Vals, Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Vals is a municipality
in the district of Surselva
in the canton
of Graubünden
in Switzerland
.
around the thermal baths and Tomül pass as well as Iron Age
items on the slopes of the Valserberg indicate that this area was used before written history. In the 11th and 12th Centuries the Valser valley was extensively used by the local Romansh
. Vals is first mentioned in mid 12th Century as in Valle. About 1290 they were 4 to 7 farm houses with flocks of sheep.
In the 13th Century, the Walser
were driven from the canton of Wallis
in south-west Switzerland into the Valser valley. The expansion of the Walliser German speaking Walser stopped in 1457 when they were forbidden from marrying or buying land from the Romansh speaking locals. They were able to settle at the end of the valley because that was the only place that wasn't claimed. The Walser also brought with them the Valliser style of house, which uses more wood than stone and has triangular roofs.
is described as Per fess Or a bend couped embattled bretesse Sable and of the second a Key in bend wards inwards of the first. The key represents Saint Peter
who was on the old municipal seal while the cross shape represents the rights of the barons of Belmont
.
The municipality is located in the Lugnez sub-district of the Surselva district. It consists of the village of Vals at an elevation of 1252 m (4,107.6 ft) and the hamlets
of Leis at an elevation of 1526 m (5,006.6 ft)). The highest point of the municipality is reached on Rheinwaldhorn
on 3,402 m (11,161 ft).
Zervreilasee
is a reservoir in the valley, formed by a dam on the Vals Rhine.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The age distribution, , in Vals is; 94 children or 10.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 93 teenagers or 10.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 88 people or 9.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 114 people or 12.9% are between 30 and 39, 127 people or 14.4% are between 40 and 49, and 115 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 104 people or 11.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 105 people or 11.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 40 people or 4.5% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 5 people or 0.6% who are between 90 and 99.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 63.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(19.8%), the SP
(11.6%) and the FDP
(3.9%).
In Vals about 70.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
).
Vals has an unemployment rate of 1.08%. , there were 75 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 30 businesses involved in this sector. 166 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 15 businesses in this sector. 338 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 41 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
, it is known for its thermal baths (Therme Vals
). It is the source of the Valser mineral water and Valserstein, a granite with many minerals in it giving it a sparkle.
. The wettest month is August during which time Vals receives an average of 144 mm (5.7 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 12.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.8, but with only 129 mm (5.1 in) of precipitation. The driest month of the year is January with an average of 55 mm (2.2 in) of precipitation over 12.6 days.
.
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 Surselva
Surselva (district)
Surselva District is an administrative district in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has an area of and has a population of ....
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...
in 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....
.
History
Archeological finds from the Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
around the thermal baths and Tomül pass as well as Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
items on the slopes of the Valserberg indicate that this area was used before written history. In the 11th and 12th Centuries the Valser valley was extensively used by the local Romansh
Romansh people
The Romansh people are a people and ethnic group of Switzerland, native speakers of the Romansh language. However, nowadays they almost always are multilingual, speaking also German and sometimes Italian, which are the other official language of Graubünden, the canton where they are...
. Vals is first mentioned in mid 12th Century as in Valle. About 1290 they were 4 to 7 farm houses with flocks of sheep.
In the 13th Century, the 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...
were driven from the canton of Wallis
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...
in south-west Switzerland into the Valser valley. The expansion of the Walliser German speaking Walser stopped in 1457 when they were forbidden from marrying or buying land from the Romansh speaking locals. They were able to settle at the end of the valley because that was the only place that wasn't claimed. The Walser also brought with them the Valliser style of house, which uses more wood than stone and has triangular roofs.
Coat of arms
The municipal coat of armsHeraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
is described as Per fess Or a bend couped embattled bretesse Sable and of the second a Key in bend wards inwards of the first. The key represents Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
who was on the old municipal seal while the cross shape represents the rights of the barons of Belmont
Belmont
-Sport:* Belmont Stakes, a horse race* Belmont Bombers, a junior ice hockey team in Belmont, Ontario* Belmont Shore RFC, a rugby union team in Long Beach, California-Automobiles:* Belmont , an American electric car sold in 1916...
.
Geography
Vals has an area, , of 152.6 km² (58.9 sq mi). Of this area, 34.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (57.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).The municipality is located in the Lugnez sub-district of the Surselva district. It consists of the village of Vals at an elevation of 1252 m (4,107.6 ft) 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 Leis at an elevation of 1526 m (5,006.6 ft)). The highest point of the municipality is reached on Rheinwaldhorn
Rheinwaldhorn
The Rheinwaldhorn is the highest point in the Swiss canton of Ticino at 3402m. It lies on the border between the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino, in the Adula massif, part of the St. Gotthard massif of the Lepontine Alps in southern Switzerland....
on 3,402 m (11,161 ft).
Zervreilasee
Zervreilasee
Zervreilasee is a reservoir near Vals in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland. The lake has a surface area of 1.61 km² and an elevation of 1,862 m. The maximum depth is 140 m....
is a reservoir in the valley, formed by a dam on the Vals Rhine.
Demographics
Vals has a population (as of ) of . , 10.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1.4%. Most of the population speaks German (94.4%), with Romansh being second most common ( 2.3%) and Italian being third ( 0.8%)., the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The age distribution, , in Vals is; 94 children or 10.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 93 teenagers or 10.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 88 people or 9.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 114 people or 12.9% are between 30 and 39, 127 people or 14.4% are between 40 and 49, and 115 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 104 people or 11.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 105 people or 11.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 40 people or 4.5% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 5 people or 0.6% 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 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...
which received 63.9% 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...
(19.8%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(11.6%) and 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....
(3.9%).
In Vals about 70.3% 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...
).
Vals has an unemployment rate of 1.08%. , there were 75 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 30 businesses involved in this sector. 166 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 15 businesses in this sector. 338 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 41 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1658 | 800 |
| 1850 | 761 |
| 1900 | 736 |
| 1950 | 943 |
| 1970 | 1,037 |
| 2000 | 885 |
Tourism
Located in the Valser valleyValser valley
The Valser valley is located in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. Originally the valley was cimply called .- Geography :The Valser valley is roughly 16 kilometers long valley. At Uors, it branches off to the south from the Val Lumnezia. The valley is drained by the Valser Rhine. There...
, it is known for its thermal baths (Therme Vals
Therme Vals
Therme Vals is the hotel/spa complex in Vals, built over the only thermal springs in the Graubünden canton in Switzerland.- History :In the 1960s a German property developer, Karl Kurt Vorlop, built a hotel complex with over 1,000 beds to take advantage of the naturally occurring thermal springs...
). It is the source of the Valser mineral water and Valserstein, a granite with many minerals in it giving it a sparkle.
Weather
Vals has an average of 121.1 days of rain per year and on average receives 1185 mm (46.7 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 Vals receives an average of 144 mm (5.7 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 12.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.8, but with only 129 mm (5.1 in) of precipitation. The driest month of the year is January with an average of 55 mm (2.2 in) of precipitation over 12.6 days.
Heritage sites of national significance
The double house at Nr. 81 is listed as a Swiss heritage site 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...
.
External links
- http://www.vals.ch
- Therme Vals