<p>Reconstructing Oligocene-Miocene paleoelevation contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary history of the European Alps and sheds light on geodynamic and Earth’s surface processes involved in the development of Alpine topography. Despite being one of the most intensively explored mountain ranges worldwide, constraints on the elevation history of the European Alps, however, remain scarce. Here we present stable and clumped isotope geochemistry measurements to provide a new paleoelevation estimate for the mid-Miocene (~14.5 Ma) European Central Alps. We apply stable isotope δ-δ paleoaltimetry on near sea level pedogenic carbonate oxygen isotope (δ<sup>18</sup>O) records from the Northern Alpine Foreland Basin (Swiss Molasse Basin) and high-Alpine phyllosilicate hydrogen isotope (δD) records from the Simplon Fault Zone (Swiss Alps). We further explore Miocene paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental conditions in the Swiss Molasse Basin through carbonate stable (δ<sup>18</sup>O, δ<sup>13</sup>C) and clumped (Δ<sub>47</sub>) isotope data from three foreland basin sections in different alluvial megafan settings (proximal, mid-fan, and distal). Combined pedogenic carbonate δ<sup>18</sup>O values and Δ<sub>47</sub> temperatures (30 ± 5 °C) yield a near sea level precipitation δ<sup>18</sup>O<sub>w</sub> value of −5.8 ± 0.2 ‰ and in conjunction with the high-Alpine phyllosilicate δD record suggest that the region surrounding the SFZ attained surface elevations of > 4000 m no later than the mid-Miocene. Our near sea level δ<sup>18</sup>O<sub>w</sub> estimate is supported by paleoclimate (iGCM Echam5-wiso) modeled δ<sup>18</sup>O values, which vary between −4.2 and −7.6 ‰ for the Northern Alpine Foreland Basin.</p>