How the "abominable icebergs" became a tourist attraction

Already in the 16th century, the first descriptions of glaciers found their way into descriptions of the country. Then, in the 18th century, the first scientific treatises and works appeared, mainly dealing with glaciers and partly illustrated with first views. These undoubtedly aroused curiosity about the "ice comrades" and attracted the first artists and tourists to the Alpine world. In the 19th century, travellers from all over Europe, especially from England, enjoyed the sight of the glaciers, which in some places reached as far as the vicinity of villages and cultivated land. Thus the origin of tourism in Grindelwald can be traced back to the glaciers. In the 19th century, ice caves in the easily accessible Grindelwald glaciers also enabled the ladies of high society to enter the belly of a glacier. Today these ice grottos no longer exist, as the two Grindelwald glaciers have retreated into impassable terrain.