Obersee (Arosa)
| Obersee | ||
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| The Obersee looking south-west. In the background the mountains Schafrügg , Erzhorn and Rothorn . On the right the wooded eastern slope of the Tschuggen . On the right bank the Posthotel, the train station of the Chur-Arosa-Bahn and the valley station of the Weisshornbahn . | ||
| Geographical location | Arosa ( Schanfigg , Canton of Graubünden , Switzerland ) | |
| Tributaries | Tomelibach | |
| Drain | Mittelbach via Untersee to Plessur | |
| Places on the shore | Arosa | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 771 244 / 183930 | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 1734 m above sea level M. | |
| surface | 7.1 ha | |
| volume | 521,000 m³ | |
| Maximum depth | 13 m | |
| Middle deep | 7.3 m | |
The Obersee is a mountain lake located at 1734 m in Arosa in the Swiss canton of Graubünden .
Location and description
The Obersee is the larger and the one higher up of the two lakes in the middle of the Arosa settlement area. Its name is derived from this fact. The sister lake at 1691 m is the Untersee , with which it is directly connected via the Mittelbach. The Arosa reservoir lies around 130 meters lower in the valley floor and the Schwarzsee 400 meters east . Before the development of Arosa from a mountain farming village to a health resort , which began in the second half of the 19th century, the Obersee was also known as the Upper Chureralpsee . It is owned by the Chur community .
Geology and formation
Like most of the more than 20 Arosa lakes and ponds, the Obersee was probably created in connection with the deeper incision of the younger Plessur ; the main morphological phenomena are a series of sagging and prehistoric landslides. The geological structure is extremely complex and can hardly be disentangled. The Obersee is a stepped lake that borders the basin on the south side on a densely packed moraine wall. Natural forces that formed the soil and the deposits of a local glacier formed a typical glacial shape here. The moraine lies on the Arosa scale zone , which is composed of dolomite , limestone shale, crystalline scales and serpentine .
history
Much has been written and litigated about the affiliation of the maritime rights of the two Chureralp lakes. Archduke Ferdinand of Austria , the then sovereign of the Arosa, issued a mandate to prohibit fishing in the Arosa lakes as early as 1545, as he had heard that his subjects were doing excessively amicable on the fishing grounds. The authorities of the Davos High Court , to which Arosa belonged, assumed without further ado that they had sovereignty over fishing in their area, and that is why the bylaws of the Davos Landbuch should also apply there. In 1657 part of the Ten-Court League bought itself off from Austria with Arosa . 21,500 guilders were to be paid to the Austrians and 1,000 to the episcopal sovereignty of the diocese of Chur. When the Ten Courts were liberated from foreign rule, the Davos region gave the Arosa Pfrund their share of the sovereign rights in the form of the fishing rights of the two lakes. These ransom sums were difficult to raise by the Ten Courts, which is why the city of Chur advanced money. Since the repayment was not made as requested, an agreement was reached on January 30, 1669, according to which the Arosa Lakes (Upper and Lower Lakes) were transferred to Chur against a charge of 800 guilders.
ecology
flora
Until the end of the 19th century, the Obersee was a completely natural body of water. The area was only used for agriculture, mainly as grazing land for the Brown Swiss . For example, the upper part of the Mittelbach at the end of the lake was lined with currant and raspberry bushes. The swampy lake edge zone - popularly known as the "reed quarter" - possessed a wealth of alpine plants. Since then, nature has been strongly influenced by the development of certain parts of the bank, such as Oberseeplatz, the train station and the Oberseepromenade. For example, heather , bog berries, blueberries and gentians have died out in this area. Nevertheless, some near-natural areas have been preserved, so that today there is still a good population of orchis and cuckoo cloves.
fauna
Upper and lower lakes have always been the most productive fishing grounds in a wide area. From the end of the 19th century to 1928, the lakes were leased to private individuals, some of whom operated their own fish farms on the Obersee. Of standing rowing out were with nets about tench fished. The otter was native to the Obersee until around 1910 . In 1938, American brook and European arctic char and rainbow trout were used in large numbers . The minnow is also native to the Obersee. In the early 1970s, a magnificent goldfish was a curiosity on the south bank . As soon as the reeds become ice-free in spring, the carrion crows line up to catch frogs. Pond frogs in particular are preyed on - originally a cross between the sea frog and the little water frog , which also populate the lake shore in large numbers. Other amphibians native to the Obersee are various toads and newts .
Birds
Numerous water and reed birds, such as diving ducks and most of the European swimming ducks , stop at Obersee again and again, be it as migrants or as random visitors . Around 1885 large numbers of mallards , common ducks and pintail were observed, less frequently the coot , the lapwing , the black-headed gull and the common gull . However, only the mallard has become a resident bird . Zwergsteissfüssler ("Zwergtaucherli") swim and dive in the Obersee until November. Swifts , house martins and the long-eared bat can sometimes be seen further .
Leisure, tourism, sport
Nowadays, the function of the Obersee as a recreational and sports area is of paramount importance for the holiday and sports resort of Arosa. The artificial ice rink in the sports and congress center is also operated with its water . From 1957 work was done on installing a fountain in the low-flow lake niche at the Posthotel. In 1966 this was put into operation. Various efforts to buy back the lake from the community of Chur were unsuccessful. That is why Arosa Tourismus still pays the owner an annual sum of several thousand francs for sea lease and fees.
winter
From 1891 the Kurverein Arosa (today: Arosa Tourismus) leased both lakes from the community of Chur and set up an 8000 m² ice rink on the Obersee in winter . For this, around 3500 m³ of snow had to be removed from the ice. Curling , bandy and ice hockey were also played on the lake . Large blocks of ice were also cut from the lake, which were used for the construction of the Arosa-Litzirüti bobsleigh run or supplied as cooling material to local hotels, guest houses and sanatoriums, as well as to foreign breweries. The Arosa horse races on snow and ice have been taking place regularly on the Obersee since 1911 , a specialty that, besides Arosa, is only held in St. Moritz throughout Europe . Greyhound races , golf tournaments and car races were or will be held in winter . In addition, the ice rink serves as a starting area for hot air balloon competitions , running events and a landing area for paragliders , parachutists , delta sailors and helicopters . Between 1911 and 1913 the outlet of the Tomelischanze was on the Obersee . From 1933 to 1936 the Obersee was used in winter as the Arosa airfield , from which the Kurverein carried out post, sightseeing and scheduled flights to Davos, St. Moritz, Lenzerheide , St. Gallen and Zurich with its own aircraft . In the event-free time, the Obersee also serves as a cross-country ski run and walking path.
At the beginning of 2014, the canton of Graubünden granted the municipality of Arosa general approval for the implementation of winter events for a period of 10 years. For events outside the general usage regulations or with a significant impact on the environment, such as driving safety training, a so-called BAB application including an environmental report must be submitted.
In December 2015, when there was little snow, it was possible for the first time since 1988 to set up a public ice rink across practically the entire surface of the Obersee. On this occasion, current players and legends of the EHC Arosa trained together on the lake on December 28th as part of the EHC Arosa Day, and on December 30th an evening ice disco took place on the natural ice surface .
In the early winter of 2016, too, the meteorological conditions favored the formation of black ice , so that the Obersee was again released for corresponding use on December 14, 2016.
summer
In summer the lake is used for fishing, swimming, rowing, sailing and pedal boating . The lake is also suitable for diving , subject to prior approval from Arosa Tourism. The Kurverein Arosa renewed the lake tenancy in 1895 and decided to build a bathing house on both the Upper and Lower Lake. The huts were placed on a grate in the lake and a bridge was built into it until the water was jump-deep. This made it possible to attach a stepping stone . The ladies bathed in the Obersee, the gentlemen on the Untersee. Due to the significantly warmer water in the Untersee, the Obersee was hardly used for swimming after the construction of the new Untersee bathing establishment in 1920. Remnants of the former bathing hut in Obersee can still be found in the lake at the Surlej retirement and nursing home. The traditional Arosa sports relay , which has been held every year in August since 1947, takes place mainly in and around the Obersee, as does the fireworks on the occasion of the Swiss national holiday on August 1st. At the Arosa Triathlon , the swimming course took place in the Obersee. Car and cycle races, such as the international hill climb Arosa ClassicCar , the Tour de Sol , the one-day race in Chur-Arosa or the Tour de Suisse all have their finish area on the Obersee promenade. This also served as the starting area for the international mountain run / half marathon Arosa-Weisshorn. At the fountain in the southwest corner of the lake there has been a permanently installed multimedia water feature for several years , which is shown to the public on certain evenings.
literature
- Pascal Jenny : Starting place Obersee , in: Terra Grischuna 1/2011, pp. 16-19.
- Ernst Rahm: The Arosa Lakes , Arosa printing house, Arosa 1982, pp. 3–6.
- Hans Danuser , Ruedi Homberger: Arosa and the Schanfigg , self-published by Danuser / Homberger, Arosa 1988, pp. 96-105.
- 100 years Kurverein Arosa, 1884-1984 , Kurverein Arosa (Ed.), Arosa 1984, p. 81 ff.
- Fritz Maron: From mountain farming village to world health resort Arosa , Verlag F. Schuler, Chur 1934, pp. 148–154.
Web links
- Webcam Obersee and Arosa train station
- Obersee (Arosa) on schweizersee.ch
Individual evidence
- ↑ Video impression from the greyhound race in Arosa in January 1987 on youtube.com
- ↑ Aroser Zeitung of February 7, 2014, p. 7.
- ↑ Arosa has another attraction. In: Südostschweiz.ch. December 28, 2015, accessed December 29, 2015 .
- ↑ Die Südostschweiz, December 30, 2015, p. 7.
- ↑ Bündner Woche, December 30, 2015, p. 45.
- ↑ Aroser Zeitung of December 31, 2015, p. 1 ff.
- ↑ Little snow, but a lot of ice. In: 20min.ch. December 14, 2016, accessed December 14, 2016 .