Jungfraujoch
Origin of the name Jungfraujoch
The name designates a pass (Joch) and was taken over by the terminus of the Jungfrau rack railway.[4]
Founding of Jungfraujoch
The Jungfraujoch is a high mountain pass on the border between Bern and Valais. The pass point belongs to the Bernese municipality of Lauterbrunnen, while the research station and the Sphinx observatory lie on the territory of Fieschertal, a Valais municipality that reaches up to the pass. The Jungfrau Railway, planned at the end of the 19th century, reaches the pass in 1912. An international foundation then sets up a research station there, followed by the Sphinx observatory, where cosmic rays, the atmosphere and the Sun have been studied ever since.[1][2][3][4]
History of Jungfraujoch
1893. Adolf Guyer-Zeller presents the decisive plan, starting from Kleine Scheidegg, terminus of the Wengernalp Railway.[1]
1896. Construction of the Jungfrau Railway begins.[1]
1908. An accidental explosion of 30 tons of dynamite slows the works.[1]
1912. The railway reaches the Jungfraujoch, nine years later than planned.[1]
1922. The Swiss Society of Natural Sciences sets up a Jungfraujoch Commission.[1]
around 1926. A first meteorological pavilion is put up on the glacier.[1]
1930. The International Foundation High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch is founded.[1]
1931. The research station is inaugurated and work begins in several fields.[1][2]
1937. The Sphinx observatory is completed.[1][2]
1950. A first astronomical dome crowns the Sphinx. The University of Liège begins measuring the solar spectrum.[1][2]
1951. Blackett and Wilson build a large Wilson chamber in the Sphinx observatory.[1]
2001. The Jungfrau region is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.[1]
2014. Laboratories open in the former Swisscom relay station on the Jungfrau east ridge, at 3'700 m.[2]
Historic sites in Jungfraujoch
Sphinx observatory. It houses two large laboratories, a weather observation station, a workshop, two science terraces and two domes, one astronomical and one meteorological. The astronomical dome still holds a 76 cm telescope that is no longer used for research.[2]
Research station. The building has five laboratories, ten bedrooms and a machine that produces liquid air. Two custodian couples take turns.[2]
Sources
- Fondation internationale Station de recherche de haute altitude Jungfraujoch et Gornergrat (HFSJG), « History »
- Fondation internationale Station de recherche de haute altitude Jungfraujoch et Gornergrat (HFSJG), « Infrastructure »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Fieschertal » (Philipp Kalbermatter, version du 29.11.2005, traduit de l'allemand)
- geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Sphinx Jungfraujoch)
Other villages near Jungfraujoch
Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.
Suggest a change