Fimber Pass

Fimber Pass - Cuolmen d'Fenga
The Fimber Pass seen from the Ritzenjoch, the Heidelberger Hut at the bottom left
Compass direction	northwest	Southeast
Pass height	2609  m above sea level M.
Canton	Graubünden Switzerland
Watershed	Fimbabach → Trisanna → Sanna → Inn	Aua Chöglias → Brancla → Inn (En)
Valley locations	Ischgl , Gem. Ischgl	Ramosch (Remus) , Gem. Valsot
expansion	trail
Mountains	Samnaun group (NE, to the map ) Silvretta (SW, map below )
particularities	Historical connection route
map
Coordinates	816 324  /  197 827 coordinates: 46 ° 53 '47 "  N , 10 ° 16' 41"  O ; CH1903:  eight hundred and sixteen thousand three hundred twenty-four  /  197827

The Fimberpass , Romansh Cuolmen d'Fenga , is a 2,609  m above sea level. M. high pass, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden , which connects the Lower Engadine with the Tyrolean Paznaun and separates the Silvretta from the Samnaun group .

Location and landscape

The Fimberpass connects the Fimbatal (Fimbertal, Val Fenga) , a southern side valley of the Paznaun, and the Val Chöglias and Val Sinestra , a northern side valley of the Engadine . The stream to the north is the Fimbabach (Aua da Fenga) , the stream to the south is the Aua Chöglias .

The pass lies east of the Fluchthorn , in the ridge between Piz Tasna  ( 3179  m above sea level ) at the head of the Fimba valley to the south, and Piz Val Gronda  ( 2812  m above sea level ), across which the state border runs, to the north, i.e. in the Fimba valley on the orographically right side of the valley. As a result, the general route direction south – north turns here to east – west. The summit directly to the south is Piz Mottana  ( 2898  m above sea level ). To the north is the stock of Ils Calchogns  ( 2792  m above sea level ), where to Piz Davo Sassè with the Pass dal Gips  ( 2590  m above sea level ) there is another transition between the two valleys. From the Fimber Pass, head north-east towards Switzerland before the valley path turns south again at Alp Chöglias.

Along with the Schlappiner Joch, the pass is one of the few good crossings over the Rätikon - Silvretta - Samnaun -Kamm (the historic Verwall Alps ), and belongs to the Fimbatal - Val Sinestra line, on which the two are delimited.

History and Development

Excavations in the Fimbatal have proven an alpine settlement from the first millennium BC, but it is assumed that the pass had been in use since the Bronze Age or even the Neolithic Age. Remnants of an old path are also preserved in the rear Val Chöglias. The actually lower Pass dal Gips is very impassable to the Alp Chöglias and is hardly used to this day.

The Samnaun, which is turned over against the Inn Valley by the Trisanna Gorge, was settled around 1000 years ago by Rhaeto-Romans from the Engadine and again in the 13th century by the western Swiss Walsers . It belonged to the Engadine for a long time, both legally and ecclesiastically. St. Peter zu Sins (Sent) was the mother church until the 15th century, and the dead had to be taken there for burial. Since the Paznaun was a very poor area, Ischgl received the privilege of duty-free cattle exports and grain imports from Prince Siegmund in 1460 , and in 1505 also the right to toll on the Fimber Pass. Mainly goats were herded in one direction and staple food in the other on pack animals.

The originally Tyrol belonging Austrian court Lower Engadine was Calvinist, and came under the contract of the Three Leagues with Austria at the Peace of Westphalia in 1652 to the Swiss Confederation. The Engadine communities bought themselves free, and also kept pasture grounds in the rear of the Fimbatal, which is therefore part of Switzerland today. As a result, trade largely came to a standstill because during the little "Ice Age" in Paznaun, the income was no longer even enough for personal use. The Engadines wrote about the Walsers as "the people from these wild valleys in the north" in 1794.

The pass was also of military importance. On July 29, 1622, 28 companies of imperial troops marched in the confusion of Graubünden on a retaliation mission for the Prättigau pillage in Galtür in the Engadine. On April 22, 1799, during the First Napoleonic War, Field Marshal Bellegarde's campaign against General Lecourbe , who had holed up in the Engadine , pulled a detachment of Tyrolean riflemen (about two battalions) across the pass, got involved in fighting in Remüs and - because it was snowed was isolated - worn out. During the offensive on April 30, the entire right wing of the army crossed the Fimber Pass. This campaign was ultimately successful in the Battle of Zurich in June.

In 1889 the area was opened up for tourism with the Heidelberger Hütte . While the front Fimbatal is today characterized by the Silvretta Arena ski area , the rear Fimbatal and Val Sinestra are largely natural.

Web links

Commons : Fimberpass  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} SwissTopo (maps of Switzerland)
2. ↑ Heidi's ancestors. in: Der Spiegel . Hamburg 2009, 34, 111. ISSN  0038-7452
3. ^ Oldest alpine hut in Switzerland. In: Epoc. June 5, 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2009 . 
4. ↑ In detail, for example, Thomas Reitmaier: Last hunters, first shepherds. High alpine archeology in the Silvretta . Südostschweiz Buchverlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-906064-05-5 .
5. ↑ Fimberpass = Cuolmen Fenga . In Untervazer Burgenverein Untervaz: Texts on the village history of Untervaz - reading aid and glossary for documents and minutes: Explanation of unusual historical expressions; Subject index and person index. on A., p. 129 ( pdf, 3.3 MB , burgenverein-untervaz.ch)
6. ^ Community of Ischgl: Districts and churches : On the parish history of Ischgl , both ischgl.tirol.gv.at.
7. ^ ^{A b c} Walter Köck: History of Galtür: Gloss and Not in the History of Galtür. ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Chronology, online at galtuer.gv.at), there entries 1505, 1622 and 1794.  
8. ↑ H. Zähringer: The Mountain War in Switzerland 1798 and 1799. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Alpine Club, 8th year, 1872–73, p. 440 f. (full article pp. 411–490; online archive.org ).