Urserental
Encyclopedia
Reuss River
The Reuss is a river in Switzerland. With a length of and a drainage basin of , it is the fourth largest river in Switzerland...
in Uri
Canton of Uri
Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...
, 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....
, running southwest to northeast, from Realp
Realp
Realp is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.-Geography:Realp has an area, , of . Of this area, 41.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.6% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
to Hospental
Hospental
Hospental is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.-History:Hospental is first mentioned in 1285 as Hospenthal. In 1499 it was mentioned under its latin name as Hospicium, and in 1616 as Spithal.-Geography:...
and Andermatt
Andermatt
Andermatt is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.With Realp and Hospental, it is located in the Urseren valley, south of Altdorf.-Geography:...
.
Separated from the main valley of Uri, it connects to the Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
via the Furkapass, to the Grisons via the Oberalppass and to the Ticino
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...
via the Gotthard Pass.
The valley was in possession of Disentis Abbey
Disentis Abbey
Disentis Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the Canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis grew up.-Foundation to 19th century:...
from 800. It was colonized by 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...
settlers prior to the 12th century.
The Blutgericht
Blutgericht
Blood Court or high justice in the Holy Roman Empire referred to the right of a Vogt to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty.Not every Vogt held the blood court...
lay with the counts of Rapperswil from 1232, in 1283 passing to the house of Habsburg, and in 1317 to local nobility of Uri. In 1332, there was a skirmish between settlers and troops of the abbey's at Oberalp, resulting in a defeat of Disentis. Urseren became reichsfrei in 1382 and joined the Old Swiss Confederacy
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
in 1410, and associated itself with Uri for purposes of defence and external representation, however retaining privileges as an independent territory. In 1649, Urseren bought itself out of the last remaining ties to Disentis.
In 1798, Urseren became part of the canton of Waldstätten
Canton of Waldstätten
Waldstätten was a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, combining the territories of the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy, Uri , Schwyz and both cantons of Unterwalden, which were collectively known as Waldstätten since the 14th century, along with Zug,...
of the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
, and in 1803 became part of the canton of Uri
Canton of Uri
Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...
. In 1946, there were clashes between locals and the Swiss Army over a disputed dam project which intended to flood the entire valley.