Morteratsch (Pontresina)
.jpg)
Morteratsch is a place at 1894 m above sea level. M. at the transition from the Morteratschtal to the Berninatal and belongs to the municipality of Pontresina in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland .
geography
The place is located at the northern exit of the Morteratschtal , which is only so called by the glacier retreat , at the confluence of the Bernina Bach ( Ova da Berninas ) and the Ova da Morteratsch . In the 19th century, this area was still referred to as Alp Nova on national maps. At the valley crossing there is a Bernina Railway station , a hotel / restaurant and a Repower AG power station.
According to the official post office directory, Morteratsch had its own post office from August 1, 1909 to January 1, 1978.
In 1857 the glacier tongue of the Morteratsch Glacier was about 100 meters from the Morteratsch railway station of the Rhaetian Railway , which was built later . At the beginning of the 20th century, the glacier tongue had only retreated a few hundred meters from the Bernina Railway station and the Hotel Morteratsch. Already a good two kilometers today.
The Morteratsch and Pers glaciers as well as the three-thousand-meter peaks Munt Pers , Piz Cambrena , Piz Palü , Piz Zupò , Piz Argient , Piz Bernina (4049 m), Piz Morteratsch , Piz Boval and Piz Chalchagn can be reached from the car parks or the power plant / hotel .
Origin of name
The name Morteratsch is explained based on the Swiss legend: The Virgin of Morteratsch . The rich farmer's daughter Annetta and the cattle keeper Aratsch are said to have fallen in love, but their parents forbade the relationship unless Aratsch became wealthy in the near future. Aratsch went abroad as a soldier, but his bride died of grief before he returned. Then he should have ridden up to the alp and let his horse jump into a gorge in the glacier behind. The girl's ghost then wandered around the alp several times and the herdsmen are said to have heard her complain: "Mort Aratsch" (German: Aratsch has died). One of the herding boys noticed the phenomenon, whereupon the cows gave more milk and hardly any head of cattle died. His successor, however, referred the spirit of Annetta from the Alp, whereupon he uttered a curse out of a thunderstorm: "Schmaladida saja quaist 'alp e sia pas-chüra!" (German: Cursed be this alp). After that the meadows became deserted and the alp was abandoned. Later the glacier expanded further and covered the mountain Munt Pers (German: lost mountain).
The saga is also available in another version.
Infrastructure
railway station
The station of the Bernina Railway of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) is a simple, massive, single-storey functional structure made of concrete, steel and wooden cladding. The train station is only about 20 meters from the Hotel / Restaurant Morteratsch.
hotel
In 1875 the mountain guide Valetin Kessler († 1904) opened a stall on Morteratschstrasse - halfway to Morteratsch - and one year later near Morteratsch. In 1877 he built accommodation for his family and guests and a kiosk near the present hotel. With the construction of the Bernina Railway (opened in 1908), the accommodation was expanded from 1905 to 1910 and now has seven guest rooms. In 1949 the hotel was bought by Chaspar Arquint from Tarasp and expanded in the early 1960s. In 1983 the hotel was taken over by Hans Bertschinger and further investments were made. The hotel has been owned by Hotel Morteratsch AG since 1992 and the hotel has been extensively renovated.
Show dairy
There is an Alpine cheese dairy close to the Morteratsch train station and the hotel, where cheese is made open to the public every day in summer.
campsite
The campsite area of the Morteratsch campsite is located a little over 1200 meters from the train station / hotel in the direction of Pontresina and covers around 1 square kilometer , of which a considerable proportion is water or a nature reserve .
There are 250 parking spaces in summer and 150 in winter. According to the operator, the Morteratsch campsite is the highest located, year-round campsite in Europe .
power plant
The Morteratsch power plant is the oldest existing facility in the Repower power plant portfolio. The power plant was first put into operation in 1891 and goes back to the initiative of local hoteliers and traders. In 1968 the power plant was extensively modernized.
The first concession for the use of hydropower on the Bernina Bach by the Morteratsch power plant is based on an agreement between Repower Klosters, the political municipality of Pontresina and the civil municipality of Pontresina on January 14th / 26th. April 1965. This concession ends on December 31, 2013 and the municipality has waived the repayment of the facilities against payment of a fee until the end of the renewed concession in 2077.
The current power plant at the upper Morteratsch car park was largely rebuilt by Repower AG at the same location as the old power plant by summer 2017 . The power plant center was expanded, the water intake renewed and the pressure line enlarged. The investment costs amounted to around 10,000,000 francs. The new system is far more efficient, the expansion water volume has been increased from 0.55 m³ / s to 1.5 m³ / s and the installed electrical output from 0.57 megawatts to 1.6 megawatts, thus the average annual energy production of 3, 6 to 7.0 gigawatts . The water catchment (drainage from the Bernina stream) is still located near Berninastrasse ( Plattas parcel ) and the water is led to the power plant in a 760 meter long pressure pipe and discharged again at the Morteratsch car park.
The operator of the power plant is the newly founded company: Kraftwerk Morteratsch AG .
Technical data power plant
- Gross head: 130 meters
- maximum amount of water discharged: 1500 liters / second
- Turbine: a Pelton turbine
- Generator output: 1.6 megawatts
- Annual energy production: 7 gigawatt hours
Electric vehicle charging station
There are two charging stations for electric vehicles with an output of 11 kW each directly at the power station.
Personalities
When the retreat of the glacier at the beginning of the 20th century created an ice grotto that was electrically lit, Kaiser Wilhelm (1859–1941), the Russian Crown Prince and others visited Morteratsch. Scenes from the film The White Hell from Piz Palü by Arnold Fanck and Georg Wilhelm Pabst (1929) were shot in Morteratsch .
literature
- Max Maisch, Conradin A. Burga, Peter Fitze: Lively Glacier Foreland - Guide and accompanying book for the Morteratsch glacier nature trail. Engadin-Press AG, Samedan 1999.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Morteratsch (continued) , website Berninabahn.ch, last accessed on 23 September 2018.
- ↑ Max Maisch: Lively Glacier Foreland . P. 12.
- ↑ The Virgin from Morteratsch. (PDF) kiknet.ch, archived from the original on March 2, 2016 ; accessed on July 31, 2015 .
- ↑ The Virgin from Morteratsch. Mutabor Märchenstiftung, accessed on March 24, 2017 .
- ↑ Together with Anton Colani, Christian Klucker and Christian Grass, he conquered Piz Bernina over the Biancograt in the first ascent in winter .
- ↑ Commercial register number CHE-350.300.409.46.
- ↑ a b Information according to the public notice in Hotel Morteratsch.
- ↑ Bernina Glaciers , website bernina-glaciers.ch, last accessed on 23 September 2018.
- ↑ Brochure in German and English , website camping-morteratsch.ch, last accessed on 23 September 2018.
- ↑ Repower AG holds 10 percent of the share capital and 35.7 percent of the voting rights in Kraftwerk Morteratsch AG [1] .
- ^ Marie-Claire Jur: New concession for the Morteratsch power plant , Engadiner Post from May 1, 2014.
- ↑ Morteratsch (continued) , website Berninabahn.ch, last accessed on 23 September 2018.
- ↑ Contracts for renunciation of reversal and new concession for the Morteratsch power plant , submission to the municipal meeting on April 28, 2014.
- ^ Marie-Claire Jur: New concession for the Morteratsch power plant , Engadiner Post from May 1, 2014.
- ↑ Morteratsch power plant can be refurbished , website suedostschweiz.ch of March 30, 2016.
- ^ Marie-Claire Jur: New concession for the Morteratsch power plant , Engadiner Post from May 1, 2014.
- ↑ Headquarters in Pontresina, commercial register number: CHE-197.051.007.
- ↑ Morteratsch power plant , website repower.com.
- ↑ All power plants in Graubünden , website of the Office for Energy and Transport Graubünden, as of January 1, 2018.
Coordinates: 46 ° 27 ' N , 9 ° 56' E ; CH1903: seven hundred ninety-two thousand one hundred and forty-five / 147,511