Fondei
The Fondei is a 10 km long high valley in the former municipality of Langwies in the Swiss canton of Graubünden . It branches off from Schanfigg at Langwies and extends in a north-easterly direction up to the Durannapass . The Fondei has been part of the Arosa municipality since the beginning of 2013 .
Historical overview and development
The Fondei, like the neighboring Sapün and Medergen, was originally an alpine area in the hinterland of the Romanesque Peist , but German-speaking Walsers settled from Davos in the 14th century . In 1370 there were 24 families in the Fondei who paid interest to the Chur cathedral chapter. Until the church in Langwies Platz was built in 1384, the Fondeier attended the service in the St. Peter's Talk Church , where Romansh was spoken. The deceased were also to be buried there. The route over the Blackter Fürggli (middle Meniweg) was used. The Fondei belonged to the Langwies judicial community, which was constituted around 1400. The main settlement is Strassberg , which was inhabited all year round until the beginning of the 20th century and had its own school until 1903.
Only the Casanna ski hut, which has been run as a family business in the third generation since 1934, is inhabited all year round. The valley was never connected to an electricity network. The only visible sign of newer technology, apart from the vehicles present, is a telephone line to Strassberg. Strassberg can be reached via a road from Langwies (since 1887) or via the Schanfigger Höhenweg / Walserweg Graubünden . A footpath that can be used with mountain bikes leads on over the Durannapass to Fideris .
The influential family Sprecher von Bernegg came from the Fondei with their best-known representative Theophil Sprecher von Bernegg .
The Parsenn-Fondei ski area
After the construction of a ski lift from Langwies to Pirigen and from there on to Mattjisch Horn (Mattlishorn) had already been examined together with AG Aroser Verkehrsbetriebe (AVB, today: Arosa Bergbahnen ), the company Skilift Parsenn -Fondei AG was established in Schiers in 1963 founded. In the summer of 1963, it built two large ski lifts near the Barga in Innerfondei (item 1994): One was built by the Gerhard Müller company from Dietlikon and led in a north-westerly direction to the Strassberger Fürggli (item 2308). The valley station, a bunker-like, futuristic-looking concrete structure was located directly at the Barger Alp buildings.
The second, longer lift was built by the Zurich company Skima in collaboration with the cable car designer Theodor Brunner ( TEBRU ). This 2.3 km long system had 25 portal supports and led under the Reckholders in an easterly direction to the Kreuzweg near the Parsennfurgga, with which the cable car connection to the Davos ski area Parsenn was established. The uneven topography made some alignment work necessary. The mountain station was north of point 2365 on the ridge, the valley station was a little southeast on the left side of the Fondeierbach.
The two lifts, which were operated with diesel fuel due to a lack of electrification , were part of a large-scale expansion project in the Prättigau, Fideriser Heuberge , Schanfigg and Davos area, which, however, could never be fully implemented. However, due to the lack of access from Langwies and the possibility of a collective agreement with the Parsennbahnen, the company soon faced major difficulties and had to file for bankruptcy in 1967 after only four winter seasons; the machine park was auctioned.
As a result, a Zurich interest group tried briefly to continue the operation of the Kreuzweg ski lift through the Parsenn-Barga-Kreuzweg Aktiengesellschaft ski lift, which was founded on December 1, 1969 . The plan failed and the company went bankrupt on September 10, 1970. The operating license for the two ski lifts finally expired in 1981, but the systems remained in place.
In 1993, the then cable car company von Roll removed the suspension ropes of the Strassberger Fürggli ski lift at the request of the Langwies municipal council. In the summer of 1996, von Roll also dismantled all of the lift supports, without issuing an official demolition order. At the end of June 2002, the rescue company IV / 35 of the Swiss Army razed the three lift buildings at the Barga in a goodwill campaign. The valley station of the Strassberger Fürggli ski lift was destroyed on July 23, 2002 at 9:30 p.m. with 40 kg of explosives. The reinforcement bars were removed, but the cement parts were crushed, dug in on the spot and covered with a layer of earth. In total, around 360 cubic meters of concrete were used to build the ski lifts.
In summer 2011, the concrete pillar at the Kreuzweg mountain station was voluntarily dismantled by Davos Klosters Bergbahnen . Until recently - in addition to individual column foundations - the concrete pillar and the former service building on the Strassberger Fürggli existed. At the initiative of Mountain Wilderness , the board of the local community Fideris thought about removing these structures, which was finally implemented in summer 2019 in cooperation with the community of Arosa. The concrete pillar was razed and the service building was replaced by a newly built wooden shelter.
Barga moorland and Parsenn 2000 project
As part of a new cantonal structure plan , the feasibility of a ski area connection between Schanfigg and Davos via Fondei-Barga was examined again in 1981. In 1991 the Barga bog area was included in the federal inventory of raised bogs of national importance . In 1996 the Parsennbahnen bought the Berghaus Fideriser Heuberge and planned a connection between Parsenn and Heuberge via the inner Fondei under the name "Parsenn 2000". This project to develop Fondei and Heubergen would be a first step towards the incorporation of the Fideriser Heuberge and thus - via Arflina Furgga / Schanfigger Bergwiesen / Mattjisch Horn - possibly also the Hochwang -St ski area . Peter to the Davos ski area.
In addition to chairlifts, a restaurant and a machine hall should be located on the barga floor . The Parsennbahnen could have expanded the area of their ski area from 284 hectares to 615 hectares. However, an ad hoc working group "For ds Fondei", together with some environmental protection associations, vehemently opposed these plans: The reduction of the moorland made by the Federal Council - and thus the enlargement of the Langwieser winter sports zone in Innerfondei - was rejected by 67 to 60 votes . The project was therefore initially blocked. As early as 1998, however, the Langwies community approved a new winter sports zone with a corridor in the Barga moorland . This despite the fact that the Federal Council - albeit against the resistance of the Graubünden government - had just placed the moor in the Triemel-Cunggel (Hochwang) area under protection. In the foreground were the economic considerations of the mountain village plagued by emigration and financial scarcity; In addition, with the implementation of the project around a dozen jobs could have been created for Langwies (albeit without direct winter access from the site).
Almost half of the Langwies community continued to support their concerns: Pro Natura , the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), the Academic Alpine Club Zurich (which has a hut in the Fondei), the Swiss Landscape Protection Foundation and the WWF lodged a complaint at the Graubünden government against the new zoning regulations. The associations questioned the mapping of the moors. In her opinion, the borders ran partly through the middle of the moors, in such a way that a corridor remained open for the ski area. In 2000 the government rejected the associations' complaint. In the meantime, the Parsennbahnen had withdrawn from their expansion plans for economic reasons. The proceedings continued, however, and the associations took the government decision to the Graubünden Administrative Court. They demanded that an independent moor protection expert take care of the matter and redefine the demarcation of the moor landscape. The alleged corridor is also part of the landscape to be protected according to the federal constitution . After an on-site inspection, on July 12, 2001, the administrative court finally found the opponents of the project to be right. The relaunch of such a project is practically impossible in the near future.
Todays situation
The Fondei only cultivates gentle tourism . The family business of the Casanna ski hut is available to visitors as an accommodation facility, as is the Strassberg mountain inn in summer. In the summer, there are regular Walser cultural tours in the Fondei, mostly including the cheese dairy in the old Strassberg dairy from 1883.
With the 5 Alps and the high-yielding hay meadows, local agriculture is still dependent on the Fondei today. Because of the deforestation that took place in the past, there is a risk of avalanches in parts of the area, but most of the valley is above the tree line anyway.
swell
- Hans Mettier-Heinrich: The high valley Fondei: To the history of a Walser settlement. 2nd, expanded edition. Langwies / Davos 2011.
- Irene Schuler: Walserweg Graubünden. In 19 stages from the Hinterrhein to the Rätikon. Rotpunktverlag , Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-85869-421-8 , p. 262 ff.
- Alpine hiking Graubünden North. 1st edition. SAC-Verlag, Bern 2008, p. 313 ff.
- From the struggle for survival of a village in Graubünden: environmental groups and four women against ski facilities in a high valley. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. (NZZ) October 11, 2008.
- Hans Danuser : Arosa - as it was back then (1996–2003). Volume 7, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2004, pp. 16, 41, 55.
- Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was back then (1979–1995). Volume 6, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2002, p. 42.
- Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was back then (1962–1978). Volume 5, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2001, p. 95.
- Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was back then (1947–1961). Volume 4, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2000, p. 96.
- Hans Danuser, Walser Association Graubünden (ed.): Old ways in Schanfigg. Verlag Walser-Vereinigung Graubünden, Splügen 1997, p. 55 ff.
- Beat Fischer: 500 years of Bergkirchli Arosa (with many references to local history). Self-published by Beat Fischer, Chur 1992, p. 10 ff.
- Paul Zinsli : Walser Volkstum. 6th edition. Verlag Bündner Monatsblatt, Chur 1991, ISBN 3-905241-17-X , pp. 34, 243, 326, 336, 380.
- Albert Frigg: The Protestant Valley Church of St. Peter in Schanfigg - A Chronicle. Self-published by Frigg, St. Peter 1989.
- Hans Danuser, Ruedi Homberger: Arosa and the Schanfigg. Self-published by Danuser / Homberger, Arosa 1988, p. 150 f.
- Fritz Maron, Ferdinand Zai: The old Eggahaus in Arosa - a local museum for the Schanfigg valley. Self-published Association for Nature Conservation and Local Lore Arosa, Arosa around 1930.
- Aroser Newspaper . March 18, 2016, p. 17.
Web links
- Jürg Simonett: Fondei. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Langwies.ch: history
- "For ds Fondei" working group website ( Memento from July 9, 2016 in the web archive archive.today )
- Website zalp.ch with information on the Parsenn 2000 ski area project
- Geocache website with information and pictures from 1987 about the Fondei ski lifts
Individual evidence
- ^ Obligation of the Skilift Parsenn-Fondei AG from October 31, 1963. (No longer available online.) In: www.ricardo.ch. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016 ; Retrieved July 9, 2016 . 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.
- ^ Postcard from Fondei Barga with the ski lifts in winter. In: www.delcampe.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Fondei Barga with the valley stations of the two ski lifts to the left and right of the alpine buildings. In: www.amazonaws.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Strassberger Fürggli ski lift towards the valley station at the Barga. In: www.amazonaws.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Kreuzweg ski lift, view from the mountain station towards Innerfondei. In: www.amazonaws.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Overview of expansion plans for the Schanfigg, Prättigau, Davos ski areas. In: www.amazonaws.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Share certificate of the Parsenn-Barga-Kreuzweg Aktiengesellschaft dated December 1, 1969 with technical information on the ski lift. (No longer available online.) In: www.ricardo.ch. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016 ; Retrieved July 9, 2016 . 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.
- ↑ Internet excerpt - Commercial Register of the Canton of Zurich regarding the Parsenn-Barga-Kreuzweg Aktiengesellschaft in liquidation. (No longer available online.) In: www.powernet.ch. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 9, 2016 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Aroser Zeitung March 18, 2016, p. 17.
- ↑ Aroser Zeitung October 25, 2019, p. 21.
