Samedan
Encyclopedia
Samedan is a town and municipality
in the district of Maloja
in the Swiss
canton
of Graubünden
.
The municipality is located in the Oberengadin sub-district of the Maloja district in the central Oberengadin
valley along the Inn river
. It consists of the village of Samedan and the hamlet
of Punt Muragl, the upper section of the Val Bever as well as an exclave that includes nearly the entire Rosegtal. Until 1943 Samedan was known as Samaden.
The age distribution, , in Samedan is; 267 children or 8.7% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 155 teenagers or 5.1% are 10 to 14, and 281 teenagers or 9.2% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 460 people or 15.0% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 541 people or 17.6% are 30 to 39, 462 people or 15.1% are 40 to 49, and 385 people or 12.5% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 209 people or 6.8% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 189 people or 6.2% are 70 to 79, there are 103 people or 3.4% who are 80 to 89, and there are 17 people or 0.6% who are 90 to 99.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the SP
which received 30.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(28.7%), the FDP
(28.2%) and the CVP
(10.4%).
In Samedan about 75.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
).
Samedan has an unemployment rate of 1%. , there were 35 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 13 businesses involved in this sector. 554 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 37 businesses in this sector. 1,891 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 194 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
railway station
with regular trains towards Pontresina
, Chur
and St. Moritz
, and a regional airport (Engadin Airport). Both the Bernina Express
and Glacier Express
trains pass Samedan.
.
. The wettest month is August during which time Samedan receives an average of 99 mm (3.9 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.5 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) of precipitation over 5 days.
escapes from Blofeld's base at Piz Gloria
to Samedan in Ian Fleming
's On Her Majesty's Secret Service
where he is rescued by his future wife, Tracy.
The nineteenth century campaigner for women's rights and the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, Josephine butler, holidayed in Samedan in 1881 preferring it to Pontresina. She walked extensively with friends whilst her husband, because of his rheumatism, painted and sketched. He preached at the local protestant church,which was largely run by another English clergyman Mr Eardley
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 Maloja
Maloja (district)
Maloja District is an administrative district in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has an area of and has a population of . It is trilingual, with official languages used by municipalities inside the district being, in order of dominance, German, Italian, and Romansh.It consists of two...
in the Swiss
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....
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...
.
History
Samedan is first mentioned in 1139 as Samaden. In 1334 it was mentioned as Semeden, in 1367 as Semaden, in 1498 as Sumada and in 1527 as Sameden. Samedan is the location of The Smallest Whiskey Bar on Earth, the establishment holding the Guinness World Records distinction of "Smallest Permanently Licensed Bar in the World."Geography
Samedan has an area, , of 114 km² (44 sq mi). Of this area, 16.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (72.9%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).The municipality is located in the Oberengadin sub-district of the Maloja district in the central Oberengadin
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...
valley along the Inn river
Inn River
The Inn is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and is approximately 500km long. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres.- Geography :...
. It consists of the village of Samedan and the hamlet
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 Punt Muragl, the upper section of the Val Bever as well as an exclave that includes nearly the entire Rosegtal. Until 1943 Samedan was known as Samaden.
Demographics
Samedan has a population (as of ) of . , 22.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4.1%.The age distribution, , in Samedan is; 267 children or 8.7% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 155 teenagers or 5.1% are 10 to 14, and 281 teenagers or 9.2% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 460 people or 15.0% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 541 people or 17.6% are 30 to 39, 462 people or 15.1% are 40 to 49, and 385 people or 12.5% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 209 people or 6.8% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 189 people or 6.2% are 70 to 79, there are 103 people or 3.4% who are 80 to 89, and there are 17 people or 0.6% who are 90 to 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 SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
which received 30.6% 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...
(28.7%), 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....
(28.2%) 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...
(10.4%).
In Samedan about 75.7% 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...
).
Samedan has an unemployment rate of 1%. , there were 35 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 13 businesses involved in this sector. 554 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 37 businesses in this sector. 1,891 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 194 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 412 |
| 1900 | 967 |
| 1930 | 1,783 |
| 1950 | 1,685 |
| 1980 | 2,553 |
| 2000 | 3,069 |
Languages
Most of the population speaks German (61.5%), with Romansh being second most common (16.7%) and Italian being third (14.9%). Originally, the entire population spoke the Upper-Engadin Romansh dialect of Puter. Due to increasing trade with the outside world, Romansh usage began to decline in the 19th Century. In 1880 only 47% spoke Romansh as a first language, while in 1910 it was 45% and in 1941 it was 42%. The Romansh speaking percentage dropped until in 1970 only 31% spoke it as their first language. In the 1980s Romansh speakers increased slightly, but since then the proportion has decreased. However, in 2000 there were 42% who understood Romansh even if it wasn't their first language.| Languages in Samedan | ||||||
| Languages | Census 1980 | Census 1990 | Census 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| 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.... |
1140 | 44.65 % | 1567 | 54.50 % | 1886 | 61.45 % |
| Romansh | 841 | 32.94 % | 649 | 22.57 % | 511 | 16.65 % |
| Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... |
451 | 17.67 % | 476 | 16.56 % | 458 | 14.92 % |
| Population | 2553 | 100 % | 2875 | 100 % | 3069 | 100 % |
Transportation
It is the administrative center of the upper Engadin region, and services include a regional hospital (Spital Oberengadin), a major RhBRhB
The Rhaetian Railway is a Swiss transport company, owning the largest network of all the private railways in Switzerland. The company operates most of the railways in the Swiss canton of Graubünden as the Swiss federal railway company SBB-CFF-FFS extend only a few kilometres over the cantonal...
railway station
Samedan (Rhaetian Railway station)
Samedan is a railway station in Samedan, Switzerland. It is an important interchange station between the Albula Railway line and the Pontresina-Scuol-Tarasp line. Hourly services operate on each line....
with regular trains towards Pontresina
Pontresina
Pontresina is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.-History and name:The city was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as pontem sarasinam in 1137. In 1237 it was mentioned as de Ponte Sarraceno and in 1303 as ponte sarracino...
, Chur
Chur
Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....
and St. Moritz
St. Moritz
St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
, and a regional airport (Engadin Airport). Both the Bernina Express
Bernina Express
The Bernina Express is an express train connecting Chur in Switzerland with Poschiavo and Tirano in Italy, by crossing the Swiss Alps from north to south. For most of its journey, the train also passes along and through the World Heritage Site known as the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina...
and Glacier Express
Glacier Express
The Glacier Express is an express train connecting railway stations of the two major mountain resorts of St. Moritz and Zermatt in the Swiss Alps. The train is operated jointly by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn and Rhaetian Railway...
trains pass Samedan.
Heritage sites of national significance
The Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and the Library of Fundaziun de Planta 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...
.
Weather
Samedan has an average of 95.5 days of rain per year and on average receives 700 mm (27.6 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 Samedan receives an average of 99 mm (3.9 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.5 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) of precipitation over 5 days.
Cultural references
James BondJames Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
escapes from Blofeld's base at Piz Gloria
Piz Gloria
Piz Gloria is the name of the revolving restaurant on the Schilthorn near Mürren in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. The cable car station and the restaurant were designed by the Bernese architect, Konrad Wolf...
to Samedan in Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963, where the initial and secondary print runs sold out, with over 60,000 books sold in the first month. Fleming wrote the book whilst the first film in the...
where he is rescued by his future wife, Tracy.
The nineteenth century campaigner for women's rights and the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, Josephine butler, holidayed in Samedan in 1881 preferring it to Pontresina. She walked extensively with friends whilst her husband, because of his rheumatism, painted and sketched. He preached at the local protestant church,which was largely run by another English clergyman Mr Eardley