Innertkirchen is a village and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014, the former municipality of Gadmen was merged into the municipality of Innertkirchen.
History
Innertkirchen
The name of the municipality is of recent origin and first appeared in print in 1834. It was formed from the farming settlements (Bäuerten) of Grund, Bottigen, Wyler-Schattseite, Wyler-Sonnseite and the agricultural cooperative of Äppigen.
Both Roman coins and the remains of a Roman rest station have been found in the municipality. During the Middle Ages a number of small farming communities developed in the high valleys and alpine meadows of the modern municipality. Originally they were under the authority of the Imperial Vogtei of Hasli, which was acquired by Bern in 1334. Under Bernese rule, a number of distant landowners ruled over the small communities. At around the same time they became part of the parish of Meiringen. In 1713, the communities of Innertkirchen united with the municipalities of Gadmen and Guttannen to form the parish of Hasle. When Gadmen and Guttannen became independent parishes in 1816, Innertkirchen rejoined Meiringen. A filial church was built in Grund in 1835 and in 1860, it became the center of the Innertkirchen parish.
After 1334 the communities banded together into Bäuerten to share and regulate usage of the seasonal alpine meadows and farm land. Beginning in the 15th century the Bäuerten often squabbled with neighboring communities and Engelberg Abbey over land rights and the borders between municipalities. The border between Bern and Unterwalden was not officially set until 1828-29. Until the 20th century, the villages economies relied on seasonal alpine herding to raise horses, cattle and to produce cheese as well as trade over the Grimsel Pass, the Susten Pass and the local Joch Pass. An iron mine, blast furnace and forge were built in Wyler in the 16th century. It remained in operation until the 19th century.
The villages that made up Innertkirchen remained small. In 1783, the largest settlement, Brügg only had 32 houses and the entire Grund Bäuert, consisting of Brügg, Winkel and Unterstock had a total of 62. In 1814, the road from Meiringen through Innertkirchen and over the Susten Pass began to open up the villages to the outside world. This was followed in 1873 by a road over the Grimsel Pass and in 1957 by the Engstlenalp road. In the 19th century over-exploitation of the forests caused flooding and increased avalanches. This coupled with a growing population and limited farmland forced many residents to emigrate to escape poverty and starvation. In 1925, the Oberhasli AG company (later KWO) built power plants in the municipality, providing jobs and improving the standard of living. Construction for the power plants also opened Innertkirchen up to tourism. Today KWO is the main employer in Innertkirchen. Tourism is an important secondary industry and very few residents are involved in agriculture full-time.
Gadmen
Gadmen is first mentioned in 1382 as im Gadmen.
During the Middle Ages, the Gadmen area was part of the Vogtei of Hasli and part of the Meiringen parish. In 1334 the entire Vogtei was acquired by Bern. During the Middle Ages a chapel was built in the village. In 1713 Gadmen became part of the parish of Innertkirchen and in 1722 the chapel expanded into a filial church. In 1816 the church became a parish church and Gadmen became an independent parish.
The residents of the village generally lived on farming, seasonal alpine herding and from traffic over the Susten Pass. During the 19th century, the farms became increasing mechanized and many residents were forced to emigrate to North America for jobs. The construction of the Susten Road in 1939-45 opened up the village to tourism and provided additional jobs. During construction and after its completion, the Oberhasli AG power plant became the largest employer in the municipality.
Geography
After the merger Innertkirchen has an area of . Before the merger it had an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 15.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 20.1% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 0.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 61.8% is unproductive land.