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Mönch

geography Maturity 7-9 Next article →

The Mönch is a famous mountain in Switzerland. It sits high up in the Bernese Alps. Its name means "monk" in the German language. You can see this mountain from a long way off. It is part of a very well-known group of peaks. This group includes the Eiger and the Jungfrau mountains. These three mountains together are easy to recognize.

The mountain sits on a high ridge of land. It marks the border between two areas called Valais and Bern. To the east, you will find the Eiger. To the west, the mountain sits near the Jungfrau and Jungfraujoch. The north side of the mountain is a steep step wall. This wall rises up above the Lauterbrunnen valley.

Glaciers are part of this snowy landscape. The Mönch is near the Great Aletsch Glacier. Two smaller glaciers flow toward it. These are called the Jungfraufirn and the Ewigschneefäld. They are known as affluents, which means they flow into the larger glacier. The mountain stays cold and icy in these spots.

People have traveled through this mountain for a long time. A train tunnel runs right under the summit. This is the Jungfrau railway tunnel. It sits at an elevation of about 3,454 meters.

The first people to climb to the very top were four men. They reached the summit on 15 August 1857. Their names were Christian Almer and Christian Kaufmann. Ulrich Kaufmann and Sigismund Porges were also part of the group.

The Mönch is one of the many 4,000 metre peaks in the Alps. It is a special part of the Swiss landscape. People love to look at its shape from far away. It helps them know where they are in the mountains. The mountain connects the valleys to the high, snowy peaks. It is a grand part of the Bernese Alps.

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