Lötschen Pass

glacier pass, Switzerland

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Lötschen Pass, glacier pass (8,825 feet [2,690 metres]) in the Bernese Alps, southern Switzerland, leading from Kandersteg in southern Bern canton (north) to the Lötschental (Lötschen Valley) in Valais canton (south). First mentioned in 1352, the pass was probably crossed earlier by the people of the Valais, who colonized various parts of the Bernese Alps. In 1384 and in 1419, battles were fought on the pass between the Bernese and the Valaisans. In 1698 a mule path (of which traces still remain) was built on the Bernese slope but not continued beyond. The railway between Bern and Brig (part of the Simplon Tunnel route) runs beneath the pass through the Lötschberg Tunnel (9 miles [14 km] long and built in 1907–13). The tunnel starts above Kandersteg and enters the Lötschental at Goppenstein. The Lötschen Pass is to be distinguished from the Lötschenlücke, another glacier pass, which leads from the head of the Lötschental to the main Aletsch Glacier.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.