In the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern, central Switzerland

 “Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake[s].”

-- Wallace Stevens
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(in central Switzerland,) In the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern, the town and municipality of Interlaken (meaning (between lakes) lies along the Aare River in the Bernese Highlands; Its name is derived from its position on the flat plain (Bödeli), 1,864 feet (568 meters) above sea level, between Lakes (inter lacus) Brienz to the east and Thun to the west. The town grew up around a convent of Augustinian canons (1130–1528). It is one of Switzerland’s oldest and most frequented summer tourist resorts, and its main avenue (Höheweg) is lined with hotels. Interlaken commands a magnificent view of the Jungfrau (13,642 feet [4,158 meters]) to the south and is a starting point for many Alpine excursions.

+ Once Interlaken made the Victorians swoon with mountain vistas from the chandelier-lit confines of grand hotels; today it makes daredevils scream with adrenalin-loaded activities. Straddling the glacier-fed Lakes Thun and Brienz and capped by the pearly white peaks of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, the town is the gateway to Switzerland's fabled Jungfrau region and the country's hottest adventure destination, bar none. If the touristy town itself leaves you cold, the mountains on its doorstep will blow your mind, especially if you are abseiling waterfalls, thrashing white water, or gliding soundlessly above 4000-meter summits.

+ An important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps, and the main transport gateway to the mountains and lakes of that region, Interlaken is located on flat alluvial land called Bödeli between two lakes,and alongside the river Aare, which flows between them. Transport routes to the east and west alongside the lakes are complemented by a route southwards into the near mountain resorts and high mountains, e.g. the famous high Alpine peaks of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, following upwards the Lütschine. Interlaken is the central town of a Small Agglomeration with the same name of 23,300 inhabitants. The official language of Interlaken is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect, Bernese German.

+ The tourism industry's frantic growth abruptly ended in 1914 when World War I started, though it resumed somewhat after the war. World War II brought another dramatic slowdown. Interlaken started to recover from the effects of the war in 1955 as Interlaken re-branded itself as a convention and conference center. Today, the two nuclei villages (Aarmühle and the village around the Bailiff's Castle) have been joined by new construction between them. The municipalities of Matten and Unterseen are also connected by new construction to Interlaken and share a common infrastructure. A referendum to merge the three political municipalities into one was voted down in 1914 and again in 1927.