Davos
Encyclopedia
Davos is a municipality
in the district of Prättigau/Davos
in the canton
of Graubünden
, Switzerland
. It has a permanent population of 11,248 (2009). Davos is located on the Landwasser River
, in the Swiss Alps
, between the Plessur
and Albula Range
. At 1560 metres (5,118.1 ft), it is the highest city in Europe.
Davos is host to the World Economic Forum
(WEF), an annual meeting of global political and business elites (often referred to simply as Davos) and the home of one of Switzerland's biggest ski resort
s. At the end of every year it serves as the site of the annual Spengler Cup
ice hockey
tournament, hosted by the HC Davos
local hockey team.
with the immigration of Rhaeto-Romans. The village of Davos is first mentioned in 1213 as Tavaus. From about 1280 the barons of Vaz
allowed German-speaking Walser
colonists to settle down, and conceded them extensive self-administration rights, causing Davos to become the largest Walser settlement area in eastern Switzerland. Natives still speak a dialect
that is atypical for Graubünden, showing similarities with German
idioms of western parts of Switzerland, especially the Upper Valais.
In 1436, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions
was founded in Davos.
From the middle of the 18th century, Davos became a popular destination for the ailing because the microclimate
in the high valley was deemed excellent by doctors and recommended for lung disease patients. Robert Louis Stevenson
, who suffered from tuberculosis
, wintered in Davos in 1880 at the recommendation of his Edinburgh physician Dr. George Balfour. Arthur Conan Doyle
wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899. A sanatorium in Davos is also the setting of the Thomas Mann
novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain
). Between 1936 and 1938, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
, then at the end of his life, depicted Davos and the Junkerboden. His painting has a both romantic and pantheistic atmosphere and simplified formal structure.
In the "natural ice" era of winter sport
s, Davos, and the Davos Eisstadion was a mecca for speed skating
. Many international championships were held here, and many world records were set, beginning with Peder Østlund
who set four records in 1898. The only European Bandy
Championship was held in the town in 1913 with England victorious. Subsequently, Davos became a famous ski resort, especially frequented by tourists from the United Kingdom
and the Netherlands
. After peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, the city settled down as a leading but less high-profile tourist attraction.
Davos has an area, , of 254.5 square kilometres (98.3 sq mi). Of this area, 37.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (41%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
The municipality is located in the Davos sub-district of the Prättigau/Davos district in the Landwasser valley
. In terms of area, it was ever the largest city in Switzerland (until the merged municipality of Glarus Süd in 2010) and the largest in the canton of Graubünden. It consists of the village of Davos which is made up of five sections (Davos-Dorf, Davos-Platz, Frauenkirch, Glaris and Monsteinand) and the hamlets
of Laret, Wolfgang, Clavadel and Spina in the main valley. In the side valleys there are additional hamlets including; Flüela, Dischma and Sertig.
Davos lies in a high valley, the connection to Klosters needing a pass
of only some 70 meters ascent from Davos Dorf. This tiny pass results in a flow direction of the river not corresponding to the main traffic routes of road and railway to the northeast but flowing in a southwesterly direction. Three long side valleys reach out to the south from the main valley.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. The age distribution, , in Davos is; 1,102 children or 9.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,435 teenagers or 12.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,733 people or 15.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,897 people or 16.6% are between 30 and 39, 1,806 people or 15.8% are between 40 and 49, and 1,498 people or 13.1% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 902 people or 7.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 677 people or 5.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 318 people or 2.8% who are between 80 and 89 there are 49 people or 0.4% who are between 90 and 99.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the FDP
which received 36.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(30.1%), the SP
(23.1%) and the CVP
(7.4%).
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Davos about 74% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule
).
Davos has an unemployment rate of 0.85%. , there were 239 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 86 businesses involved in this sector. 1,118 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 123 businesses in this sector. 5,565 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 615 businesses in this sector.
From the , 3,950 or 34.6% are Roman Catholic, while 5,321 or 46.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
. Of the rest of the population, there are 10 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic
faith, there are 439 individuals (or about 3.85% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 274 individuals (or about 2.40% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 8 individuals (or about 0.07% of the population) who are Jewish
, and 79 (or about 0.69% of the population) who are Islam
ic. There are 56 individuals (or about 0.49% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 832 (or about 7.29% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 448 individuals (or about 3.92% of the population) did not answer the question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
. The wettest month is August during which time Davos receives an average of 135 mm (5.3 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 14.2, but with only 120 mm (4.7 in) of precipitation. The driest month of the year is April with an average of 55 mm (2.2 in) of precipitation over 13.6 days.
team, which is the HC Davos
, who play in the Swiss National League A. Their home arena is the Vaillant Arena.
Besides being famous for cross country skiing, offering some 60 miles (96.6 km) of pistes and the largest natural ice skating
field, there are six main ski areas in winter, adding to a total of 200 miles (321.9 km) of slopes:
All areas offer summer transport as well onto the main peaks from mid May until end of October. The remote side valleys heading towards the Engadin
area are worth long hikes towards the passes of Sertig or Scalettapass
, to for example reach Piz Kesch
, an Ultra prominent peak
. To the north there is no valleys but a direct ascent to continue across a pass into the "Schanfigg" valley towards the rival resort of Arosa
(to be reached in one day) or even continuing to Lenzerheide
in a two day hike.
. These heritage sites include the Town Archives, the Kirchner Museum, the Grosses Jenatschhaus (a type of charity house known as a Pfrundhaus) and the Forest Cemetery (Waldfriedhof). Several hotels and spas are also included on the list. The three hotels or former hotels are; Berghotel Schatzalp, the former Grand Hotel Belvédère and the Zürcher Höhenklinik von R. Gaberel.
Davos hosts annual meetings of the World Economic Forum
. The city was featured in an episode of Viva La Bam
, when cities around Europe
were visited. On 14 March 2003, a festival called Winterjam was held in the city and bands such as Sum 41
, Crazy Town
, and Guano Apes
performed during this event.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Prättigau/Davos
Prättigau/Davos (district)
Prättigau/Davos District is an administrative district in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has an area of and has a population of .It consists of seven Kreise and fifteen municipalities:...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Graubünden
Graubünden
Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It has a permanent population of 11,248 (2009). Davos is located on the Landwasser River
Landwasser River
The Landwasser is a river in Switzerland. Its origin was Lake Davos before this was turned into a reservoir for a power station. Nowadays it is fed entirely by Flüelabach and changes its name near Davos. Davos is the largest town and except for the last bit the only municipitality on the river...
, in the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
, between the Plessur
Plessur Range
The Plessur Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. It is considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. It is named after the river Plessur, which originates from the center of the ranges...
and Albula Range
Albula Range
The Albula Alps is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. It is considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. It is named after the River Albula...
. At 1560 metres (5,118.1 ft), it is the highest city in Europe.
Davos is host to the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
(WEF), an annual meeting of global political and business elites (often referred to simply as Davos) and the home of one of Switzerland's biggest ski resort
Ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...
s. At the end of every year it serves as the site of the annual Spengler Cup
Spengler Cup
The Spengler Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss team HC Davos and played each year in Davos, Switzerland, between...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
tournament, hosted by the HC Davos
HC Davos
Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos play in the Swiss National League A, which is ranked as Europe's sixth best ice hockey league. The team is usually a strong force in the league and often bolster their roster with Swiss national team...
local hockey team.
History
The current settlement of the Davos area started back in High Middle AgesHigh Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
with the immigration of Rhaeto-Romans. The village of Davos is first mentioned in 1213 as Tavaus. From about 1280 the barons of Vaz
Vaz/Obervaz
Vaz/Obervaz is a municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.The municipality of Vaz/Obervaz includes the following villages: Lain, Muldain, Zorten, Lenzerheide, and Valbella, as well as the hamlets of Nivaigl, Fuso, Trantermoira, Sporz, Tgantieni, Sartons,...
allowed German-speaking Walser
Walser
The Walser are German-speaking people who live in the Alps of Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria. The Walser people are named after the Wallis , the uppermost Rhône River valley...
colonists to settle down, and conceded them extensive self-administration rights, causing Davos to become the largest Walser settlement area in eastern Switzerland. Natives still speak a dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
that is atypical for Graubünden, showing similarities with German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
idioms of western parts of Switzerland, especially the Upper Valais.
In 1436, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions
League of the Ten Jurisdictions
The League of the Ten Jurisdictions was the last of the Three Leagues founded during the Middle Ages in what is now Canton Graubünden of Switzerland. The League was created in the County of Toggenburg after the counts of Toggenburg died out. The League initially existed to resist the power of the...
was founded in Davos.
From the middle of the 18th century, Davos became a popular destination for the ailing because the microclimate
Microclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
in the high valley was deemed excellent by doctors and recommended for lung disease patients. Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, who suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, wintered in Davos in 1880 at the recommendation of his Edinburgh physician Dr. George Balfour. Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899. A sanatorium in Davos is also the setting of the Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of 20th century German literature....
). Between 1936 and 1938, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th century art. He volunteered for army service in the First World War, but soon suffered a...
, then at the end of his life, depicted Davos and the Junkerboden. His painting has a both romantic and pantheistic atmosphere and simplified formal structure.
Winter sport
A winter sport is a sport which is played on snow or ice. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and ice allow more flexibility...
s, Davos, and the Davos Eisstadion was a mecca for speed skating
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
. Many international championships were held here, and many world records were set, beginning with Peder Østlund
Peder Østlund
Peder Østlund was a Norwegian speed skater.Peder Østlund held the first position on the Adelskalender ranking during two periods, for a total of almost 10 years . He became World Allround Champion in 1898 and 1899, and became European Allround Champion in 1899 and 1900...
who set four records in 1898. The only European Bandy
Bandy
Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...
Championship was held in the town in 1913 with England victorious. Subsequently, Davos became a famous ski resort, especially frequented by tourists from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. After peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, the city settled down as a leading but less high-profile tourist attraction.
Geography
The municipality is located in the Davos sub-district of the Prättigau/Davos district in the Landwasser valley
Landwasser River
The Landwasser is a river in Switzerland. Its origin was Lake Davos before this was turned into a reservoir for a power station. Nowadays it is fed entirely by Flüelabach and changes its name near Davos. Davos is the largest town and except for the last bit the only municipitality on the river...
. In terms of area, it was ever the largest city in Switzerland (until the merged municipality of Glarus Süd in 2010) and the largest in the canton of Graubünden. It consists of the village of Davos which is made up of five sections (Davos-Dorf, Davos-Platz, Frauenkirch, Glaris and Monsteinand) and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Laret, Wolfgang, Clavadel and Spina in the main valley. In the side valleys there are additional hamlets including; Flüela, Dischma and Sertig.
Davos lies in a high valley, the connection to Klosters needing a pass
Wolfgang Pass
Wolfgang Pass is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.It connects Klosters and Davos with Davos being almost level with the pass...
of only some 70 meters ascent from Davos Dorf. This tiny pass results in a flow direction of the river not corresponding to the main traffic routes of road and railway to the northeast but flowing in a southwesterly direction. Three long side valleys reach out to the south from the main valley.
Demographics
Davos has a population (as of ) of . , 23.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -5.5%. Most of the population speaks German (86.3%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 2.8%) and Italian being third ( 2.7%)., the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. The age distribution, , in Davos is; 1,102 children or 9.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,435 teenagers or 12.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,733 people or 15.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,897 people or 16.6% are between 30 and 39, 1,806 people or 15.8% are between 40 and 49, and 1,498 people or 13.1% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 902 people or 7.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 677 people or 5.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 318 people or 2.8% who are between 80 and 89 there are 49 people or 0.4% who are between 90 and 99.
In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
which received 36.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(30.1%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(23.1%) and the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
(7.4%).
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Davos about 74% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
).
Davos has an unemployment rate of 0.85%. , there were 239 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 86 businesses involved in this sector. 1,118 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 123 businesses in this sector. 5,565 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 615 businesses in this sector.
From the , 3,950 or 34.6% are Roman Catholic, while 5,321 or 46.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there are 10 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
faith, there are 439 individuals (or about 3.85% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 274 individuals (or about 2.40% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 8 individuals (or about 0.07% of the population) who are Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 79 (or about 0.69% of the population) who are Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There are 56 individuals (or about 0.49% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 832 (or about 7.29% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 448 individuals (or about 3.92% of the population) did not answer the question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 1,680 |
| 1888 | 3,891 |
| 1900 | 8,089 |
| 1930 | 11,164 |
| 1950 | 10,433 |
| 2000 | 11,417 |
| 2009 | 11,248 |
Climate
Davos has an average of 126.7 days of rain per year and on average receives 999 mm (39.3 in) of precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
. The wettest month is August during which time Davos receives an average of 135 mm (5.3 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 14.2, but with only 120 mm (4.7 in) of precipitation. The driest month of the year is April with an average of 55 mm (2.2 in) of precipitation over 13.6 days.
Sports
Davos is known in the whole Switzerland for its famous Ice hockeyIce hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team, which is the HC Davos
HC Davos
Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos play in the Swiss National League A, which is ranked as Europe's sixth best ice hockey league. The team is usually a strong force in the league and often bolster their roster with Swiss national team...
, who play in the Swiss National League A. Their home arena is the Vaillant Arena.
Besides being famous for cross country skiing, offering some 60 miles (96.6 km) of pistes and the largest natural ice skating
Ice skating
Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...
field, there are six main ski areas in winter, adding to a total of 200 miles (321.9 km) of slopes:
- Parsenn / GotschnaParsennParsenn, renowned ski area near Davos, Switzerland, offering 35 ski runs.The recently updated Parsenn "red railway" funicular covers the difference of 1100 meters to the Weissfluhjoch ridge. You can also get from Klosters to Gotschna/Parsenn with a large cable car. Ski runs from here run up to 17...
which connects to the partner town of Klosters from Davos Dorf - JakobshornJakobshornJakobshorn is one of the five skiing regions of the Davos Klosters Mountains, offering 14 pistes.Located between the Dishmatal and Sertigtal, it is served by a two-part cable car running from Davos Platz...
which can be reached from Davos Platz direcly - PischahornPischahornThe Pischahorn is a mountain in the Silvretta Range , located in Graubünden, Switzerland.-External links:*...
which can be reached by frequently running busses into Flüela valley - Rinerhorn to start from Davos Glaris
- MadrisahornMadrisahornThe Madrisa is a mountain in the Rätikon mountain range, overlooking Klosters in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Its summit is located near the Austrian border....
located in neighbouring Klosters - Schatzalp is privately owned by the Schatzalp Hotel and a speciality as a "decelerated" skiing area
All areas offer summer transport as well onto the main peaks from mid May until end of October. The remote side valleys heading towards the Engadin
Engadin
The Engadin or Engadine is a long valley in the Swiss Alps located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. It follows the route of the Inn River from its headwaters at Maloja Pass running northeast until the Inn flows into Austria one hundred kilometers downstream...
area are worth long hikes towards the passes of Sertig or Scalettapass
Scaletta Pass
Scaletta Pass is a mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It lies in the Albula Range of the Alps. The path from Dischma leads to Cinuos-chel in the Inn Valley...
, to for example reach Piz Kesch
Piz Kesch
Piz Kesch or Piz d'Es-cha is a peak in the Albula Range of the Rhaetian Alps. At 3,418 m, it is the highest peak in the Albula Range and the municipality of Bergün, Grisons....
, an Ultra prominent peak
Ultra prominent peak
An ultra prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is a mountain with a topographic prominence of or more. There are a total of roughly 1,524 such peaks in the world. Some are famous even to non-climbers, such as Mount Everest, Aconcagua, and Mount McKinley , while others are much more obscure...
. To the north there is no valleys but a direct ascent to continue across a pass into the "Schanfigg" valley towards the rival resort of Arosa
Arosa
Arosa is a town and a municipality in the district of Plessur in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is both a summer and a winter tourist resort.-History:...
(to be reached in one day) or even continuing to Lenzerheide
Lenzerheide
Lenzerheide is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It lies at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village belongs to the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein....
in a two day hike.
Culture
Davos is home to seven sites that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significanceSwiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
. These heritage sites include the Town Archives, the Kirchner Museum, the Grosses Jenatschhaus (a type of charity house known as a Pfrundhaus) and the Forest Cemetery (Waldfriedhof). Several hotels and spas are also included on the list. The three hotels or former hotels are; Berghotel Schatzalp, the former Grand Hotel Belvédère and the Zürcher Höhenklinik von R. Gaberel.
Davos hosts annual meetings of the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
. The city was featured in an episode of Viva La Bam
Viva La Bam
Viva La Bam is an American reality television series that stars Bam Margera and his friends and family. The show was a spin-off from MTV's Jackass, in which Margera and most of the main cast had appeared...
, when cities around Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
were visited. On 14 March 2003, a festival called Winterjam was held in the city and bands such as Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...
, Crazy Town
Crazy Town
Crazy Town is a rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. The band is best known for their 2001 single, "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart...
, and Guano Apes
Guano Apes
Guano Apes are an alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Göttingen, Germany. The group members are Sandra Nasić , Henning Rümenapp , Stefan Ude and Dennis Poschwatta ....
performed during this event.
See also
- Davos Man
- Global Risk Forum GRF Davos
- Lake DavosLake DavosLake Davos is a small natural lake at Davos, Switzerland. Its surface area is 0.59 km² and the maximum depth is 54 m. Fed by Flüelabach, Totalpbach and other mountain creeks, the lake is used as a hydropower reservoir, its water no longer flows to the Landwasser River but is channeled into the...
- List of ski areas and resorts in Switzerland
- Schwarzsee (Davos)Schwarzsee (Davos)Schwarzsee is a lake at Laret, between Davos and Klosters in the Grisons, Switzerland. It is located at an elevation of 1504 m....
- The Magic MountainThe Magic MountainThe Magic Mountain is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of 20th century German literature....
- World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
External links
- Davos.ch - Official website tourism information
- The Junkerboden under Snow in Davos from Kirchner, in "your city at the Thuyssen", a Thyssen Museum's project on Flickr
- Pictures Davos
- Municipality of Davos - Official website