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UNESCO World Heritage Trail – Bench No. 5: Chapel in Kandersteg

The wish for a chapel in Kandersteg was fulfilled in 1510. It was built at this site, on the old mule track where the bridge crossed the Kander.

In 1909, the Lötschberg railway construction led to Kandersteg’s political independence, and it was decided to enlarge the chapel with a tower and annex. The new church was consecrated in 1910, exactly 400 years after the first chapel. From 1904 onwards, church services for Catholic guests were held in a schoolroom. With the Lötschberg railway came an increase in Italian guests, leading to the consecration of a second church in 1927 – the Catholic Church of St. Mary.

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Marienkirche ca. 1950 (Foto: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv)
Marienkirche, ca. 1950 (Photo: ETH Library Zurich, Image Archive)
alte reformierte Kirche 1905 (Foto: Ruedi Egli)
Old Reformed Church, 1905 (Photo: Ruedi Egli)
Alte reformierte Kirche 1905 (Bild: Ruedi Egli) ©  Ruedi Egli
Old Reformed Church, 1905 (Image: Ruedi Egli)
Kandersteg, reformierte Kirche, 1939-1943 (ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv) ©  ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv
Kandersteg, Reformed Church, 1939–1943 (ETH Library Zurich, Image Archive)