At which waterfall does Sherlock Holmes confront Professor Moriarty?

Sherlock Holmes confronts Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls.

The encounter occurs in “The Final Problem,” in which Holmes travels through Europe while trying to escape Moriarty’s criminal organization. At the falls, Holmes and Moriarty struggle beside the precipice. Watson arrives too late to witness the confrontation directly and finds signs that both men have gone over the edge.

The story was published in 1893 and was intended by Doyle to end Holmes’s adventures. Public demand eventually led Doyle to revive the detective, beginning with “The Adventure of the Empty House” in 1903. Holmes explains that he survived by using a climbing technique and allowing Moriarty to fall.

Reichenbach Falls is a real waterfall near Meiringen in the Swiss canton of Bern. The location became permanently linked with Holmes, even though the fictional account and real geography are not identical in every detail. The site now has a Holmes museum and a monument commemorating the literary connection.