DÖLF BARBEN There is a spot in the middle of Mürren where tourists like to stop and take photos. Today is no exception. A young woman tosses her hair forward and then back, before smiling in front of the imposing backdrop. Her friend lines up a shot. Approaching from the side is a mother with her little boy. “Careful,” she says, “there’s no handrail.” She is a little overcautious, because there is no danger here. Or at least not yet. From this viewing point, there is a path that leads down a steep grassy slope. Go 100 metres down and you reach a fence with a gate. This is the edge of the cliff – and the gate is open. On the other side is a small platform for adrenaline-seeking base jumpers, who leap from here off the mountain before parachuting onto the valley floor. Hold on to the fence with one hand, strain your head forward, and you can get a glimpse of the sheer drop below. Your heart will skip a beat. At the bottom: the cable car station, parked cars, roads, houses. Everything improbably small yet frighteningly close. Up through the roof Mürren is perched on a high plateau in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, not far from Interlaken. Below is a vertical rock face that is overhanging in places. There is probably no other village that clings as much to the edge of a mountain – in Switzerland at least. The new cable car connecting Mürren with the valley floor underlines what an extraordinary location this is. It is the steepest cable car in the world. Riding it feels like being pulled up by the hair. Cable cars normally leave the bottom station moving forward. This one more or less departs through the roof of the building. Its support cables point upward like an hour hand that has almost reached 11 o’clock. The cabins have to cope with a maximum gradient of 159.4 per cent. You are glued to the window all the way up, staring at the sheer rock. Water sprays out of the Living on the edge Perched on the edge of a vertical cliff, Mürren (canton of Berne) is a base-jumping mecca boasting the steepest cable car in the world. What is it like to live there? cliff here and there. The cable car climbs 775 metres in four minutes. Bond movie There are some beautiful old posters celebrating Mürren’s spectacular location. But what else does this sunny place have to offer? For the people who live there, Mürren’s teetering clifftop position is maybe a little less scary. “Their” Mürren is the loveliest place on Earth – a peaceful car-free village with a glorious tourism heritage. It sits at the foot of one of 007’s old haunts, the Schilthorn mountain: the revolving restaurant at the summit, Piz Gloria, featured in the James Bond film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, making Mürren more famous. None of the locals talk about the cliff edge. You need to ask them first. Kurt Huggler, 81, grew up in Mürren. He is a former ski racer, tourism director, and hotelier. “Yes, of course,” he says, “we ventured down there a lot when we were boys.” They would mess around and throw things, pick rare flowers, or just sit by the edge and peer down. They didn’t tell their parKurt and Verena Huggler in front of their house in Mürren. He was a tourism director and hotelier. Both competed in ski races. Photo: Dölf Barben Higher, farther, faster, more beautiful? In search of somewhat unconventional Swiss records Today: Mürren – a spectacular village boasting the world’s steepest cable car The Schilthornbahn to Mürren is the world’s steepest cable car. It is so steep that it more or less departs the valley floor through the roof. Photo: Dölf Barben The world’s steepest cable car connects Mürren. Swiss Review / July 2026 / No. 3 16 Report
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