Shame
The Schams ( Rhaeto-Romanic Val Schons ) is a section of the Hinterrhein Valley in the Swiss canton of Graubünden .
geography
The Schams forms the middle of the three valley chambers along the Hinterrhein. It is separated from the Rheinwald by the Rofflaschlucht , and down the valley the Viamala forms the border to the Domleschg / Heinzenberg region . The Hinterrhein flows through the valley in a predominantly south-north direction and falls from 1094 m at the exit of the Rofla, where the Val Ferrera joins from the right , to 883 m at the Raniabrücke .
The Schams is limited on both flanks by mountain ranges around 3000 m high. The highest peaks are the Pizzas d'Anarosa (3000 m), the Bruschghorn (3056 m) and the striking Piz Beverin (2998 m) in the west, and the Piz Curvér (2972 m) in the east, on the border with Oberhalbstein .
The largest settlements are near the river. The slope on the left, the Schamserberg ( Muntogna da Schons ) , which climbs relatively evenly to Piz Beverin, is used for agriculture on all levels up to around 2200 m. Above the villages there is a zone of Maiensässen , above which are extensive alpine meadows . On the right-hand slope, where the forest that extends down to the valley floor predominates, there are no settlements apart from Maiensässen.
Communities
In the valley floor lie the larger villages of Andeer (with the Clugin and Pignia fractions ), Zillis (including the Reischen fraction ) and Donat , all at altitudes between 940 and 1020 m. On the Schamserberg, on a lower step (1,100 to 1,200 m), the Casti fraction of the municipality of Casti-Wergenstein and the Donater fractions Pazen and Farden are located , and on the promising upper Schamserberg at an altitude of around 1,500 m, finally Lohn , Mathon and Wergenstein .
A total of eight municipalities belong to the district of Schams , in addition to the already mentioned Ferrera in Val Ferrera and Rongellen at the northern exit of the Viamala.
The judicial community of Schams, a member of the Gray Covenant , joined the Reformation as one. In the valley, the Rhaeto-Romanic idiom Sutsilvan was spoken almost exclusively until the middle of the 20th century , before a sometimes dramatic change began, which mainly affected the easily accessible places Zillis and Andeer as well as the Val Ferrera. There the proportion of predominantly German speakers in 2000 was already over 80%; on the Schamserberg, Romansh still holds a slim majority.
traffic
The transit route of the Untere Strasse from Chur to the Splügen and San Bernardino Pass , which is today A13, runs through the Schams, which has been important since Roman times . The crossings into Oberhalbstein , Pass da Surcarungas , Spunda Surses and Pass da Schmorras , were never of greater importance.
Public transport opens up the valley with the express post bus routes Chur – Bellinzona with stops in Zillis and Andeer and the Thusis-San Bernardino post bus route. For local traffic there is a line to the Schamserberg and one to the Avers .
literature
- Jürg Simonett: Shame. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Web links
- Schams on the ETHorama platform