Prealps

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SOIUSA-Alpi Occidentali-sezione14.png
Swiss Pre-Alps (section 14) to SOIUSA within the Western Alps (north side of the Alps).
SOIUSA-Alpi Occidentali-sezione11.png
The Lugano Prealps (Section 11) to SOIUSA within the Western Alps (southern side of the Alps).


Two spatially separated mountain groups in the Western Alps are referred to as the Pre- Alps . The term Voralpen was introduced in 1808 by Johann Gottfried Ebel in his work About the construction of the earth in the Alpine mountains for the Montane altitude level and since then has been used to describe the hilly to mountainous areas between the Molasse hills of the Central Plateau and the Alps in Switzerland on the north side of the Alps . According to the SOIUSA classification system (International Unified Orographic Classification of the Alps) , the pre-Alps of Switzerland in the Sottoceneri and the Luganese are located on the southern side of the Alps . The pre-Alps consist of limestone massifs with peaks up to 2500 m and take up about 12% of the country's area. In addition to the Jura , the Central Plateau, the Alps and the southern side of the Alps, they are one of the five geographical areas. Like the Alps proper, they mark an arc between the southwest and northeast of Switzerland.

Boundary

The cantons of Wallis with the Val d'Illiez , Vaud with the Pays-d'Enhaut , Friborg with the Gruyère region , Bern with the Simmental and parts of the Bernese Oberland , Lucerne with the Entlebuch , Zug , Ob- and have a share in the northern pre-Alps Nidwalden , Schwyz , Zurich with the Zurich Oberland , St. Gallen with the Toggenburg as well as the Appenzellerland , which is a characteristic pre-Alpine region. The northern pre-Alps also include the following lakes: Thuner , Brienzer , Vierwaldstätter , Zug , Ägeri and Walensee and extends to the eastern part of Lake Zurich . Important cities in the foothills of the Alps are Lucerne , St. Gallen and Thun .

The southern pre-Alps are in the canton of Ticino .

Road crossings such as the road over the Brünig Pass , the Jaun Pass , the Col des Mosses or Col du Pillon are a feature of the pre-Alps that are open all year round . The foothills of the Alps are a predominantly rural, very hilly to mountainous area, which is characterized by agriculture, especially cattle breeding. The landscape is sparsely populated, and in winter the foothills of the Alps often have larger amounts of snow than the inner Alpine valleys, as precipitation zones are dammed up at these first elevations.

Divisions

Appenzellerland pre-alpine region: View of the Ebenalp ( 1640  m )

The following foothills are - from west to east - part of the Swiss foothills (north side of the Alps):

  1. Vaudois pre-Alps and Freiburg pre-Alps in the west
  2. Bernese Prealps
  3. Central Swiss pre-Alps with Lucerne pre-Alps and Unterwalden pre-Alps , Schwyz pre-Alps
  4. Eastern Swiss Pre-Alps (Appenzell Alps)

Southern side of the Alps: Lugano Pre-Alps with the Como Pre-Alps and the Como Pre-Alps (both partly in Italy)

In other representations, the eastern mountains of the Bernese Pre-Alps and most of the mountains of the canton of Lucerne and those of Unterwalden fall to the Emmental Alps .

summit

Well-known peaks are the Moléson , the Tour d'Aï , the Niesen , the Pilatus , the Mythen , the Rigi , the Rossberg , the Napf , the Tössbergland , the Gäbris and the Säntis .

The somewhat atypical highest elevation of the pre-Alps is - both according to SOIUSA and according to the classification of the SAC - at 2970  m the Schilthorn , which probably does not correspond to the introductory definitions and its surrounding valleys are certainly not characterized by road crossings that are open all year round. On the other hand, the affiliation of the Appenzellerland described above as typical is not entirely clear.

The most famous peaks of the Lugano Prealps are the Camoghè , Monte Tamaro , Monte Lema and Monte Generoso .

tourism

In the foothills of the Alps, hiking , excursion and winter tourism play an important role. Well-known holiday resorts and holiday regions are u. a .: Champéry , Leysin , Château-d'Oex , Lenk , Gstaad , Zweisimmen , Hoch-Ybrig , Toggenburg Flumserberg and Pizol .

Trivia

The long-distance train of the Schweizerische Südostbahn (SOB) between Lucerne and St. Gallen is called the Voralpen-Express .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss: Climate of Switzerland
  2. ↑ Alpine Guide / Club Guide Berner Voralpen From Gstaad to Meiringen, Martin Gerber, ISBN 3-85902-165-6
  3. ↑ Alpine Guide / Club Guide Central Swiss Prealps. Alpine guide / club guide Schwyzer Voralpen. Unterwaldner Voralpen. Pilatus-Schrattenflue chain by Willy on the Maur, ISBN 3-85902-146-X