Randa VS

VS is the abbreviation for the canton of Valais in Switzerland and is used to avoid confusion with other entries of the name Randa .

Randa
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Valais (VS)
District :	Visp
BFS no. :	6287
Postal code :	3928
Coordinates :	626 662  /  105478 coordinates: 46 ° 6 '1 "  N , 7 ° 47' 0"  O ; CH1903:  six hundred and twenty-six thousand six hundred sixty-two  /  105478
Height :	1406  m above sea level M.
Height range :	1273–4547 m above sea level M.
Area :	54.53  km²
Residents:	435 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	8 inhabitants per km²
Mayor :	Daniel Roten
Website:	www.randa.ch
Village of Randa in Valais with the Church of Saint Sebastian
Location of the municipality

Randa is a political municipality and a civic community in the Visp district and a parish of the Visp deanery in the German-speaking part of the canton of Valais in Switzerland .

geography

Randa is located on the Matter Vispa between Visp and Zermatt, 9 km away, and is the third highest municipality in the Mattertal . The lowest point in the community is 1270  m above sea level. M. , on the municipal boundary of St. Niklaus . The highest point is the summit of the cathedral at 4545  m above sea level. M. Many hamlets belong to the community.

history

The oldest surviving document that mentions Randa goes back to 1305. Randa means something like edge, border. Until 1552 Randa belonged together with Täsch to the Meiertum Naters , later to the Kastlanei Naters. In 1590 the municipal statutes were established. In 1798 Randa became an independent municipality.

The small mountain village of Randa has been repeatedly hit by natural disasters in the past centuries, for example in 1636, 1720, 1737, 1819 or 1991.

Randa landslide

→ Main article : The Randa landslide

Randa in 2008 from above with the Brunegghorn and the landslide masses of 1991

Matter Vispa near Randa, behind it the landslide masses from spring 1991

The worst catastrophe for Randa was the landslide in 1991. In the early morning of April 18, huge boulders fell into the valley near the Grossgufer ( Valais German for an "accumulation of large boulders"). On May 9th, three weeks later, the mountain slid further and the debris of a total of approx. 33 million m³ (for comparison: volume of the Great Pyramid : 2.5 million m³) buried large parts of the hamlet of Lerch with 33 agricultural buildings and Holiday homes as well as seven horses and 35 sheep, the main road to Täsch and the Brig-Visp-Zermatt railway line . A layer of dust several centimeters high covered the valley. People did not die.

The Matter Vispa, which flows through the valley, was also dammed by the rubble and threatened the place with its masses of water. The water was then passed over the obstacle with electric pumps. After long rains, the village stream with the debris it carried spilled the pumps, which then failed. The lower-lying districts of Randas were flooded on June 16, 1991.

church

Randa is a daughter parish of St. Niklaus . Randa was raised to its own parish in 1730.

The baroque church from 1717 was decorated with wall paintings in 1932 by the wall painter J. Salzgeber. The high altar was created in 1735 by the well-known sculptor Anton Sigristen from Glis .

Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of the parish of Randa . His feast day, January 20th, is a local holiday.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Randa

Sports

The football club FC Randa was founded in 1986. The aim was to take part in the regional mountain village championship (BDM), which has existed since 1984. FC Randa does not play in one of the official leagues of the Swiss Football Association .

Hiking, climbing and mountaineering

There are numerous rock climbing walls in and around Randa, which are very suitable for top rope and lead climbing as well as bouldering .

The Weisshornweg leads from Randa over the Längenflueberg ( 2350  m ) and Guggiberg ( 2222  m ) to the Topalihütte ( 2674  m ) and then over the Wasulicke ( 3114  m ) and the Jungtal ( 2387  m ) to Junge ( 1960  m ). At the Längenflueberg, a hiking trail branches off to the “Kastel” viewpoint ( 2830  m ).

The Europahütte ( 2265  m ) is located above Randa at the intersection of the Europaweg and the Domhüttenweg . It is an important base on this high-altitude hiking trail. The Charles Kuonen suspension bridge , which opened in 2017, is located nearby . With the Domhütte ( 2940  m ), the Kinhütte ( 2584  m ) and the Weisshornhütte ( 2932  m ) there are three more high-alpine refuges in the municipality of Randa.

In addition, there is the possibility of mountaineering and climbing on the mountains surrounding the community. These vary in difficulty and height and are therefore suitable for both beginners and advanced.

Trivia

The asteroid (3928) Randa was named after the community by the astronomer Paul Wild .

literature

• Bernard Truffer: Randa. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2010 .

Web links

Commons : Randa VS  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Randa
• Official WebGIS of the municipality of Randa

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent and non-permanent resident population by year, canton, district, municipality, population type and gender (permanent resident population). In: bfs. admin.ch . Federal Statistical Office (FSO), August 31, 2019, accessed on December 22, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Living with natural hazards - Randa rockslide (PDF; 5.8 MB)
3. ↑ Video hike to the Kastel viewpoint (online)