People were fascinated by the 300 m high Staubbach Falls as early as the Middle Ages. The milky-white waters thundering down over dark green rocks have inspired painters, poets and travel writers over the centuries. Goethe wrote a poem based on his 1779 visit, making the lake famous in the late 18th Century.
When Goethe visited the Lauterbrunnen valley in 1779 he made the waterfall famous by dedicating his "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" ("Song of the Spirits over the Waters") to it: "The soul of man is like water. It comes from heaven and rises again to heaven, it ascends to heaven and falls again to earth, eternally alternating. The pure stream flows from the high, steep rock face, falls softly in cloud-waves onto the smooth rock and, gently accepted, rolls and ripples into the abyss."
Location:
The spectacular waterfalls are within a few minutes walking distance of the village.
How to get there:
By train: from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen
By car: Highway exit Interlaken, direction Wilderswil-Lauterbrunnen
Opening hours:
All year round