'Andermatt' is a
municipality in the
canton of
Uri in
Switzerland.
It has a population of 1,312 inhabitants has an area of
62.15 km². With
Realp and
Hospental, it is located in the
Urseren valley, 22 km south of
Altdorf.
Parish Church St. Peter and Paul in Andermatt
Geography
Andermatt is located in a high Alpine valley—the
Ursern Valley—in the
Adula Alps.
Transport
Andermatt serves as a crossroads between southern Switzerland and the North as well as between eastern Switzerland i.e.
Graubünden/
Grisons and Western Switzerland, i.e.
Valais,
Berne and the
Swiss Romande. The town is thus connected by four Alpine passes: the
Oberalp Pass to the East, the
St. Gotthard Pass (6,916 ft) to the South, the
Realp Pass (5,046 ft) and the
Furka Pass (7,992 ft) to the West, as well as the
Göscheneralp Pass (5,850 ft) to the North. The
Schöllenen Gorge in the
Reuss Valley between Andermatt and
Göschenen is the location of the infamous
Devil's Bridge.
Roads
Rail
It is a station on the
Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn.
Airports
History
Archaeological finds dating back to 4,000 BC indicate that the Ursern Valley was populated already in the
Neolithic period. During Roman times this Alpine valley was probably inhabited by some
Helvetic Celtic tribes. However, the origins of Andermatt can only be traced back to
Alemannic tribes, the
Walsers, who established settlements in the area, where the current town of Andermatt is situated.
The Devil's Bridge
by J.M.W. Turner
The
parish of Andermatt was, however, not mentioned until the year of 1203 AD, serving as a
tenure to the
Benedictine Monastery of
Disentis. In 1649 AD, with the emergence of an independent
Swiss Confederation, the ecclesiastical rights of the Monastery Disentis were revoked in favour of civil legislation.
Between 1818-1831 AD the nearby
St. Gotthard Pass was made accessible to
stagecoaches. As the last resort before the pass, Andermatt flourished economically and became a popular
spa town.
The opening, in 1881 AD, of the
St. Gotthard railway tunnel, however, reverted its fortunes as the tunnel runs immediately beneath the town, connecting the
Central Swiss town
Göschenen with
Airolo in
Ticino. Some Andermattians, who worked on the tunnel were killed during its construction. A strike by the tunnel workers, furthermore, was put down through the use of military force killing a further four workers.
Since 1885 AD Andermatt has been converted into a garrison town of the
Swiss Federal Army. Here the infrastructure for the High Command of the Swiss Federal Army in an event of war was built. Today it is location of a
Training Centre of the Swiss army.
Plans to build a series of reservoirs in the
Ursern Valley were voted down by the locals. Several avalanches, in particular in the winter of 1951 AD and 1975 AD have caused havoc in some residential areas of Andermatt killing the inhabitants of the houses affected.
Tourism
Skiing, hiking, biking, and snowshoeing
External links
★
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
