Saas Grund

Saas-Grund is a municipality in Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is east of Lenzspitze and Dom.

 History 
Saas-Grund was first mentioned in the year 1438. Back then, it was called grunderro.

On 3 April 1849, an avalanche hit the village. It destroyed a house that was used as a safe place during bad weather. Nineteen people died.

After this event, people built special rooms under the houses near the hill. These rooms were called Lawinengruft, which means avalanche vault. Each vault was about 5 meters long, 4 meters wide, and 2.5 meters high. They were used as shelters during avalanches.

In 1943, a magazine called Die Alpen, made by the Swiss Alpine Club, said that the vaults were last used in the winter of 1887–1888. At that time, only two vaults were still there. Many families shared one vault. If someone wanted to change the vault, they needed to get permission from all the other owners.


References

Other websites

 Official website of Saas-Grund 
 Saas-Grund on Saas-Fee tourism 


Category:Municipalities in Visp