Pontresina
Encyclopedia
Pontresina is a municipality
in the district of Maloja
in the canton
of Graubünden
in Switzerland
.
It is essential though to have a bridge to use the Bernina pass
and it would make sense to build this before the confluence of Ova da Bernina and Ova da Roseg due to the amount of water to cross.
The municipality is located in the Oberengadin sub-district of the Maloja district. It sits in Val Bernina, which is the highest altitude valley that branches off the Upper Engadin Valley
. Pontresina is a noted tourist destination in its own right, but is often overshadowed by its more famous neighbor St. Moritz
.
It consists of the old village sections of Laret, San Spiert as well as Giarsun and the new sections on the mountain slopes (including Muragls).
Nearby glaciers include the Morteratsch Glacier
and the Roseg Glacier
. The Morteratsch has a ski lift and a long run down the glacier. The Roseg Valley has a groomed cross country ski trail along its length.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The age distribution, , in Pontresina is; 165 children or 7.5% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 95 teenagers or 4.3% are 10 to 14, and 136 teenagers or 6.2% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 438 people or 20.0% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 435 people or 19.9% are 30 to 39, 354 people or 16.2% are 40 to 49, and 269 people or 12.3% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 153 people or 7.0% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 97 people or 4.4% are 70 to 79, there are 45 people or 2.1% who are 80 to 89, and there are 4 people or 0.2% who are 90 to 99.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the FDP
which received 35.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(34.1%), the SP
(17%) and the CVP
(8.1%).
In Pontresina about 62.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
).
Pontresina has an unemployment rate of 1.26%. , there were 19 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 323 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 22 businesses in this sector. 1,073 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 124 businesses in this sector.
From the , 1,055 or 48.2% are Roman Catholic, while 713 or 32.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
. Of the rest of the population, there are 40 individuals (or about 1.83% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 56 individuals (or about 2.56% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are less than 5 individuals who are Jewish
, and 27 (or about 1.23% of the population) who are Islam
ic. There are 10 individuals (or about 0.46% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 158 (or about 7.21% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 132 individuals (or about 6.02% of the population) did not answer the question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
Romansh dialect of Puter. Due to increasing trade with the outside world, Romansh usage began to decline. In 1880 only 45.7% spoke Romansh as a first language, while in 1900 it was only 33.61%. Romansh continued to decline in the 20th Century (1941 26.7%, 1970 16.22%, 2000 7.94%).
is a fair sized facility positioned to the west of the town which serves a wide area and a youth hostel. Several bus lines of the Engadin Bus company also serve the area and there is a chair lift for skiing in the winter months, and walking in the summer months. The area has road links to the neighbouring, larger town of St Moritz.
. The wettest month is August during which time Pontresina receives an average of 104 mm (4.1 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 10.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 31 mm (1.2 in) of precipitation over 10.7 days.
.
The old parish church
and currently a village church of S. Maria is a late-Romanesque
structure. The church has several significant paintings on the walls. The tower and north and west walls are from an earlier church, most likely from the 12th Century.
A historical transport route of wine across the alps passes Pontresina and continues towards Davos across Scaletta Pass
that lost importance completely when roads were built elswhere.
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 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 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. Some historians translate it as The Bridge of the Saracens and see in it a reference to a tenth-century Arab invasion of the lands that later became Switzerland.It is essential though to have a bridge to use the Bernina pass
Bernina Pass
The Bernina Pass is a high mountain pass in the Bernina Range of the Alps, in the canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland. It connects the famous resort town of St. Moritz in the Engadin valley with the Italian-speaking Val Poschiavo, which ends in the Italian town of Tirano in Valtellina....
and it would make sense to build this before the confluence of Ova da Bernina and Ova da Roseg due to the amount of water to cross.
Geography
Pontresina has an area, , of 118.2 km² (45.6 sq mi). Of this area, 16.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 8.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.6% 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. It sits in Val Bernina, which is the highest altitude valley that branches off the Upper Engadin Valley
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...
. Pontresina is a noted tourist destination in its own right, but is often overshadowed by its more famous neighbor 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...
.
It consists of the old village sections of Laret, San Spiert as well as Giarsun and the new sections on the mountain slopes (including Muragls).
Nearby glaciers include the Morteratsch Glacier
Morteratsch Glacier
The Morteratsch Glacier is the largest glacier by area in the Bernina Range of the Bündner Alps in Switzerland....
and the Roseg Glacier
Roseg Glacier
The Roseg Glacier is a 4 km long glacier situated in the Bernina Range in the canyon of Graubünden in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of 8.52 km².-External links:*...
. The Morteratsch has a ski lift and a long run down the glacier. The Roseg Valley has a groomed cross country ski trail along its length.
Demographics
Pontresina has a population (as of ) of . , 29.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 3.9%., the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The age distribution, , in Pontresina is; 165 children or 7.5% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 95 teenagers or 4.3% are 10 to 14, and 136 teenagers or 6.2% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 438 people or 20.0% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 435 people or 19.9% are 30 to 39, 354 people or 16.2% are 40 to 49, and 269 people or 12.3% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 153 people or 7.0% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 97 people or 4.4% are 70 to 79, there are 45 people or 2.1% who are 80 to 89, and there are 4 people or 0.2% 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 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....
which received 35.2% 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...
(34.1%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(17%) 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...
(8.1%).
In Pontresina about 62.6% 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...
).
Pontresina has an unemployment rate of 1.26%. , there were 19 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 323 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 22 businesses in this sector. 1,073 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 124 businesses in this sector.
From the , 1,055 or 48.2% are Roman Catholic, while 713 or 32.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there are 40 individuals (or about 1.83% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 56 individuals (or about 2.56% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are less than 5 individuals who are Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 27 (or about 1.23% of the population) who are Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There are 10 individuals (or about 0.46% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 158 (or about 7.21% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 132 individuals (or about 6.02% of the population) did not answer the question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 270 |
| 1900 | 488 |
| 1950 | 774 |
| 1960 | 1,067 |
| 1970 | 1,646 |
| 1980 | 1,726 |
| 1990 | 1,604 |
| 2000 | 2,191 |
Languages
Most of the population speaks German (57.7%), with Italian being second most common (16.1%) and Portuguese being third ( 9.0%). Until the 19th Century, the entire population spoke the Upper-EngadinEngadin
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...
Romansh dialect of Puter. Due to increasing trade with the outside world, Romansh usage began to decline. In 1880 only 45.7% spoke Romansh as a first language, while in 1900 it was only 33.61%. Romansh continued to decline in the 20th Century (1941 26.7%, 1970 16.22%, 2000 7.94%).
| Languages in Pontresina GR | ||||||
| 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.... |
990 | 57.36 % | 993 | 61.91 % | 1264 | 57.69 % |
| Romansh | 250 | 14.48 % | 194 | 12.09 % | 174 | 7.94 % |
| 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... |
362 | 20.97 % | 290 | 18.08 % | 353 | 16.11 % |
| Population | 1726 | 100 % | 1604 | 100 % | 2191 | 100 % |
Transportation
Pontresina railway stationPontresina (Rhaetian Railway station)
Pontresina is a station on the Bernina Railway line from St. Moritz to Tirano. It is also the terminus of the Pontresina-Scuol-Tarasp railway line. Hourly services operate on each line.-Rhaetian Railway services:*R5 - 1tp*R7 - 1tph...
is a fair sized facility positioned to the west of the town which serves a wide area and a youth hostel. Several bus lines of the Engadin Bus company also serve the area and there is a chair lift for skiing in the winter months, and walking in the summer months. The area has road links to the neighbouring, larger town of St Moritz.
Weather
Pontresina has an average of 97.8 days of rain per year and on average receives 799 mm (31.5 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 Pontresina receives an average of 104 mm (4.1 in) of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 10.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 31 mm (1.2 in) of precipitation over 10.7 days.
Heritage sites of national significance
The Church of S. Maria, Grand Hotel Kronenhof and the Spaniola tower 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...
.
The old parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
and currently a village church of S. Maria is a late-Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
structure. The church has several significant paintings on the walls. The tower and north and west walls are from an earlier church, most likely from the 12th Century.
A historical transport route of wine across the alps passes Pontresina and continues towards Davos across Scaletta Pass
Scaletta Pass
Scaletta Pass is a mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It lies in the Albula Range of the Alps. The path from Dischma leads to Cinuos-chel in the Inn Valley...
that lost importance completely when roads were built elswhere.