Legend and Bibliography
Until the Aare gorge was opened for tourists, only two side gorges were passable, the "Lautere Schlauche" and the "Finstere Schlauche" by which one could reach the Aare River at approximately the middle of the gorge as it stands today. Otherwise, the gorge was only able to be reached by the dangerous option of the river, which was only very seldomly used. It was no wonder that fables began about this unknown gorge and it’s inhabitants.
Samuel Studer
a natural scientist from Bern, reported in 1814 about the monster in the Aare Gorge: "From Unterseen up to Grimsel and towards Gadmen, people believe that a type of snake with an almost round head and short feet can be seen at present." Many tales tell that this snake, known as a "Tatzelwurm", lives in the Aare Gorge. One woman who lived in Innertkirchen in the century before last tells: "As my father was collecting hazelnut sticks on the Kirchet, he saw all at once a thick worm with thick stumpy feet, a large mouth with pointy teeth and evil looking eyes coming towards him". When the monster began to make whistling noises, my father ran home as fast as he could…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Visited the Aare gorge in autumn 1779 during his travels in the Bernese Oberland. He climbed down through the “Finsteren Schlüüchen” at Lammi to the Aare river. His impressions of this journey are vividly described in the story “Indescribable Days”.
J. Rudolf Wyss
Journey in the Bernese Oberland – 1817
"After approximately 200 steps through the darkness of this dreadful tomb, one
comes once again into a relatively open space and enters a place that is easily 20 paces
wide between the walls of the cliffs. In front of you churns the grey-green Aare and
appears to be the Acheron at the gate to Orcus; one does not know from whence she comes,
one does not know whereth she goes. You raise your weary head and see a small strip of
the sky, two seemingly endless flues, quickly catch sight of a few green patches which
help to lessen and liven the dreadfully monotonous view. One rarely leaves these dark
gores unsatisfied. What are all the ruins of mans’ constructions compared to the
remnants of an age old being, formed by the hand of nature. Dreadful realization of an
unthinkable past mix with the feelings of death and destruction in this naked cliff
which threatens to fall. One departs this dark tomb with the premonition of
resurrection. The surroundings into which one returns, on the backbone of the Kirchet,
are a mild and friendly return into the land of the living…."
Josef Viktor Widmann
Walking tours in the Alps – 1890
"From the Grimsel into the Oberhasli"
"…and then came the friendly village of Guttannen and from here, the interesting mountain road down to Innertkirchen. To reach Meiringen, I made a small detour through the dark Aare Gorge, which I entered for the first time on this Sunday evening. It earns it’s reputation…. Notable is the endless variation, in which the river glides quietly and the wide opening in the cliffs lets the sun shine down on it, then come passages where the water shoots through the narrowest channels and the cliffs close in so tightly on the walkway that darkness shrouds and one must bend down, under the rock to go forwards. Towards the exit of the gorge, at a reasonable height, directly across from the floating, wooden walkway, appears a sort of nisch or grotto in the form of an elipse, a room to perfectly present the animal image that the dark Aare Gorge conjures. I think that such an animal would be the "Tazzelwurm" as the legendary mountain dragon is called. But a real master must design the drawing after he has gained an impression in the gorge itself. …"
Engraving ~1820
Berliner Illustrierte 1936
at 1900
Poster Tram 1924
Arnold Brügger 1920