Meiringen (German pronunciation: [ˈmaɪrɪŋən]) is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Besides the village of Meiringen, the municipality includes the settlements of Balm, Brünigen, Eisenbolgen, Hausen, Prasti, Sand, Stein, Unterbach, Unterheidon, Wylerli and Zaun.

The municipal coat of arms shows a black eagle in a yellow field.

[4] Meiringen is famous for the nearby Reichenbach Falls, a waterfall that was the setting for the final showdown between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty.

[6] Meiringen is located in the eastern Bernese Oberland region, in a valley of the upper reaches of the river Aare, called Haslital, upstream of Lake Brienz.

On the left bank it stretches up into the Alps and reaches an elevation of 3,191 m (10,469 ft) at the summit of the Wellhorn.

It includes the village of Meiringen and the settlements of Sand, Stein, Eisenbolgen, Hausen, Balm, Unterbach and Unterheidon in the valley, the village of Brünigen in the Brünig Pass and the hamlets of Prasti, Zaun and Wylerli on the slopes above the valley.

Due to its strategic location at the foot of several alpine passes, the area around Meiringen was settled at least in the Early Middle Ages.

The Restiturm castle was constructed in the 13th century, whilst the Wyghus fortress in the Brünig Pass was first mentioned in 1333, though it was destroyed later.

After an unsuccessful revolt in 1334, Hasli passed to the city of Bern as a subject territory in name but regained most of its earlier privileges.

The village was the home of the Talschaft council and the regional court met at the cross street in front of the churchyard.

Outside of Meiringen village the main occupation was agriculture or cattle farming until the 19th century.

[10] In the 1550s, a series of floods of the Aare destroyed the valley floor villages of Balm and Bürglen, both of which were abandoned.

In 1734 the Alpbach wall was built to protect against the river, though this problem was not solved until the 1866–80 Aare water correction project.

Increasing tourist traffic came over the roads that were opened over the Brünig (1859–61), the Grimsel (1847–94) and the Susten (1939–46) passes.

In 1912, the Meiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht tramway was constructed to link the village to the Reichenbach Falls and Aare Gorge, two of the principle local tourist attractions; the line survived until closure in 1956.

[10][11] In 1892 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle visited the Reichenbach Falls outside Meiringen and subsequently used them as the setting for the struggle between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty in his story The Final Problem.

[12] During World War II, the tourism industry collapsed, so the Federal Government created jobs by opening the Unterbach military airfield; the federal armory; the SBB depot; the power plants at Oberhasli AG and in hospitals.

The urbanized village of Meiringen and the hamlet of Brünigen are both on the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[19] The ruined castle of Restiturm lies just to the east of the centre of Meiringen, and once commanded the various trade routes that passed through the village.

Its highlight is a detailed and authentic recreation of the sitting room at 221B Baker Street, London.

In the tertiary sector; 263 or 18.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 174 or 12.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 190 or 13.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 36 or 2.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 93 or 6.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 56 or 3.9% were in education and 339 or 23.9% were in health care.

The first two intermediate stations on this line, at Alpbach and Aareschlucht West, are also within the municipal boundaries.

The lower terminus of the Reichenbachfall Funicular, which links the village to the Reichenbach Falls, is located at Willigen, some 20 minutes walk, or a 6-minute bus ride, from Meiringen station.

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

[28] This area has a long winter season with 5 months average temperature more than 10 °C, with little precipitation mostly in the form of snow, and low humidity.