There is at least one restaurant in Switzerland named “End of the world“ [End der Welt]. It’s near Magglingen, north of Biel-Bienne and located on the “End of the World” street [End der Welt-Strasse]. My husband, Ben and I were there many years ago. I remember feeling like we were really in the middle of nowhere.
Lengnau
Since then we’ve heard the phrase “middle of nowhere” a few times. Most were related to Lengnau, where we live now. Ben’s brother-in-law (his sister’s husband) notoriously told us that we had moved to the middle of nowhere. Okay, Berne is somewhat more centrally located. If you get on a train and want to go to Berne, it says “Berne” on all the platform signs. No train platform signs point the way to “Lengnau”, it’s more like an insider secret.
Granted, Lengnau is not particularly en route to anywhere. You have to know where you are going to get there. Unless, of course, you are going from Biel-Bienne to Solothurn or vice versa. Then it is smack-dab in the middle. But you still have to get on the right train because not all trains stop there. It has to be a ‘stroller’ train that stops at every puddle or you’ll miss it.
Greece
Sometime after we moved to Lengnau my husband’s brother followed the steps of one of his daughters, and moved to the island of Lefkada in Greece. Ben’s sister’s family visited their brother and the song changed. The new “middle of nowhere” was located on a remote island in. You can get to the middle of nowhere after more than a day, which includes a long drive, ferry ride and suspiciously narrow and curvy roads. Ah, our Lengnau was redeemed.
Binntal (Binn Valley)
Ben’s brother-in-law who thought that first Lengnau, then Greece both were in the middle of nowhere, showed us where the middle of nowhere really is. It is neither in Magglingen, Lengnau nor Greece. No, the middle of nowhere is in a place called Binn in Switzerland. Binn is at the end of a deep valley high in the alps. It is not en route to anywhere except Binn.
As conservative as most Swiss are, they like to throw original birthday parties. My brother-in-law threw his latest round birthday party in the village of Binn where his mother had lived as a young girl.
This place is so out of the way that it made sense to stay overnight. Getting there was a nightmare for someone who doesn’t particularly like narrow, curvy roads on steep mountainsides. There was even an unlit one-lane tunnel that looked like it had been hand dug many years ago, wide and high enough for a horse and carriage. Crossing oncoming traffic on a road only wide enough for one car, without any guard railing, on a hang was harrowing, we didn’t do that. The one car that overtook us could only have been a local or someone with a death wish. When we finally got there in one piece I let out a huge sigh of relief. I was glad I wasn’t driving and that there was no snow on the roads to make the conditions worse.
Once there, we were treated to a beautiful, isolated village and a wonderful birthday party. After the festivities, a good night’s sleep and a huge breakfast we took a deep breath and drove back home. Luckily I took some pictures because I doubt that I will get there again anytime soon. Truly the middle of nowhere.
Fun Facts Comparing Berne, Lengnau and Binn
| Location | Population | Area (km2)1 | Density (people/km2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berne | 136,207 | 51.6 | 2,655 |
| Lengnau | ~5,700 | ~7.3 | ~770 |
| Binn | 127 | 65.0 2 | 2.3 – 2.32 |
1The area is the total municipal area and not just the core of the place where the houses and buildings are.
2 Binn’s area usage breaks down as follows (2011)
Agricultural: 25.7%
Forested: 16.9%
Settled (buildings/roads): 0.4%
Unproductive (rocks/glaciers): 57.0%
In an Ironic Twist
A couple of years ago my in-laws who live in densely populated Berne decided that they wanted and needed a place they could escape to so they could chill and tank some peace and quiet. After what didn’t seem like any time at all to me, they decided the best place in the world would be to rent an apartment in a tiny place in the Alps, surrounded by peace, quiet and nature.
You guessed it, they now have a ‘vacation apartment’ in truly the middle of nowhere, Binn. They escape there quite often driving the 2 ½ to 3 hours to get there and sometimes taking the train and bus to get there in 3 to 4 hours.
I must admit, although the length of time to get there seems immense for Swiss standards, they are happy with their decision and are reaping in the peace, quiet and nature. Welcome to the middle of nowhere, we love it too.
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