Törbel

Törbel
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Valais (VS)
District :	Visp
BFS no. :	6296
Postal code :	3923
Coordinates :	631 884  /  120736 coordinates: 46 ° 14 '14 "  N , 7 ° 51' 7"  O ; CH1903:  631884  /  120736
Height :	1497  m above sea level M.
Height range :	767–2972 m above sea level M.
Area :	17.56  km²
Residents:	481 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	27 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.toerbel.ch
View from the Saas Valley to Törbel
Location of the municipality

Törbel ( Valais German : Terbil ) is a political and civic community in the Visp district and a parish of the Visp Dean's Office in the German-speaking part of the canton of Valais in Switzerland .

geography

The old village center lies high above the Vispertal at around 1500  m above sea level. M. The village is dominated by the tanned by the sun houses and narrow alleys, as well as a very enclosed design.

The lowest point in the municipality is at 770 meters, the highest point is the summit of the Augstbordhorn at 2972  m above sea level. M. The Moosalp ( 2042  m above sea level. M. ) is the Alp of the community Törbel and is used as a tourist area.

The municipality of Törbel borders in the north on Bürchen , in the northeast on Zeneggen , in the east on Stalden , in the south on Grächen , in the south-west on Embd and in the west on Unterbäch .

coat of arms

Blazon

Split under a narrow silver shield head: in front in blue, on a green six mountain sloping down to the left, a silver crenellated tower with black windows and a crenellated wall of the same type attached to the left; in the back, a black fountain placed across the corner in gold, from whose column tubes two silver water jets flow into the fountain trough; the dividing lines covered by ends pawed with red rope.

The coat of arms adopted in 1945 bears a large tau cross for Törbel and symbolizes the Hauptweiler castles, fields and fountains. It follows the first coat of arms created at the beginning of the 20th century except for the tau cross.

population

Population development
year	1798	1850	1900	1950	2000	2010	2012	2014	2016
Residents	350	508	571	693	498	491	484	477	471

economy

The Swiss bags made from recycled army blankets come from Törbel. These are made by hand in Törbel in a small factory owned by Karlen Sattlerei und Handels GmbH .

The paintings by the artist Helen Güdel also come from Törbel, who has found a new home in Törbel and depicts the village in several books.

tourism

The Moosalp tourist area is used all year round, in winter as a winter sports area and in summer as a hiking area (e.g. the Moosalp – Jungs high trail ).

At the beginning of summer there is also the alpine lift , in which over 100 cows are brought to the Moosalp. The alpine procession is accompanied by cow fights and a small folk festival.

In summer, the traditional Alpine Festival takes place on the last Sunday of July every year, during which a folkloric parade takes place and attracts up to 5000 visitors.

traffic

Törbel is well developed in terms of traffic. A road leads from Stalden to Törbel and then to Moosalp. Törbel can also be reached via Bürchen or Zeneggen , but only in summer and via Moosalp.

Regular postbus courses connect Törbel with Stalden (with a connection to the trains to Visp and Zermatt) and in summer with the Moosalp (-Bürchen).

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Törbel

"Urchiges Törbel" (Valais German: "Urchigs Terbil") is an association founded in 1985 for the preservation and renovation of ancestral estates in the mountain village of Törbel. The objects managed by the association include:

• Mill (Mihli) , built at the beginning of the 19th century, restored 1984–1985
• Z'Chlei Stadelti ( pantry ), built more than 300 years ago, restored 1988–1990
• Backhaus (Bachhischi) , built in 1915, restored in 1988
• Walke (Walchi) , built 1830, restored 1989–1991
• Ignatius Chapel (Ignatius-Kapälla) , built at the beginning of the 19th century, restored in 1991
• Driel auf dem Biel (old wine press), built in 1864, restored between 2000 and 2001
• Polykarp House (Polykarp-Hüs) , built at the beginning of the 19th century, restored 2003–2004
• Frame saw (Saga) , operated until 1930, inauguration of the new construction in 2012

Barn

Walliser Stadel in Törbel

"S'Chlei Stadelti" is the oldest building in the hamlet of Zen Blatten and is over 300 years old. It is a typical Valais barn, as you can find more often in Törbel.

The barn is built on wooden stilts with stone slabs at the top to prevent the mice from getting inside the barn. The roof is also covered with stone slabs, as was common in Törbel in the past and is still covered on some holiday homes today.

Inside the barn, you can see various old agricultural implements and utensils that were previously used for agriculture.

In the past, the barn was mainly used for storing grain until it was threshed. The grain was grown in the fields that extend below the barn and up to the mill. The grain was tied together in "garps" and laid out to dry in the field and later housed in several barns until it was threshed with the wooden flail. Then the grain was thrown through the grain pan and the now pure grain was filled into sacks and brought to the mill for processing. Today the barns that have been preserved in Törbel are more likely to be used as a lumber room or are empty.

Mill

Törbel Mill

The mill is right next to the Törbjer stream. It was repaired thanks to an agreement with the Ballenberg Open Air Museum, in return the Open Air Museum received the remains of two former mills in order to rebuild them in their museum. There used to be eight mills, a sawmill (here they say saga ) and a fulling mill in this gorge . Both are operational again thanks to renovation by «Urchigs Terbil».

To the mill itself: There is a water slide by the stream. When it is open, the water flows through a dug up tree trunk into the basement of the mill. There it drives a horizontal water wheel, which is connected to the millstone on the upper floor with a wooden beam. The water then flows out of the mill through an opening and back into the stream via a water pipe. On the upper floor, the grain is thrown into the «Trimja» and ground on the grinding stone. Then the still impure flour goes over a vibrating sieve to remove coarser impurities and then falls into the flour bin. The now pure flour is packed in sacks and then stored or brought directly to the bakery.

Bakehouse

The old community bakery was built in 1815 and renovated by volunteers in 1988 after they had committed to the regulars' table in the Weisshorn restaurant. In the basement there is a small hydropower plant, which has not been used for a few years because a new power plant has been built near the Moosalp. On the upper floor there is the bakery with four rooms: The largest room is the bakery, in which the dough was made and the bread was formed. Then the bread was baked in the “home”, in which the large oven is located. To the left of the bakery is the small bread storage room, in which the bread was stored on bread stairs until the customer had picked up the bread. The last room is the open sub-roof, in which the firewood and other utensils were stored.

Human ecological studies

In the 1980s, Törbel was the subject of scientific research by the anthropologist Robert Mcc. Netting and the later Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom .

Netting was one of the first to analyze a community based on human-ecological aspects. The village community was examined as an ecosystem that is regulated by economic methods, demographics, reproductive cycles or marriage behavior.

Ostrom examined the use of the Törbeler Allmende , which was regulated by the statute of 1483. In particular, she was concerned with the rules for the sustainable use of pastures and forests as well as the communal maintenance of paths and suonen . After her studies in Törbel and some other communities around the world, Ostrom put forward the thesis that communal ownership manages natural resources better in the long term than private or state property. The result was Ostrom's main work, Governing the Commons .

Personalities

• Anton Wyss (1468–1550), Governor (1522–1523)
• Viktor Petrig (1887–1973), Grand Councilor (1913–1949), Grand Council President (1935–1936), National Councilor (1917–1943), Governor (1921–1958), Councilor of States (1943–1947)
• Ernst Heinrich Karlen CMM (1922–2012), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe
• Helen Güdel (* 1935), painter, children's book author and illustrator

literature

• Alois Grichting: Törbel. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . 2013 .
• Robert McC. Netting: Balancing on an Alp. Ecological change and continuity in a Swiss mountain community. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1981, ISBN 0-521-23743-2 .
• Helen Güdel : Dear Alex, Vol. 1 Of people and animals in the Valais mountain village of Törbel , Atlantis Verlag 1991, ISBN 978-3715202334 .
• Helen Güdel: Dear Alex, Vol. 2 letters from the Valais mountain village Törbel , Atlantis Verlag, 1993 ISBN 978-3715202723 .
• Helen Güdel: Dear Alex Vol. 3 letters from the Valais mountain village Törbel , Zytglogge Verlag , 1995, ISBN 978-3729605947 .

Web links

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

• Törbel on the ETHorama platform
• Official website of the municipality of Törbel
• Official WebGIS of the municipality of Törbel
• Rustic Terbil (museum & club information)

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 .