Upper Engadine

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The Upper Engadine Lake District: Silvaplana (front) and Silsersee (back), on the right the foothills of the Champfèrersee

The Upper Engadin ( Romansh in the idiom Puter Romansh Engiadin'Ota ? / I , formerly Engiadina Sura ) is a high alpine valley in the canton of Graubünden . Audio file / audio sample

geography

The valley forms the south-western half of the Engadine , which is separated from the Lower Engadine by the Punt Ota (= high bridge) between Cinuos-chel and Brail . The district of the same name is largely congruent with the region . The political border to the Bergell district runs through Lake Sils .

Lakes

The Inn flows through the valley . A scenic feature are the lakes in the so-called Engadine Lake District with Lake Sils , Lake Silvaplana , Lej da Champfèr and Lake St. Moritz . Swiss pine , larch forests and glaciers as well as the altitude of 1'600- 1800  m above sea level. M. determine the climate. The green meadows in the valley are surrounded on both sides by snow-capped mountains. The slopes of the southern mountains are covered with coniferous forests; alpine meadows extend above this, the boundaries of which are clearly visible on the slopes.

Passports

The Oberengadin is through the Berninapass with the Puschlav ( Val Poschiavo ) through which Malojapass with the Bergell ( Val Bregaglia ) through which Julierpass with the Oberhalbstein ( Surses ) and through the Albulapass with the Albulatal ( Val d'Alvra connected).

places

In a direction from southwest to northeast and with a falling height:

meteorology

The Upper Engadin is exposed to two wind currents, the Maloja wind and the Brüscha .

languages

The traditional language throughout the Upper Engadin is the turkey, with the exception of the Italian-speaking Maloja (where the Bergell dialect, Bargaiot, is at home). With the advent of tourism , German and Italian have become increasingly influential.

In St. Moritz, Madulain and Pontresina, German is the only official language; in the rest of the Upper Engadin, Puter and German share this function.

The school language, however, is largely Romansh. Samedan, Pontresina and Bever run bilingual German-Romance school communities, St. Moritz is also German-speaking here, with Romansh as the first foreign language.

regional customs

The Schlittedas take place in January and early February, and the Chalanda Marz festival in early March .

history

antiquity

The source of St. Moritz is also dated from the Middle Bronze Age, and the Breno culture is documented for the region from Zernez to St. Moritz .

15 BC The Engadine was incorporated into the Roman Empire as part of the province of Raetia because Rome needed the passports to Germania . Finds along the Roman roads testify to their importance, and Raetia benefited from the Roman expansion of the connecting roads into the early Middle Ages. After the end of the Roman Empire, the Engadine and Raetia became part of the Ostrogoth Empire, and in 536 it fell to the Franks. The temporal and spiritual dominion was from the 7th century in the hands of the noble house of Zacconen which also victorids were called.

middle Ages

In 806 the province was divided into upper and lower councils by Charlemagne , the Engadin became part of upper councils . In 916 the Upper Engadine fell to the Duchy of Swabia , but it also had its own counts. Count Dedalrich sold his land to the diocese of Chur in 1139 , from which the Upper Engadin could only buy their way out in 1494. In the High Middle Ages, the Bishop of Chur was able to expand his influence in the Upper Engadin thanks to donations and privileges. In 1137 and 1139 he bought the goods of the Counts of Gamertingen between Punt Ota and St. Moritz and thus became the most powerful ruler of the region. The Upper Engadine had been part of the Church of God since 1367, but limited self-administration was still possible. The political beneficiaries were the episcopal ministers from the Planta family , whose rise began after 1250. The Salis family from Samedan also played an important role. In 1438 the region was divided into two parts around the former settlement of Las Agnas into the judicial communities Sur (= above ) and Suot (= below ) Funtauna Merla , which took account of the rivalry between Samedan and Zuoz. Individual settlements joined together to form neighborhoods, such as the Chantuns Sils and Fex in 1477. From 1526 episcopal rights were bought out, and common property was divided up from 1538 to 1543.

Reformation and modern times

From 1534, the Landammann Johann Travers from Zuoz had biblical plays with spiritual content performed for the first time in Romansh, which had a great impact on the population. From 1550 to 1577 the Upper Engadin adopted the reformed creed. From 1552 to 1562 the two reformers Jachiam Tütschett Bifrun and Ulrich Campell created the Rhaeto-Romanic written language with Bible translations. Several printing companies named Saluz, Dorta, Gadina and Janett then promoted an independent and stimulated intellectual life.

From 1798–1800 the Engadin was the scene of fighting between the French and Austrians. Since 1851 the Engadin has been divided into the districts of Inn and Maloja with the districts of Upper Engadin, Obtasna, Untertasna and Ramosch.

In economic terms, mountain agriculture has always been oriented towards northern Italy . The export of large cattle, small cattle, other agricultural products, wood and ore financed the imports such as grain, wine and salt. In modern times, the temporary emigrants, the randulins , who enjoyed lucrative privileges as Engadin confectioners in Venice from 1603 to 1766 , contributed significantly to the growing prosperity. After Venice terminated the contract, many Engadines emigrated to other Italian cities and other European centers.

In 1820–1840 the Obere Strasse was built over the Julier Pass and the Malojapass , and the Talstrasse was created in 1845–1872. The opening of the Gotthard tunnel in 1882 caused the transit traffic with stagecoaches and the associated income from the mule-line crossing the Graubünden passes to collapse. This gap was gradually compensated by the emergence of drinking, spa treatment and alpine tourism after 1850.

1903–1913 the Albula Railway of the Rhaetian Railway was built as a connection to the Upper Engadin and further stimulated tourism. World War I quickly ended the golden age of grand hotels. The economic crisis after 1929 destroyed more tourism jobs. From 1925 the road network for automobiles was expanded, and in 1938 the airfield in Samedan was initially built as a military airfield. The development with cable cars and ski lifts caused winter tourism to increase sharply from 1945, and the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948 attracted worldwide publicity. The first expansion phase of hydropower was completed in 1932 without affecting the lakes in the Upper Engadine. From 1954 further projects of the Engadin power plants were realized, the Punt dal Gall and Livigno dams were the largest structures. The existing road crossing of the Albula Pass is closed during the winter months; only the Julier Pass can be used all year round, except in snowy winters.

See also

Trivia

The Upper Engadine lakes were part of the “ The Blue Wonder ” project by Ernst Camichel Bromeis .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Constant Wieser: Travers, Johann. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ^ Ottavio Clavuot: Bifrun, Jachiam. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  3. ^ Conradin Bonorand: Campell, Ulrich [ Duri Champell]. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  4. ^ Ottavio Clavuot: Engadin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .