About Kandersteg

The Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) is the World Centre of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Lord Baden-Powell founded Scouting in 1907. In 1920, a World Jamboree was held in London, bringing Scouts together from around the world. Baden-Powell was so pleased with the Jamboree that he dreamt about a place where Scouts from all over the world could meet: a Permanent Mini Jamboree.

In 1921 Walther von Bonstetten, the Chief Scout of Switzerland, went on holiday to Kandersteg, a small town in the Bernese Oberland, and found an empty chalet that had been built by the Swiss Railways to house the construction workers for the Lötschberg railway tunnel. In 1913, when the tunnel was finished, the chalet was abandoned by the railway company. Von Bonstetten told Baden-Powell about his find and on April 12, 1923 the chalet and adjacent land were bought and the International Scout Centre was established. It has been in continuous operation ever since.

Troop 1 spent a week at KISC in the summer of 2018 and we are pleased to be organizing a trip again this year. Unfortunately, we were forced to cancel our summer 2020 and summer 2021 trips due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so we are especially excited to plan this trip. A trip to Kandersteg is a life-changing experience that enables our Scouts to meet Scouts from all over the world and experience beautiful parts of Europe.

Our plan is currently for a trip from July 2-13, 2022.

Our group will spend eleven days at the Scout Centre hiking the beautiful mountains around Kandersteg and meeting Scouts from around the world. Some details still have to be worked out but you can see the preliminary itinerary here.

For more information on KISC, visit the Kandersteg International Scout Centre website.