Jungfrau

Jungfrau (meaning “maiden, virgin”) is a prominent peak in the Bernese Alps, situated between the cantons of Bern and Valais, around halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Its elevation is 4,158 metres (13,642 feet). One of the most recognizable features of the Swiss Alps is the huge wall of mountains formed by the Jungfrau, the Eiger, and the Mönch, which rises over the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Plateau.

On August 3, 1811, two Valais chamois hunters and two Aarau brothers named Meyer climbed to the peak for the first time. After a lengthy journey via the glaciers and high passes of the Bernese Alps, the climb was finally made. A shorter and more direct route over the north was not established until 1865.

The area is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Alps thanks to the construction of the Jungfrau Railway in the early 20th century, which links Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, the saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau. The Jungfrau and the nearby Aletsch Glacier form the Jungfrau-Aletsch region, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001.

The Jungfrau Region in the Bernese Oberland is a popular Alpine tourist destination with numerous railways and other amenities, and it is named after the mountain for which it is famous.

Once inaccessible, the mountaintop is now easily reachable via the Jungfrau Railway, a rack railway that travels to the Jungfraujoch railway station at 3,454 m (11,332 ft), allowing for quick travel to the upper Aletsch Glacier and a relatively short journey to the summit of the Jungfrau (there is only a height difference of 704 metres between the station and the summit, and the horizontal distance is slightly less than 2 kilometres).

Because of this, the majority of people no longer consider Upper Valais or Fiesch to be the home of the Jungfrau, but rather the Bernese Oberland and Interlaken.