Picturesque Tour through the Oberland; index
<36>
UNTERSEEN.
The
little town of Unterseen, represented in the engraving, stands in the beautiful
valley which separates the lake of Thun from that of Brienz. Surrounded by
lofty mountains, which shelter it from the north winds, and increase by reflection
the heat of the solar rays, it enjoys a very mild climate; so that the fruit
of the forest of trees which covers the valley ripens ten days before that
in the plain of Berne, and is sometimes still earlier. It is probable, that
the lakes of Thun and Brienz anciently formed but one basin; and that the
soil of the valley which now separates them, and is about three miles in length,
was formed by the alluvial matters deposited by the Lütschinen, which
runs into it on the south side through the valley opening to the left of the
Abendberg, and by the Lohnbach or Lombach, another stream, which descends
between the two rocks on the right of the spectator.
The town of Unterseen, after belonging to the houses of Oberhofen, Wädenschwyl, Kyburg-Burgdorf, and Zollern, was a fief of the house of Austria till after the battle of Sempach, when the Archduke Leopold perished, with the flower of his nobility: the people of Berne took it, in 1386, from Margaret de Brandis, cousin of that prince, to whom it had been given by her kinsman. It was destroyed by fire in 1471, and rebuilt in a circular form by the assistance of the people of Berne, who supplied the inhabitants with all kinds of necessaries. The latter, grateful to their benefactors, accordingly continued faithful to them during the troubles which took place at different periods in the Oberland, and especially on occasion of the reformation in religion in the sixteenth century. The republic rewarded their attachment by the grant of privileges and the donation of extensive pastures. Few places have so constantly enjoyed peace and happy mediocrity. Even during the war of the <37> French revolution, Unterseen, not lying on any military road of importance, suffered less than almost any other town in Switzerland.
The river, whose course we may follow in the plate till it runs into the lake, is the Aar. Near the town it forms a cascade, and close to the castle, the ancient residence of the Bernese bailiffs, an island; where, in the solitary alleys that wind among groves of fruit trees, the wanderer enjoys the most magnificent spectacle that can be displayed to the eye of man. Near the place where the Aar is lost in the lake are seen the ruins of the castle of Weissenau, an ancient possession of the lords of Unspunnen. The pretty hamlet of Aarmühlen, on.the left bank of the river, opposite to the town of Unterseen, and near the kind of cascade formed by a dyke thrown up in the middle of the river, is the residence of a native physician, who has there founded an establishment, where persons recommended to take goats' milk whey for the benefit of their health may be accommodated with board and lodging at a moderate price. This regimen has frequently proved most beneficial in desperate phthisical complaints; and the quality of the herbs in the pastures round Unterseen cannot be inferior to that of those near Gaiss, in the canton of Appenzell, whither strangers have for many years resorted in great numbers, to drink whey, in the months of June and July. The town of Unterseen affords the same facilities, and enjoys the advantage of being situated amidst more diversified and more majestic scenery.
The mountain which faces the town, and forms the shore of the lake in all that part which is seen from our point of view, is the Abendberg. Its summit, the Morgenberghorn is concealed by the east side, which juts out at the extremity of the lake, and forms an inclined plane, covered with forests of the richest pasturage. Its top was found by Trallès to be 6990 feet above the level of the sea: the <38> ascent is not difficult from the Saxetenthal, a valley which opens not far from the head of the lake, to the left of the spectator.
Behind the Abendberg, in the centre of the engraving, is seen the Niesen, which is easily known by its pyramidal figure. The distance of its summit from that of the Abendberg furnished M. Trallès with the side of one of the most important triangles of the trigonometrical series, which served him to determine the elevation of the principal Alps of the Oberland of Berne.
At the foot of the Abendberg, and at the bottom of a small bay is seen the village of Leissigen or Leissig, near which, to the westward, are situated the baths of the same name.
The rock on the right, at the foot of which flows the river, is part of the Harder, whose white bare crags first strike the eye of the traveller, and seem ready to crush the town of Unterseen. It is the eastern extremity of the chain that borders the lake of Brienz on the north, and which successively receives the denominations of Ringenberggrat, Riedergrat, and Brienzergrat, from the villages of Rinaenberg, Ried, and Brienz. On the same side, but at a greater distance, the Beatenberg, or Mount St. Beat, which has just been described, is seen boldly advancing into the lake.
The calcareous strata of the Wandfluh, to which the Beatenberg belongs, rests upon breccia. Turbinites and tellinites, as well as other petrified substances, abound in the black schists. The calcareous stone in the environs of the Wandfluh is found, when broken, to contain a soft bitumen. In the valley of Habcheren, which opens between the Harder and the Wandfluh, this petroleum is seen floating in a fluid state on the surface of the rivulets. Mines of coal, the beds of which extend under Mount St. Beat, and contain cochlites, have recently been wrought.
<39>
To the left of the promontory of the Nase or Nose, and on the declivity of the Abendberg, is seen the steeple of the church of Aeschi. Seated on one of the most delightful hills on the south shore of the lake of Thun, and at the entrance of the valley of Frutigen, the whole length of which they overlook, its inhabitants embrace in their view this beautiful basin, and enjoy a prospect equally diversified and magnificent. On the shore between Aeschi and the influx of the Aar into the lake, are seen the villages of Krattigen, Leissigen and Dättligen; in the vicinity of which have been found ruins and productions of art that bespeak the existence of ancient towns, of which history has preserved no memorial. Other more considerable traces of towns, situated on the southern shore of the lake of Thun, have been mentioned by Müller, the historian of Switzerland, who is of opinion, that, at the time of the invasions of barbarous conquerors, these parts may have afforded an asylum to the oppressed natives. This conjecture is supported by the traditions which represent Spiez as having once been a considerable town, and place in these parts a. temple belonging to the twelve parishes of the Lake of the Vandals. It would also explain the origin of the vast caverns communicating with the tower of Strättlingen, near the present mouth of the Kander.
