Sierre

Sierre
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Valais (VS)
District :	Sierre
BFS no. :	6248
Postal code :	3960 Sierre / Siders 3977 Granges
UN / LOCODE :	CH SRR
Coordinates :	607 348  /  126736 coordinates: 46 ° 17 '31 "  N , 7 ° 32' 2"  O ; CH1903:  607348  /  126736
Height :	533  m above sea level M.
Height range :	496–1876 m above sea level M.
Area :	19.13  km²
Residents:	16,801 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	878 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.sierre.ch
Siders in the evening light In the background the Gorwetschgrat and the foothills of the Pfynwald, on the right the entrance to the Val d'Anniviers (German: Eifischtal ).
Location of the municipality

Siders ( French: Sierre ) is a city in the canton of Valais in Switzerland . It is the capital of the Sierre district .

geography

Sierre lies in the Rhone Valley about halfway between Leuk and Grône . Most of the place is on the north bank of the Rhone . The valley exit of the Val d'Anniviers (German: Eifischtal ) is located on the southern outskirts of Sierre . The Navisence, which comes from the Val d'Anniviers, flows into the Rhone near Sierre. The Mondereche, which comes from the high plateau around the municipality of Montana , flows through Sierre and also flows into the Rhone here.

Cityscape

The old town of Sierre is located on the north side of the Rhone and is largely characterized by six hills (Goubing, Pradegg, Colline du château Mercier, Géronde, Planzette and Colline de l'ancien Sierre) that were formed by the rock fall of the Varneralp after the retreat of the Rhone glacier around 16,000 BC Were created.

history

Traces of prehistoric and ancient settlement can be found on the slopes and the hills described. The importance of Sierre is based on its location on the trade route to the Simplon Pass and its agricultural importance, especially viticulture, made possible by complex irrigation systems ( suonen ) from the late Middle Ages .

Aerial photo (1949)

The chapel of Saint-Ginier is considered to be one of the oldest buildings (7th century). The most important medieval building is the ruins of the Goubing Tower from 1297, which, along with the modern Mercier Castle from the 19th century, characterizes the cityscape. The new town located in the valley houses the 15th century Vidôme Castle, the St. Catherine's Church (17th century) and the 19th century town hall.

In 1972 the previously independent municipality of Granges in the valley floor of the Rhone was merged with the city of Sierre. As a result, Sierre came to a territory that extends far west towards Lake Geneva.

In 1996, the city was connected to the Swiss motorway network with the construction of the A9 section Autoroute du Rhône Sion- Siders. Sierre has two motorway connections, Sierre-Ouest and the current end of the motorway, Sierre-Est . In between there is a tunnel in which a bus accident occurred on the evening of March 13, 2012, with 28 fatalities , including 22 children. The continuation from Sierre-Est to Visp is to be completed in several stages by 2019.

population

Population development
year	1802	1850	1900	1950	2000	2010	2012	2014	2016
Residents	724	875	1833	7,161 (without Granges)	14'317 (with granges)	15527	15945	16547	16817

The city of Sierre had 16,801 inhabitants as of December 31, 2018. It is located in the French-speaking central Valais on the border with the German-speaking Upper Valais . With its relatively large German-speaking minority, Sierre is considered a bilingual city, which is why the train station, for example, is bilingual as "Sierre / Siders". However, the bilingualism of Sierre does not have an official status, as for example in Biel . French is the only official language .

politics

13

23

19th

5

13 23 19th 5 

A total of 60 seats

• AdG : 13
• CVP : 23
• FDP : 19
• SVP : 5

Distribution of seats in the city parliament (2017-2020)

City Parliament

The General Council of Sierre ( conseil géneral ) is the legislature and consists of 60 members.

National Council elections

In the Swiss parliamentary elections in 2019, the voting shares in the municipality of Sierre were: CVP 27.7%, SP 21.0%, FDP 20.2%, SVP 13.8%, Greens 13.3%, CSP 1.4%.

economy

At the beginning of the 20th century, Siders achieved economic importance through aluminum smelting, made possible by hydroelectric energy from the Val d'Anniviers. The Alcan aluminum factory (formerly Alusuisse ) employs 1070 workers in Siders, Steg and Chippis. Switzerland's largest amusement park, Happyland, is located in Granges .

Culture and sights

See also : List of cultural assets in Sierre

Sierre houses the Valaisan Wine Museum ( Musée Valaisan de la Vigne et du Vin ) and a Rilke Museum, in memory of Rainer Maria Rilke , who lived three kilometers away, on the northern slope above Sierre, in the Château de Muzot from 1921 until shortly before his death Lived in 1926. His grave is in Raron .

Until 1966, the automobile hill climb up to Crans-Montana was part of the sports car world championship.

Folk festivals

• Fête de la sainte Cathérine (always on the last Monday of November)
• Siders-Zinal fun run
• Wine Festival (VINEA).

festival

• Sierre Blues Festival (in August)
• Festival Rilke (every 3 years in August)
• Week-end au bord de l'eau (in July)

education

The HES-SO Valais-Wallis is a location of the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland in Sierre . This consists of five schools: College of Engineering, College of Economics (including tourism), College of Health, College of Social Work and the "édhéa - School of Design and College of Art Valais". A total of almost 2000 students study 10 courses in Sierre, and there are also 8 research institutes.

Town twinning

Siders maintains city partnerships with

• Aubenas in France
• Cesenatico in Italy
• Delfzijl in the Netherlands
• Schwarzenbek in Germany
• Zelzate in Belgium

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Sierre

• Grand Hotel Château Bellevue
• Lac de Géronde

Personalities

• Claude Barras (* 1973), Swiss animation filmmaker
• Kurt Bolliger (1919–2008), head of the Swiss Air Force, mayor and president of the SRC
• Bernard Fellay (* 1958), Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X.
• Stéphane Grichting (* 1979), football player
• Marcel Mathier (* 1936), lawyer, notary and sports official.
• Hans-Peter Pfammatter (* 1974), jazz pianist and composer
• Jacques Plante (1929–1986), Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper
• Jean-Noël Rey (1949–2016), Swiss politician and manager
• Jean-Yves Rey (* 1970), ski mountaineer, mountain and marathon runner
• Antoine Salamin (* 1945), architect and racing driver
• Vincent Praplan (* 1994), Swiss ice hockey player

photos

• 

  The Grand Lac (Lac de Géronde)

• 

  The St. Catherine's Church

• 

  Notre-Dame du Marais

• 

  Vidôme Castle

literature

• François Wiblé and David Rey: Sierre (municipality). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2011 .
• Bernard Truffer: Sierre (Zenden, district). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2011 .
• Jean-Emile Tamini : Essai de Monographie de Sierre. In: Annales valaisannes , 7, 1923, pp. 1-43.

Web links

Commons : Sierre  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Sierre on the ETHorama platform
• City of Sierre website

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. ^ Federal Statistical Office : NR - Results parties (municipalities) (INT1). In: Federal Elections 2019 | opendata.swiss. August 8, 2019, accessed August 1, 2020 . 
3. ^ Website of the HES-SO Valais-Wallis
4. ↑ Grand Hôtel Château Bellevue on ETHorama