29 Nov The Martinsloch in Grindelwald
A natural spectacle of a special kind: The Martinsloch.
As in several other places in Switzerland, there is also a Martin’s Hole in Grindelwald, through which the sun (and the moon) shines at certain times. The hole is located at the easternmost end of the Eiger, below the Ostegg. Provided that the weather is good, the phenomenon can be observed daily around midday between November 24 and January 22. You just have to be in the right place.
The Martinsloch – exciting play of light on the Eiger
The effects of water, heat and cold create the strangest shapes in our Alps: Scourings by glacier water and fine debris, hollows in rock layers of varying hardness, even holes through the compact rock. Two fine examples of this “sculptural” activity of natural processes can be observed on the Lower Grindelwald Glacier: the Martinsloch, also called Heiterloch, high up at the easternmost end of the Eiger, the Ostegg, and a buttock-shaped glacial scour near the Stieregg, the Martinsdruck.
The legend has the following to report:
“Before times there was no glacier on the valley floor. The Eiger and Mettenberg were connected, and none of the five hundred meter wide gorges between Bäregg and Bonerren let the ice stream pass. Only a narrow gap, a hick in the rock, allowed the meltwater, which was temporarily dammed up behind the rock riegel and mixed with ice blocks, to pass through. In high cases the glacier stream then roared down over rock steps into the forest. But the pressure of the water and ice masses could even become powerful. Then the dam gave way up here and there, and a devastating flood broke down, sweeping away and destroying everything in its path, house and barn, man and animal.
At the foot of the rock face lived in a cave Martin, a man of great shape and strength. He was in danger of his own life during these eruptions of the water and ice masses, but the valley inhabitants took pity on him even more. A remedy had to be found. He climbed up into the narrow gap, leaned with his back against the side of the Mettenberg, his feet and stick against the Eiger. Now a tremendous pushing and shoving, and a crash went through the mountains that were moving away from each other. It was done: the gap was now wide, the water had its sufficiently large, regular outflow, but then the glacier also pushed its way in, but slowly and without danger for those living below. Martin, however, during his enormous effort, had pierced a hole through the Eiger with his stick, and his mighty backside had deeply impressed itself into the rock of the Mettenberg, still visible signs of the mountain transfer, “called Martinsloch and Martinsdruck”, a monument for eternal times. (from: Rudolf Rubi, Challigrosi and Muggestutz – Grindelwald legends, 1981)
Martinsloch – The Giant Martin.
Martinsloch is the name because the formation of the Rock Gate is said to date back to the giant Martin, who lived on the Mettenberg: Ages ago, Martin pushed the Eiger and the Mettenberg apart with his own hands – and with his stick, with which he slipped during his feat of strength, he hit the aforementioned hole.
From the vacation apartment in Chalet Anemone you can admire the Mettenberg and the Eiger in a wonderful way. If you can still see the giant Martin, we can unfortunately not confirm.
