Gürbetal in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 lies between the cities of Bern and Thun

Thun

Thun is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with about 42,136 inhabitants , as of 1 January 2006....

, west of the Aare river. It contains the municipality of Seftigen

Seftigen

Seftigen is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.-Geography:Seftigen has an area of . Of this area, 67.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 16.2% is forested...

 and those that surround it. The valley is named after the Gürbe river which flows through it. The largest town in the Gürbe valley is Belp

Belp

Belp is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is close to Bern's Belp Airport.-Geography:...

. The Gürbe valley and the Aare valley are separated by the Belpberg hill.

The Gürbe valley is anywhere from 1 to 2 kilometers wide. The valley floor is flat and is used intensively for agriculture. Flooding in the valley has been controlled by canals to permit drainage of the surrounding area. This permits orchards and vegetable gardens to grow. Cabbage

Cabbage

Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...

 is the principal crop grown on the rich black valley floor. Sauerkraut from the cabbage is made at processing centers in Burgistein

Burgistein

Burgistein is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.-Geography:Burgistein has an area, , of . Of this area, or 76.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 13.0% is forested...

 and Mühlethurnen

Mühlethurnen

Mühlethurnen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.-Geography:Mühlethurnen has an area of . Of this area, 74.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.5% is forested...

. For this reason, the Gürbe valley is often called "Cabbage Land" (in Swiss-German: Chabisland).