Oberhasli
Oberhasli
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The Oberhasli is a historical
From 1833 to 2009, Oberhasli was incorporated as the Oberhasli district, the easternmost of the 26
With its area of 551 km2, it is larger than the canton of Basel-Landschaft. It consists of the six municipalities of Gadmen, Guttannen, Hasliberg, Innertkirchen, Meiringen and Schattenhalb, with a total population of just below 8,000, corresponding to a population density of less than 15/km2 (compared to a Swiss average of 181/km2), due to a significant portion of the area of Oberhasli being uninhabitable High Alps.
Haslital is used to refer to the entire region,
The upper parts of the Haslital are part of the
Geography
Oberhasli has historically been of great strategical significance due to its central location in the
- The Upper Valais(VS).
- The St. Gotthard Route.
- The canton of Obwalden.
- The low canton of Obwalden and further down to rest of Central Switzerland, such as Lucerne(LU).
- And the Grosse Scheidegg, a pass in the southwest with a direct connection to Grindelwald.
Besides the main valley, the Haslital, which includes the alluvial plain of the Aare between Meiringen and Lake Brienz, there are several lateral valleys. Among them are:
- The proper Haslital starts at the Aareschluchtafter which it opens to the alluvial plain just before Meiringen where it mainly turns west, and after about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) it enters Lake Brienz at its most eastern end.
- The Gauligletscher is endorsed in a funnel between the Hangendgletscherhorn, Bärglistock, and Ewigschneehorn. It enters its water into the Gaulisee, which also collects its waters from the Grienbergligletscher, the Hienderstock, Bächlistock, and the Hiendertelttihorn. After the Gaulischafberg cliffs, the water flows into the Mattenalpsee. It also collects the water from Steinlouwihore and the Ritzlihore. Now the Ürbachwasser turns west and enters the proper Ürbachtal on a lower level between the Gallouwisteck to the east and the Dossen to the west. The water turns slowly east again below the impressive range called Englehörner(Angel's cones) in the east. And after a drop of about 200m the Ürbachwasser enters the Aare just before Innetrkirchen from the left.
- the Gentalwasserflows into the Gadmerwasser, just 3 km before it flows into the Aare in Innertkirchen.
- The Gental starts at the Engstlenalp below the Jochpass in the northeast, west of the Titlis, north of the Wendenstöcke and with a connection to the Melchsee-Frutt (OW) in the west. The Gentalwasser drains from the Engstlensee in southeastern direction in order to enter the Gamdertal downwards south of the Rothorn, which divides also the Melchsee-Frutt (OW) from the Mägisalp (BE) above Meiringen.
- the Schwarzhoren, the Wildgärst, and the Wandelhorenpeaks dominate the picture to the north.
History
Hasli has a particularly strong tradition of independence, even within Switzerland. It was de facto self-governing from its first settlement in the early medieval period (according to legend by "Swedes and Frisians") until its incorporation into the Helvetic Republic in 1798.[2] It was nominally part of the
In 1234 the bailiwick of
In 1275, Hasli formed an alliance with the city of Bern. In 1311, Oberhasli was given to the house of Weissenburg by Henry VII. After an unsuccessful revolt in 1334, Oberhasli passed to the city of Bern as a subject territory in name but regained most of its earlier privileges. Bern was careful to appoint men native to Hasli to administrative posts and as judges. Oberhasli proved an important ally to Bern militarily. In 1339, Oberhasli provided a force of 300 men participating in the Battle of Laupen. The arrangement of Oberhasli as a nominal subject territory with de facto self-governance endured until 1528, when Bern enforced the Protestant confession in Oberhasli. About half of the population of Oberhasli participated in an armed revolt against Bern. After this, Bern tried to enforce Bernese administration in Oberhasli, but met such resistance that in a 1557 treaty the old privileges were re-instated.[3]
In the 17th to 18th century, an upper class of influential families native to Oberhasli emerged, the so-called Ehrbarkeit. Before the introduction of a separate parish in Innertkirchein in 1709, there was a single parish in Meiringen for all of Oberhasli. In the 19th century, parishes in Gadmen (1808) and Guttannen (1816) followed.
In 1558, there were 253 hearths (households) registered in Oberhasli, in 1653 the number had grown to 360. In 1669, population had declined to ca. 500 individuals following an outbreak of plague. Parts of Haslital were affected by the Evangelical Awakening of the 1730s.[4]
In 1764, there were 3,253 inhabitants, and population more than doubled over the following century, to 7,054 in 1850. During the existence of the
Rapid population growth in the 19th century resulted in
Oberhasli district was merged with
Administrative divisions
The Oberhasli district is the easternmost of the 26 districts of the canton of Bern, from 1833 to 2009, encompassing an area of 550 km2. The administrative capital is Meiringen. Oberhasli since 1843 comprised six municipalities, reduced to five in 2014 when Gadmen (population 250 as of 2007, area 116.4 km2) was merged with Innertkirchen.[5]
From 1 January 2010, the district lost its administrative power while being replaced by the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), whose administrative centre is Interlaken.
Since 2010, it remains therefore a fully recognised district under the law and the Constitution (Art.3 al.2) of the Canton of Berne.
municipality | population (2016) | area (km2) (2016) |
---|---|---|
Meiringen | 4,692 | 40.7 |
Hasliberg | 1,193 | 41.7 |
Innertkirchen | 1,087 | 236.6 |
Schattenhalb | 585 | 31.5 |
Guttannen | 267 | 200.7 |
Total | 7,824 | 551 |
The black eagle on a golden field formerly represented the entire Talschaft of Oberhasli. It is the imperial coat of arms. The right to use of the Reichsadler as an at least formal claim of imperial immediacy was one of the special privileges granted to the people of Hasli by Berne. When municipal coats of arms were introduced, Meiringen insisted to retain the imperial coat of arms without modification, and other municipalities conceded by using the eagle in combination with other heraldic designs.[6]
Economy and infrastructure
The economy of Oberhasli was based on agriculture and
Livestock and cheese was exported to Italy across the
In the 18th century, there were three yearly livestock markets. There was also some iron mining, beginning in the 15th century, and phased out after 1798. From the 17th century, there was
After 1973, additional infrastructure turned
As of 2005, employment in the primary sector (agriculture) was down to below 20%, while the tertiary sector (mostly tourism) had risen to above 65%.
Another important branch of industry is the production of
Culture and folklore
Oberhasli is situated at the core of
Oberhasli became affected by the modern era comparatively late, in the second half of the 19th century with the booming of tourism in Switzerland, and it preserved a rich tradition of folklore into the 20th century.
The main yearly festival of Oberhasli is the
In 1846, Johann Georg Kohl travelled to Oberhasli, describing both its natural landscape and its population. Kohl recorded a tradition claiming Scandinavian origin of the people of Oberhasli, telling of a march of 6,000 Frisians and Swedes exiled from their homes by a famine. The names of the leaders of the immigrating Swedes is reported as Restius and Hastus. Kohl describes the architecture of the Meiringen church as reminiscent of North Frisian and Scandinavian types. This legend was first recorded by Petermann Etterlin in his 1507 Chronicle.[7]
The Oberhasli legend was received in Scandinavian Romantic nationalism, with e.g. Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger publishing a poem Haslidalen in 1849.
A collection of folk tales was published in 1943 by Melchior Sooder (1885–1955), a teacher at
See also
- Highest Alemannic
- Walser
- Ubersitz
- History of the Alps
References
- ^ Haslital, Switzerland Tourism (2018)
- ^ Anne-Marie Dubler: Meiringen in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2008.
- ^ Francis Hare Naylor, The History of the Helvetic Republics vol. 1, 1809, p. 337. Francis Hare-Naylor, The History of Helvetia vol. 1, 1801, p. 290.
- ^ W. R. Ward, The Protestant Evangelical Awakening, Cambridge University Press (2002), p. 182.
- ^ Gemeindeporträts (bfs.admin.ch)
- Wappenscheibeof 1680: Veröffentlichungen aus dem Stadtarchiv Innsbruck, 1988, p. 405. Gerhard Winterberger, Alexandre Jetzer, Ordo et libertas, 1982, p. 15. Die Rechtsquellen des Kantons Bern: Rechte der Landschaft, H. R. Sauerländer & Company, 1984, p. xxxii.
- ^ Der Glaube an ihre Abstammung von den Schweden ist unter den Oberhaslern ganz allgemein. Und da mir an dieser uns leider so unwahrscheinlich überlieferten Sage eben jener allgemein im Volke verbreitete Glaube das Merkwürdigste ist, so will ich über diesen Punkt noch einige Beobachtungen, die ich machte, mittheilen. Nicht nur jeder Prediger und Gelehrte in diesen Gegenden weiss von dieser Sage, die dahin geht, dass zur Zeit einer Hungersnoth (das Jahr Christi kennt man nicht) 6000 Schweden und Friesen sich den Rhein hinauf gekämpft und nach der Erreichung der hiesigen Bergthäler, die ihrem Vaterlande so ähnlich gesehen, hier fixirt hätten – sondern auch fast alle Bauern glauben selbst daran. ... Das Volk von Hasli trägt sich sogar noch täglich mit den Namen der ersten Anführer der Schweden herum. Sie sollen Restius und Hastus geheissen haben. Bei jenen 6000 Schweden, die einen Grafen Peter von Franken am Rhein besiegten, die daher allerfrühestens doch erst am Anfange des Mittelalters kommen konnten, begreift man nicht, wie sie sich ohne gewaltige Kämpfe, von denen die Geschichte uns gewiss einige Kunde aufbewahrt hätte, in den Besitz der jener damals längst bewohnten Thäler, die ihnen zugeschrieben werden, setzen konnten. Man beschreibt die Oberhasler gewöhnlich als auffallend grosse, langgewachsene, starke und blondhaarige Leute und bringt auch dies mit ihrer schwedischen Abkunft in Verbindung. ... Ganz Merkwürdig ist es, dass die Kirche in Meiringen ähnlich gebaut ist, wie die Kirchen in Nordfriesland und Skandinavien. Ihr Thurm steht nämlich neben der Kirche, ganz von dem Gebäude derselben isolirt. cited after jungfrauzeitung.ch 16 May 2008. C.f. Grimm, Deutsche Sagen (1818), citing Etterlin.
- Gottlieb Kurz und Christian Lerch, Geschichte der Landschaft Hasli, Meiringen 1979
- Oberhasli in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- Johann Ludwig Wurstemberger, Geschichte der alten Landschaft Bern (1862).[1]
- Peter Glatthard, Dialektologisch-volkskundliche Probleme im Oberhasli (1981), ISBN 978-3-258-02853-8.