Niesen
Mountain peak in the Swiss Alps
title: "Niesen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bernese-alps", "mountains-of-the-alps", "mountains-of-the-canton-of-bern", "two-thousanders-of-switzerland"] description: "Mountain peak in the Swiss Alps" topic_path: "geography/switzerland" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niesen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mountain peak in the Swiss Alps ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Niesen |
| photo | Niesen2.jpg |
| photo_size | 285 |
| photo_caption | The Niesen from Wimmis |
| elevation_m | 2362 |
| prominence_m | 407 |
| prominence_ref | |
| isolation_km | 2.3 |
| isolation_ref | |
| parent_peak | Albristhorn |
| map | Switzerland |
| map_caption | Location in Switzerland |
| location | Canton of Bern, Switzerland |
| range | Bernese Alps |
| coordinates | |
| easiest_route | Niesenbahn |
| :: |
| name = Niesen | photo = Niesen2.jpg | photo_size = 285 | photo_caption = The Niesen from Wimmis | elevation_m = 2362 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = 407 | prominence_ref = | isolation_km = 2.3 | isolation_ref = | parent_peak = Albristhorn | map = Switzerland | map_caption = Location in Switzerland | location = Canton of Bern, Switzerland | range = Bernese Alps | coordinates = | range_coordinates = | topo = | type = | age = | first_ascent = | easiest_route = Niesenbahn The Niesen is a mountain peak of the Bernese Alps in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. The summit of the mountain is 2362 m in elevation.
It overlooks Lake Thun, in the Bernese Oberland region, and forms the northern end of a ridge that stretches north from the Albristhorn and Mannliflue, separating the Simmental and Kandertal valleys.
Geography
Administratively, the summit is shared between the municipalities of Reichenbach im Kandertal to the southeast, and Wimmis to the west and north. Both municipalities are in the canton of Bern.
The summit can be reached easily by using the Niesenbahn funicular from Mülenen (near Reichenbach). The construction of the funicular was completed in 1910.
Alongside the funicular is the longest stairway in the world, with 11,674 steps. It is only open to the public once a year for a stair run event.
Originally the mountains name was Yesen. «An Yesen» transformed to Niesen. Yesen is yellow gentian and still flowers on the Niesen to this day. Because of its shape, the Niesen is often called the Swiss Pyramid. The Niesen may have influenced some modernist paintings by Paul Klee, in which an abstracted pyramidal form is seen.
References
Gallery
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Unterhalb_des_Gipfels_01.jpg" caption="View of Niesen's peak from [[Fromberghore]] mountain, with [[Kandertal]], [[Engstligental]], and [[Simmental]] valleys."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Niesen_Panorama.jpg" caption="View from Niesen's summit of 360° degree panorama."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Unterhalb_des_Gipfels.jpg" caption="View from Niesen's summit of [[Stockhorn]] mountain, [[Lake Thun]], and the [[Jura Mountains]]."] ::
References
- Retrieved from the [[Swisstopo]] topographic maps. The key col is located south of the summit on the Niesegrat at 1,955 metres.
- Retrieved from [[Google Earth]]. The nearest point of higher elevation is northeast of the [[Fromberghorn]].
- "map.geo.admin.ch". Swiss Confederation.
- "Niesen Funicular Info". Niesenbahn.
- "Niesenlauf". niesenlauf.ch.
- "Der Niesen". Niesenbahn.
- (2022-04-27). "The Niesen – Switzerland's highest pyramid".
- Christmann, Stefan. (2021-08-15). "Swiss pyramid / Amazing views from the Niesen mountain".
- Rosenthal, Mark. “The Prototypical Triangle of Paul Klee.” The Art Bulletin, vol. 64, no. 2, [Taylor & Francis, Ltd., College Art Association], 1982, pp. 299–310, https://doi.org/10.2307/3050222. “The title ''Niesen'' makes explicit another identity of the triangle besides the Egyptian pyramid. "Niesen" is the name of a pyramidally shaped mountain in the Bernese Alps on Lake Thun, not far from Klee's childhood home near Bern. The area was a favorite of Klee's for hiking and vacationing; in 1915 he spent several days with his friend Louis Millet in the town of Gunten, which faces the Niesen from directly across the lake. Klee's study of the mountain from a dramatic vantage point recalls his affirmation, six years earlier, that Cézanne was "the teacher ''par excellence''." As in Cézanne's ''Mont Ste.-Victoire'' paintings (Fig. 2), Klee, in ''Niesen'', contrasts the strength of the mountain stretching to the skies with a patchy landscape below.”
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