'Reichenbach in the Kander valley') is a village and municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Additionally, the village of Mülenen is shared between Reichenbach and Aeschi bei Spiez municipalities.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a Bear Paw issuant from a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert.

During the Middle Ages, the village occupied a strategic location on the trade route into the Canton of Valais.

After Bern accepted the Protestant Reformation, Reichenbach converted to the new faith in 1529 and created its own parish.

A filial church was established in the village of Kiental in 1929, while Wengi and Schwandi are still part of the Frutigen parish.

[5] Traditionally the villages lived from farming and seasonal alpine herding as well as some trade over the mountain pass.

Beginning in the 16th century, the local farmers began raising cattle for export.

However it also extends some 16.5 km (10.3 mi) up the valley of the Chiene river, from its confluence with the Kander to its source below the Schilthorn and the Blüemlisalp massif.

From the upper part of the Chiene valley, rough tracks cross the Sefinafurgga and Hohtürli passes towards Lauterbrunnen and Kandersteg respectively, forming part of the Alpine Pass Route, a long-distance hiking trail across Switzerland between Sargans and Montreux.

[3][9] The settlements of Aris, Faltsche, Mülenen, Reichenbach, Reudlen, Schwandi and Wengi all lie in or on the slopes of the Kander valley, whilst Griesalp, Kien, Kiental, Ramslauenen and Scharnachtal lie in the Chiene valley.

The peaks of the Ärmighorn, Bütlasse, Drättehorn, Dreispitz, Drunengalm, Dündenhorn, Fromberghorn, Gspaltenhorn, Hundshorn, Morgenhorn, Niesen, Schwalmere, Wätterlatte and Wildi Frau are all within, or on, the municipal boundary.

[14] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (3,230 or 97.1%) as their first language, Albanian is the second most common (26 or 0.8%) and French is the third (17 or 0.5%).

[18] The Gasthof Bären, the Letzi Mülenen (a medieval fortified wall) and the Notar-Sieber-House are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[19] The Letzi Mülenen was a castle and wall built in the 12th and 13th century by the Freiherr von Kien to control access to the alpine pass into the Canton of Valais.

The castle passed to the Freiherr von Wädenswil and the Lord of Turn who became indebted fighting against Bern.

Under Bernese rule it was the home of a castellan who managed the military and the high and low courts.

In the tertiary sector; 120 or 32.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 19 or 5.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 101 or 27.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 11 or 3.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 32 or 8.8% were in education and 54 or 14.8% were in health care.

Both of these are on the Lötschberg line and are served by hourly RegioExpress Lötschberger trains to Bern, Thun, Spiez and Brig.

[3][24] The municipality is also served by PostAuto bus services from the Reichenbach railway station up the valley of the Kander river to Reudlen, Wengi and Frutigen, and up the valley of the Chiene river to Scharnachtal, Kiental and Griesalp.

[3] From the 2000 census[update], 129 or 3.9% were Roman Catholic, while 2,710 or 81.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.

Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship.

[28] During the 2010–11 school year, there were a total of 382 students attending classes in Reichenbach im Kandertal.