen to Savognin, as they preferred the Rhaetian variant – which sounded much more appealing to visitors from the lowlands.
Letter to Johann Anton von Peterelli in Schweiningen, around 1850.
Letter to Johann Anton von Peterelli in Schweiningen, around 1850. State Archives of the Grisons, StAGR A Sp III / 15w 3.12

Published on: 08.05.2024

URL: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2024/05/the-birth-of-interlaken/

More of: Modern AgeTourismPoliticsLanguageArticle

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