Zimmerwald

Zimmerwald
Former municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Zimmerwald
Zimmerwald Show map of Switzerland Zimmerwald Show map of Canton of Bern
Coordinates: 46°53′N 7°28′E / 46.883°N 7.467°E / 46.883; 7.467
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Seftigen
Area
• Total	8.94 km2 (3.45 sq mi)
Elevation	840 m (2,760 ft)
Population  (2002-12)
• Total	870
• Density	97/km2 (250/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	3086
SFOS number	887
ISO 3166 code	CH-BE
Website

Zimmerwald (German pronunciation: [ˈtsɪmɐˌvalt]) was an independent municipality in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland until 31 December 2003. It is located on a hill in the proximity of the city of Bern in the Bernese Mittelland. On 1 January 2004 Zimmerwald united with the municipality of Englisberg to form the new municipality of Wald.

On 31 December 2002 the population was 870. The coat of arms is three fir trees on three green mountain peaks with a background that ranges from silver to green.

Zimmerwald was only settled in the late phase of the Germanic colonisation of Switzerland. Between 800 and 900, Ciberni entering Southern Germany first settled on the Längenberg (Long Mountain), the hill on which Zimmerwald lies. The town is first mentioned in documents in the later Middle Ages. In 1999, Zimmerwald celebrated its 700th anniversary.

Zimmerwald is remembered in world history for the Zimmerwald Conference held in September 1915. Prominent socialists met from across Europe, among them Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin. The conference was called by Robert Grimm of Bern. The international workers' movement split as a result of the conference into a social democratic and a revolutionary wing.

The collection of the Zimmerwald wind instruments museum covers some 1,000 wind instruments from all periods, as well as percussion instruments. They include rare pieces such as bull horns, old Germanic lures, serpents and flap trumpets, but also Swiss alphorns.^{[citation needed]}

The Zimmerwald Observatory is the reference point for the CH1903+ Swiss coordinate system.

• Gunvor Guggisberg (1974), Swiss entertainer
• Bruno Messerli (1931), geographer
• Hans Rudolf Streit (1910–1982), Swiss federal official
• Katrin Streit-Eggimann, Swiss politician
• Judith Wyder (1988), athlete

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zimmerwald.

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