Samedan

Samedan (, ) is a town and municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons.  It is served by Samedan railway station on the Rhaetian Railway network and by the Samedan Airport.

History

Samedan is first mentioned in 1137–1139 as Samadene, and in 1156 as Samadn. For 1288 there is evidence of a residential tower in the upper part of the village. In 1462 Samedan became the seat of lower jurisdiction. In the Swabian War of 1499, the village burned down. In 1551 the parish of Samedan, one of three large parishes in the Upper Engadin, converted to Protestantism. From the 16th century onwards, some families, especially the von Salis and von Planta, became very wealthy and had magnificent houses built in the village. They owed their financial success, among other things, to their political offices, but also to emigration and mercenary service abroad.

In the 19th century, trade and commerce developed earlier and faster in Samedan than anywhere else in the Engadin. Tourism began circa 1830: Hotels were built, mountains were climbed for the first time, and English tourists had an English church erected in 1872 (it was demolished in 1965). A golf course was built in 1893; the Muottas-Muragl-Bahn (a funicular railway) was constructed in 1907.

The first power station was built in 1888 and a major hospital in 1895. Banks and a printer settled in Samedan. In 1903 the town was connected to the Rhaetian Railway; it soon became the most important railway junction in the Engadin. The airfield was opened in 1937; the Protestant school, today's Academia Engiadina, in 1943. On 1 October 1943, Samedan was mistakenly bombed by American planes. Luckily, nobody was hurt. From the 1980s, the formerly Romansh farming village developed into a modern service centre, in which German speakers outnumber Romansh speakers.

Geography

Samedan has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of .  Of this area, about 15.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.7% is forested.   Of the rest of the land, 1.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and 72.9% is unproductive land.  Over the past two decades (1979/85-2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by  and the agricultural land has decreased by .

Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Oberengadin sub-district of the Maloja district in the central Oberengadin valley along the Inn river.  After 2017 it was part of the Maloja Region. 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 Val Roseg, a valley surrounded by the highest mountains of the canton: Piz Bernina, Piz Scerscen and Piz Roseg. Until 1943 Samedan was known as Samaden.

Demographics

Samedan has a population () of .  , 23.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals.  Over the last 3 years (2010–2013) the population has changed at a rate of 1.31%.  The birth rate in the municipality, in 2013, was 8.3 while the death rate was 7.0 per thousand residents.

, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 64.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.3%.

In 2013 there were 1,423 private households in Samedan.  Of the 489 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 21.9% were single family homes and 47.6% were multiple family buildings.  Additionally, about 22.5% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 9.4% were built between 1991 and 2000.  In 2012 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 31.86.  The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.14%.

Historic population
The historical population is given in the following chart:

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 Putèr.  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 was not their first language.

Politics
In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP with 23.8% of the vote.  The next three most popular parties were the FDP (22.5%), the BDP (19.6%) and the SP (16.4%).  In the federal election, a total of 821 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.3%.

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%).

Education
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).

Transportation

It is the administrative center of the upper Engadin region, and services include a regional hospital (Spital Oberengadin), a major RhB 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 funicular Muottas-Muragl-Bahn leads to the top of Muottas Muragl (2454 m).

Economy
, there were a total of 2,891 people employed in the municipality.  Of these, a total of 26 people worked in 8 businesses in the primary economic sector.  The secondary sector employed 500 workers in 51 separate businesses.  Finally, the tertiary sector provided 2,365 jobs in 335 businesses.  In 2013 a total of 31.9% of the population received social assistance.

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 significance.

Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification classifies its climate as subarctic (Dfc). Between 1961 and 1990 Samedan had an average of 95.5 days of rain per year and on average received  of precipitation.  The wettest month was August during which time Samedan received an average of  of precipitation.  During this month there was precipitation for an average of 11.5 days.   The driest month of the year was February with an average of  of precipitation over 5 days.

Cultural references
The Upper Engadine Cultural Archives is housed in the Chesa Planta in Samedan.

James Bond 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.

References

External links
Official website 

 
Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden