The river Simme is a tributary of the river
Kander in the
Bernese Oberland
The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...
in the
canton of Bern
The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...
in
Switzerland. It is approximately long and has a
catchment area
In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people ar ...
of .
The river Simme begins at the Alpine lake of ''Flueseeli'' (lit.: "Little Lake of the Flue") () on the secluded Alpine meadow just above the ''Flueschafberg'' cliffs. But right afterwards, one level and lower, below the Flueschafberg cliffs, on the Alpine meadow called ''Rezliberg'', it converges with several creeks which have even higher springs, such as the
Truebbach, the ''Rezligletscherbach'', and the ''Ammertenbach''. This area is located west of the mountain range
Wildstrubel
The Wildstrubel () is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the border between the Swiss cantons of Bern and Valais. It forms a large glaciated massif, about 15 km wide, extending between the Rawil Pass and the Gemmi Pass. Along with the Muverans ...
, and to the north of and below the
Glacier de la Plaine Morte (), and about south of the resort of
Lenk
Lenk im Simmental (or simply Lenk) is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Lenk is first mentioned in 1370 as ''An der Leng''.
The oldest traces of a settlement in th ...
. Underneath the Rezliberg it forms the ''Simmenfälle'', several waterfalls, which have, altogether, a drop of .
The river then flows roughly to the north and passes Lenk and flows towards
Zweisimmen
Zweisimmen is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Zweisimmen is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Duessimenes''. In 1257 it was mentioned as ''Zweinlixhenun''.
The olde ...
through the
Obersimmental
Obersimmental District was one of the 26 administrative districts in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. Its capital was Blankenburg in the municipality of Zweisimmen. The district had an area of 334 km² and consisted of 4 municipalities
A m ...
(Upper Simme Valley), where it converges with the ''Kleine Simme'' from the west, which origines in the mountains above
Saanenmöser. Saanenmöser is also a small pass towards
Saanen
Saanen (french: Gessenay; Highest Alemannic: ''Saanä'') is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1228 as ''Gissin ...
and
Gstaad
Gstaad ( ; ) is a town in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Bern in southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort and a popular destination amongst high society and the inter ...
.
From Zweisimmen the Simme flows further north until ''Riedenbach'' where it smoothly turns east and runs now through the
Niedersimmental (Lower Simme Valley). In
Oey
Oey (pronounced "wee" ) () is a Chinese Indonesian surname of Hokkien origin and Dutch-based, West Java romanization. Literally "yellow", or "golden yellow", its Central Java romanization is Oei, while its pinyin version is Huang.
Many Indonesi ...
it converges with the ''Chirel'' of the
Diemtigtal
Diemtigen is a village and a municipality of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located at the northern end of the Diemtigtal elevated on a plateau west above the creek Chirel.
In ...
from the south.
After the village of
Wimmis
Wimmis is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Wimmis is first mentioned in 994 as ''Windemis''.
The oldest traces of a settlement in Wimmis include the Mesoli ...
and southwest of
Spiez
Spiez is a town and municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes ...
, the Simme turns north again and joins the river Kander, which reaches the
Lake Thun
Lake Thun (german: Thunersee) is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore. At in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton.
The lake was created ...
after ).
References
*
Swisstopo
Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian: ''Ufficio federale di topografia''; Romansh: ''Uffizi federal ...
br>
Map
{{Authority control
Rivers of Switzerland
1Simme
Rivers of the canton of Bern