Meiringen in the context of "Professor Moriarty"

Melchior Anderegg (28 March 1828 – 8 December 1914), from Zaun, Meiringen, was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. His clients were mostly British, the most famous of whom was Leslie Stephen, the writer, critic and mountaineer; Anderegg also climbed extensively with members of the Walker family, including Horace Walker and Lucy Walker, and with Florence Crauford Grove. His cousin Jakob Anderegg was also a well-known guide.

The Bernese Oberland (German: Berner Oberland [ˈbɛrnər ˈoːbərland]; Alemannic German: Bärner Oberland; French: Oberland bernois [obɛʁlɑ̃d bɛʁnwa]), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as Oberland without further specification). It constitutes the Alpine region of the canton and the northern side of the Bernese Alps, including many of its highest peaks, among which the Finsteraarhorn (4,274 m (14,022 ft)), the highest in both range and canton.

The region essentially coincides with the upper basin of the Aare, the latter notably including Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, the two large lakes of the region. On the banks of the lakes or the Aare are the main settlements of Thun, Spiez, Interlaken, Brienz and Meiringen. The numerous side valleys of the Bernese Oberland include a large number of Alpine villages, many of them being tourist resorts and connected by mountain railways to Spiez and Interlaken. The Lötschberg, a major north-south axis through the Alps, links the region with both the capital of the canton, Bern, and its sizable southern neighbour, the canton of Valais.

The Grimsel Pass (German: Grimselpass; French: Col du Grimsel; Italian: Passo del Grimsel) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, crossing the Bernese Alps at an elevation of 2,164 metres (7,100 ft). The pass connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with the upper valley of the Rhône. In so doing, and as the Aare is a tributary of the Rhine, the pass crosses the continental divide between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

A paved road follows the pass, running 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Gletsch to Meiringen. The road is normally closed between October and May, due to the high snowfall on the pass. As it is the only direct road pass between the cantons of Bern and Valais across the Bernese Alps, attempts are made to keep the road open as long as possible with snow ploughs. A PostBus Switzerland service uses the pass several times a day, connecting Meiringen and Oberwald.

The Brünig Pass, at an altitude of 1,008 m (3,307 ft), connects the Bernese Oberland and central Switzerland, linking Meiringen in the canton of Bern and Lungern in the canton of Obwalden. It is on the watershed between the upper reaches of the Aare, which flows through Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, and the Sarner Aa, which flows into Lake Lucerne.

The pass is crossed by the Zentralbahn's Brünig railway line, between Lucerne and Interlaken, and that line's Brünig-Hasliberg station is situated in the pass. The pass is also crossed by the A8 motorway, between Lucerne and Spiez. Both rail and road crossings are normally kept open throughout the winter.

In Swiss politics and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy, a Talschaft is the body of voting population in a certain valley. The grouping of voters by valley rather than municipality is a tradition harking back to before the establishment of the current administrative divisions with the foundation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. A Talschaft will typically include voters of several municipalities. For example, the Talschaft of Lauterbrunnen Valley includes the voting population of the municipalities of Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, Stechelberg, Gimmelwald and Isenfluh.Similarly, the Talschaft of Hasli consists of six municipalities, Gadmen, Guttannen, Hasliberg, Innertkirchen, Meiringen and Schattenhalb. In this case, the Talschaft is coterminous with the Bernese district of Oberhasli.

Historically, Leute der Talschaft is the traditional German translation of the Latin term homines vallis in the Federal Charter of 1291, literally 'the people of the valley'. Thus, the enumeration of the Confederates,

Jakob Anderegg (11 March 1829, in Oberwil im Simmental – 17 September 1878, in Meiringen) was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism.Jakob Anderegg made the first ascent of the following peaks or routes:

• Balmhorn (Bernese Alps), 21 July 1864 with Frank, Lucy and Horace Walker, and Melchior Anderegg
• Piz Roseg (Bernina Range) with A. W. Moore and Horace Walker on 28 June 1865
• Ober Gabelhorn (Pennine Alps) with A. W. Moore and Horace Walker on 6 July 1865
• Pigne d'Arolla (Pennine Alps) with A. W. Moore and Melchior Anderegg on 9 July 1865
• Brenva Spur of Mont Blanc (Mont Blanc massif) with George Spencer Mathews, A. W. Moore, Frank and Horace Walker on 15 July 1865
• Gspaltenhorn (Bernese Alps) with G. E. Forster and Hans Baumann on 10 July 1869