LAU TER BR UN NEN, or LAUTEIIIIROUNN, is the name of a valley and of a village in Switzerland, in the Canton of Berne, remarkable for the beauty and grandeur of its scenery. Lauterbrunnen is commonly visited by travellers from Berne. The journey from Berne to the town of Thun is performed in about three hours, and as there is no carriage road along the banks of the lake, travellers sail along the lake to Newhaus, which is accomplished in less than three hours. The traveller arrives at Interlachen, through Untersecn, in less than an hour, and he generally ascends to a wooden pavilion, on the other side of the Aar, from which there is a charming view of Unterseen, the Aar, the lakes of Brienz and Thun, and the mighty sum mit of the Jungfrau. The journey from Interlachen to the village of Lauterbrunnen is generally performed in little more than two hours in a charabanc. The road passes through beautiful orchards and rich green fields, and then enters the valley of Zweylutschinen, defended on the right hand with magnificent and lofty rocks. The valley soon sepa rates into two, namely, that of Grindelwald, and that of Lauterbrunnen ; the Black Lutschinen running through the former, and the White Lutschinen through the latter. The valley of Lauterbrunncn is now very narrow, and is flanked on both sides with lofty calcareous rocks, exhibit ing the most extraordinary contortions in their stratifica tion, and generally rising to the height of 800 and 900 feet. The rocks of Lisenflue, 900 feet high, have a village of the same name on their summit, and are beautifully cover ed with wood. The singular cylindrical rock of Ilunenflue
presents at its base horizontal strata, while those above are highly inclined, and in great confusion.
The view up the valley of Lauterbrunnen from the vil lage is extremely grand. On the right is seen the Stau bach, throwing itself over a rock about 1000 feet high ; and a little farther up, on the same side, the fall of the Spisbach ; beyond which, on the same side, is a magnifi cent bare wall of rock rising to the height of 900 feet. In returning in an autumn evening from the fall of the Spis bach, the writer of this article had the good fortune to sec the scenery of the valley in all its beauty and grandeur. The deep valley, and its precipitous walls of rock, were almost involved in total darkness, while the red twilight shed a bright hue over the snowy flanks of the Jungfran, the Breithorn, and the Lauterhorn, which appeared through the extreme opening of the valley as if they were portions of a different world. This appearance was still more striking at a later hour, when Saturn appeared o‘er the Jungfrau, and when the lights in the cottages seemed like so many stars on the dark declivities of the valley.
The valley of Lauterbrunnen is about five leagues long, and seldom half a league in width. More than twenty brooks rush over the rocks which enclose it ; and it is pro bable, that from this cause it has received its name, which signifies many springs. The village of Lauterbrunnen is situated 715 leer above the lake of Thun, and 2450 above the sea. See JUNGFRAU.