Oberried am Brienzersee

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Oberried am Brienzersee
Canton	Bern
District	Interlaken
Coordinates	46°25′N 7°27′E
Population	474 (January 2005)
Area	20.0 km²
Elevation	570 m
Postal code	3854
SFOS number	0589
Mayor	Theo Keller
Website	www.oberried.ch
Surrounded by	Flühli, Brienz, Niederried bei Interlaken and Habkern
Oberried am Brienzersee

Oberried am Brienzersee is a municipality in the district of Interlaken, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It is located in the Bernese Oberland at the north shore of Lake Brienz. The highest mountain in the municipality is the Tannhorn (2221 m).

The name means "higher Ried on Lake Brienz." In this and several other place names, the word Ried can be given two meanings: as Old High German riod, reoth ("clearing") or Swiss German ("land growing reeds and swampgrass"). The first historical mention of the site, in 1364, used the phrase "die von Obriede" ("those from the Ried area").

The bridge at Hirscherengraben on the road towards Brienz is built so that an avalanche will carry the bridge directly into Lake Brienz. In some winters, the bridge the bridge was destroyed several times by avalanches. The avalanches break out at Brienz Ridge, nearly 2000 m above sea level, and often thunder all the way into the lake (564 m), over a horizontal distance of only 2300 m.

SInce 1863, there has been the fireworks factory Hans Hamberger in Oberried. In 1959, an explosion in the factory cost the lives of ten workers. Since this tragic accident, only small, separated buildings have been built.

Oberried is on the Zentralbahn railway, and can be reached by car and ship as well. In winter, the train tracks or canton road can sometimes be blocked because of avalanches. In such cases the ships which otherwise operate only in the summer carry passengers in the winter as well.