Etzel (mountain)

View of the Etzel of Kempraten from

Sea of ​​fog over the Linthebene, seen from the Etzel from

The Etzel ( 1,098 m above sea level. M. ) is a mountain between Lake Zurich and Lake Sihl in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Etzel is called the mountain of Pfäffikon; His name is derived from Eczelin, Etzlin = Elster. The top 100 meters of the freestanding summit is wooded all around. On the Lake Zurich facing north flank of the forest dropping down to 800 m.

Below the summit is the summit of the Etzel passport with the chapel of St. Meinrad, named after Saint Meinrad of Einsiedeln.

The Etzel largely determined the course of the Sihl, as it prevents them come out of the high valley of Einsiedeln directly into the lake of Zurich. Instead, the Sihl is steered to the west, where it flows into the Sihltal along to Sihlbrugg on Höhronen. The topography at the Etzel favored the establishment of the gravity dam in the beating, which impounds Lake Sihl since 1937, which feeds the associated Etzelwerk in Altendorf on upper Lake Zürich.

On Etzel there are several military bunkers and fortifications that as part of the fortification system Reduit the barrier line Etzel formed during World War II. Some are maintained by the Foundation Schwyzer fortifications and can be visited.

The Etzel is a popular destination for hiking. The view extends to the north of Lake Zurich and upper lake by the lake dam from Rapperswil to the peaks of the Zurich Oberland, in a southerly direction towards the Sihl and the myths. On the summit stands a mountain inn.

1962 enacted the section of the SAC High Rohn a call for conservation of mountain top as a hiking area. More than a thousand friends of the Etzel answered the call and set up the cooperative high - Etzel. This bought with the money collected the hilltop and had 1963/65 built by the architect Heinrich Kübler mountain inn.