Reichenbachfall Funicular
funicular railway in the canton of Bern, Switzerland
The Reichenbachfall Funicular (German: Reichenbachfall-Bahn; RfB) is a funicular in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It links Willigen, near Meiringen, with the uppermost of the Reichenbach Falls, famous as the site of the apparent death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional hero, Sherlock Holmes. On its route the line follows and crosses the lower falls of the Reichenbach.
The funicular was opened in 1899, and was rebuilt in 1999 to the original design. Between 1912 and 1956, it was linked to Meiringen by the Meiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht tramway. Today it is owned by the EWR Energie company, which operates the adjacent hydroelectric power plant, but is maintained by the neighbouring Kraftwerke Oberhasli company, which also operates several other lines in the area. It has the following parameters:
The funicular operates only between May and mid-October. During this period it operates every 15 minutes from 09:00 to 17:00.
The lower station is some 20 minutes walk, or a 6-minute bus ride, from Meiringen station on the Brünig railway line. It is 500 m from the Alpbach station.
The public source identifies “Reichenbachfall Funicular” as funicular railway in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Reichenbachfall, Funicular and funicular.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Reichenbachfall Funicular”, the useful work is to connect “funicular railway in the canton of Bern, Switzerland” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q686856. Authority coordinates are 46.719, 8.188. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1899, 1999, 1912 and 1956.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Reichenbachfall Funicular”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Reichenbachfall Funicular primary sources, Reichenbachfall Funicular archive and Reichenbachfall research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Reichenbachfall Funicular”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Reichenbachfall Funicular” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.