Grindelwald was first mentioned in 1146 as
Grindelwalt. and
Upper Grindelwald Glacier, . Etching by
Heinrich Müller The oldest traces of a settlement in the area are scattered
neolithic tools which have been discovered around Grindelwald village. Several
Roman era coins have also been found in the municipality. A castle was built on the Burgbühl hill above the village during the
High Middle Ages. The tourism industry began in Grindelwald in the late 18th century as foreigners discovered the scenic town. Pictures of the vistas were widely reprinted, quickly making the village internationally famous. In the 19th century many Englishmen came to the village to climb the alpine peaks around the valley. The
Finsteraarhorn (), the
Wetterhorn (), the
Eiger (), the
Schreckhorn () and the
Gross Fiescherhorn () were all climbed during the 19th century, an ascent of the Wetterhorn marking the beginning of the
golden age of alpinism. The ascent of the north face of the Eiger, in 1938, was also a milestone in mountaineering history. The Grindelwald road was built in 1860–72, and the
Bernese Oberland railway reached the village in 1890, both of which transformed an arduous journey into a simple trip and allowed tourists to flood into the village. In 1888, Grindelwald was the first resort in the Bernese Oberland to also become a winter destination, attractions being sleigh rides, curling, skating and, from 1891, skiing. The first resort opened in 1888, there were 10 hotels in 1889, and by 1914 there were 33 in Grindelwald. A
rack railway was built to
Kleine Scheidegg in 1893, and it was expanded to the
Jungfraujoch in 1912. Numerous ski lifts, cable cars, hiking trails and alpine huts were built in the late 19th and 20th centuries to allow tourists to explore the mountains, notably the
Wetterhorn Elevator, one of the first modern aerial tramways. Today, almost the entire economy of Grindelwald is based on tourism. The
V-cableway, inaugurated in 2020, is the last major development in the valley. The Grindelwald region has been the subject of scientific investigations, including in the "Alpine Studies" by the English alpinist
W. A. B. Coolidge (1912) and in the Unesco research program
Man and Biosphere of the Geographical Institute of the
University of Bern on the effects of tourism (1979–1984). ==Flag and coat of arms==