GRINDELWALD, a valley in the Bernese Oberland, and one of the chief resorts of tourists in Switzerland. It is shut in on the south by the Wetterhorn, Mettenberg and Eiger, between which are two famous glaciers. On the north it is sheltered by the Faul horn range, while on the east the Great Scheidegg pass leads over to Meiringen ; and on the south-west the Little Scheidegg or Wen gern Alp (railway across) divides it from Lauterbrunnen. The main village is connected with Interlaken by a rack railway (13 m.) . The valley possesses excellent pastures, as well as fruit trees, though little corn is grown. It is watered by the Black Lutschine, a tributary of the Aar. The parish church is 3,468 ft. above sea level. The population is practically all Protestant and German speaking. The valley was originally inhabited by serfs of various great lords in summer for the sake of pasturage. A chapel in a cave was superseded about 1146 by a wooden church, replaced about 118o by a stone church, which was pulled down in 1793 to erect the present building. Gradually the Austin canons of Inter laken bought out all the other owners in the valley, but when that house was suppressed in 1528 by the town of Bern the inhabitants gained their freedom. The houses near the hotel Adler bear the name of Gydisdorf, but the name Grindelwald is usually given to the assemblage of hotels and shops between Gydisdorf and the railway station.