P r e f a c e .

For several years now, the need for a travel guide to the Bernese Oberland has been frequently raised by both locals and foreigners. Many a person, particularly those wanting to travel the beautiful terrain starting from Bern, desires a guide to hold in their hand; and many a person, upon returning, asks for a souvenir book that, even from afar, might recreate the scenes they enjoyed so deeply in vivid contemplation. It was natural to expect such a work from a Bernese resident first and foremost; because the ease of frequent visits, convenient communication with the inhabitants, and closer investigations into individual circumstances of every kind made it possible for a Bernese to describe the land more accurately and extensively than even an Ebel Johann Gottfried Ebel, a renowned Swiss travel writer of the period, despite his praiseworthy diligence, could perhaps have done.

While there were a few older guides for that journey that provided very good service, they were