Engadin
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46°32′59″N 9°53′45″E / 46.5497°N 9.8959°E
The Engadin or Engadine (
Name
In English, the valley is either known as Engadin (German pronunciation: [ˈɛŋɡadiːn] ⓘ, locally also [ɛŋɡaˈdiːn])[2] or Engadine (/ˈɛŋɡədiːn/ ENG-gə-deen,[3] US also /ˌɛŋɡəˈdiːn/ ENG-gə-DEEN).[4][5]
The Romansh toponym Engiadina was first attested as Latin vallis Eniatina in AD 930. A derivation from the reconstructed ethnonym *Eniates (with a Celtic suffix -ates denoting "settlers, inhabitants", as in Licates or Atrebates) has been suggested, with the first part of the ethnonym in turn containing the name of the En (Aenus (Enus)).[6] By that derivation the name would mean lit. '"Valley of the Inn people"'.
Especially in touristic and advertising contexts, the meaning of the name is widely given as "garden of the Inn", presumably based on an incorrect folk etymology involving the Italian word giardino.[7] Note that the Romansh languages retained descendants of Latin hortus to refer to a garden, namely üert or iert, and not the ultimately Germanic loanword found in modern-day French and Italian.
Geography
The Engadine lies at the most southeastern end of Switzerland and at the western end of the
The Engadine is connected by the
The highest mountains of the wider area of the Engadine is the Bernina Range in the southwestern part. The formation of the Engadine is linked to the activity of the Engadine Line.
The Engadine is traditionally divided into two parts:
- The Upper Engadine, from Maloja Pass to the dell near Brail,[1] in the west, where the valley stays fairly flat and is remarkably wide (up to 1.5 km (0.93 mi)) as far as S-chanf. Its major center is St. Moritz and very bustling during touristic peak seasons, winter and summer. The traditionally spoken Romansh idiom in the Upper Engadine is called Putèr.[1]
- The Lower Engadine, from Vallader.[1]
Upper Engadine
The Upper Engadine (
The resort of St. Moritz at around 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) sits on Lej da San Murezzan. It was the host city for the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics. There are numerous ski resorts in the area served by the ski areas of Piz Corvatsch and Piz Nair.
Northeast of St. Moritz lies the village of
The highest mountain in the wider area of the Engadine – and in the Eastern Alps – is Piz Bernina, which is 4,049 metres (13,284 ft) high and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of St. Moritz.
Further down from Samedan to the northeast are a number of villages lying on the banks of the Inn. One of it is Zuoz (1,720 m (5,640 ft)), which is a village of typical Engadine houses, with large, thick stone and masonry walls, funnel-shaped windows, and wall paintings called sgraffito. These houses are large and are traditionally shared by two or more families, and they may have what used to be a stable or livestock area underneath. In a typical Engadine village, there are numerous fountains, free-flowing all year round, which were formerly used for drinking water, washing, and for watering livestock.[8]
The red trains by
The RhB also connects the Upper Engadine with the Lower Engadine as far as
Immediately next to northeast of Zuoz is the village of S-chanf, which is the end of the large flat meadows next to the Inn. Every year, there is a famous mass-cross-country ski race called the Engadin Skimarathon from Maloja, across the frozen lakes and over the open meadows and ending in S-chanf; 11'000 to 13'000 skiers participate every year.
Below S-chanf the landscape suddenly changes. The Inn, now rather wild, flows through a deep gorge with steep walls and meadows give way to larch woods. At Zernez, the Inn valley opens up again for a short distance. In Zernez (1,470 m (4,820 ft)) the Fuorn Pass goes south, passing through the Val del Spöl on its north side, where one part of the Swiss National Park is also to be found, to the Romansh-speaking Val Müstair (German: Münstertal) on its south side.[8]
The border between the Upper and Lower Engadine is at the dell near
Lower Engadine
With
: Unterengadin) begins. Here the villages are no longer located on the valley floor, with the exception of Zernez, but higher up on sunny terraces formed during glacial periods.In contrast to the elevated plain of the Upper Engadine, where the upper reaches of the En flow gently down the valley, the geological background of the Lower Engadine forms a very different landscape. The right flank of the valley, the Lower Engadine Dolomites, is highly jagged, densely forested and steep. Glaciers and rivers have marked the left side of the valley in many different ways, where the geological structure has allowed for the formation of a fairly broad valley floor and softly rising, rounded landscape features with high-lying terraces, which is where most of the villages - with the notable exception of the main town Scuol - are located.[10]
To the north, another train route connects the Lower Engadine with
Samnaun, as well as all larger and even most smaller villages in the main valley or its side valleys, is connected by regular PostBus Switzerland services with RhB stations either in Scuol or any other stop further up the main valley. Regular bus services connects Scuol also via Martina and the Austrian Pfunds with the Landeck-Zams in the Tyrolian Upper Inn Valley (German: (Tiroler) Oberinntal). Here you meet the main railway line between Zürich – Innsbruck – Salzburg – Vienna. PostBus Switzerland also connects the main valley from Zernez with the Val Müstair or even further to the South-Tyrolian Mals, and by an Italian bus service back to the Lower Engadine via Martina, or vice versa.
Demographics
In the Upper Engadine, as a result of the strong influx of people related to tourism, mainly from outside of Switzerland (mainly from Italy, Austria, Germany), the number of (Swiss) German and Italian speakers outnumber Romansh speakers, and in the heavily touristed village of St. Moritz there are few Romansh speakers to be found. In the Lower Engadine, Romansch is still the most widely spoken language, but almost all of the people also speak the Grisonian Swiss German and (the Swiss variety of) Standard German as a second and third language. Most place signs in both the Upper and Lower Engadine show both languages (German/Italian and Romansh), e.g. St. Moritz - San Murezzan, Sils - Segl, Celerina - Schlarigna.
Lakes
Lake | Area | Elevation |
---|---|---|
Lake Sils | 4.1 km2 | 1797 m |
Lake Silvaplana | 2.7 km2 | 1791 m |
Lake Champfèr |
||
Lake St. Moritz | 0.78 km2 | 1768 m |
Tourism
History of tourism
St. Moritz is a major resort of the Alps. Tourism started in the 19th century. It is also one of the oldest
In the Lower Engadine tourism became important in 1913 with the opening of the train station in Scuol, since then it has been well connected to the rest of Switzerland. In 1369 the mineral sources in Scuol were mentioned for the first time but the health benefits were known even earlier. The most important tourism attraction is the Bogn Engiadina Scuol inaugurated in 1993. With 80 km of courses, the inauguration of the Motta Naluns ski area in 1956 was another important date in the history of tourism in Scuol.
Further, the opening of the Vereina tunnel in 1999 reduced the trip length from Zürich to Scuol considerably so now it is possible to do a one-day trip to Scuol, visit the Bogn Engiadina and return in the evening.
Traditions
Though no one knows how far back it dates, the traditional winter horse-drawn sleigh ride takes place every winter. Many of the sleighs once came from local families who have been living in the area over many generations. The fact that their carriages go as far back as they do, helps to identify the tradition as one that has possibly been around for centuries.
The Schlittéda ("sleigh ride"; German: Schlittenfahrt) is composed of many sleighs, each carrying a young woman and a young man paired up by a lottery, and one sleigh carrying a musician or group of musicians to serenade the riders and the accompanying audience.
Typical black and red Engadine dress is used by the townspeople and the horses are decorated with plumage and trimmings in addition to the bells. Throughout the day-long ride, stops, that have been planned ahead of time, are made where eating, dancing, and drinking occur. At the end of the night, the young woman's companion (who had been selected by lottery) is invited to her home for more celebratory dining.
Local cuisine
The Engadine cuisine has not lost its originality. This regional cuisine is characterized by the use of selected local spices which have the rare ability to infuse a dish with a certain Engadine taste. In general, the basic ingredients of the dishes are quite elementary, using potatoes and meat because the Engadine farmers of former times had a hard daily working life. Additionally, expensive ingredients were not available to the mainly poor farmers. Because of the local way of preparation, dishes vary from kitchen to kitchen and village to village.
Notes
- Sutsilvan, it is Gidegna.
- Sutsilvan, it is Gidegn'Òlta.
- Sutsilvan, it is Gidegna Bassa.
Bibliography
- Karsten Plöger: Das Engadin. Biografie einer Landschaft. Hier und Jetzt Verlag, Zürich 2023, ISBN 978-3-03919-579-4.
- Karsten Plöger: The Engadine. Biography of a Landscape. Hier und Jetzt Verlag, Zürich 2023, ISBN 978-3-03919-603-6.
- Poltéra, Maggie. "Das Kochbuch aus Graubünden", Verlag Wolfgang Hölker GmbH 1979.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Ottavio Clavuot: Engadin in Romansh, German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2014-09-04.
- ^ "Engadin, das". Duden. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ "Engadine". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Engadine". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Engadine". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ Hans Lieb: Eniates in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2015-12-22.
- ^ Strada-Martina (Municipality of Valsot)
- ^ Federal Office of Topography. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 404.
- ^ http://www.guarda.ch/index.php?lang=3&idcatside=95 Archived 2012-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Extract from : Guarda, Not Caviezel, © Schweizer Kunstführer, published by the Society for Swiss Art History
- ^ Potter, Everett (21 November 2019). "St Moritz, The Birthplace Of Winter Sports". Forbes. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
You can make a strong case that the origins of modern winter sports lie here, starting in the 1860's with hotelier Johannes Badrutt, who welcomed a steady stream of well-heeled British guests to his small Kulm Hotel.
- ISBN 9781137599087.
The launching of the Cook excursions in Britain (1841), the appearance of the first Baedekker guide (1843), the inauguration of a winter "season" in Saint Moritz (1864), the creation of Yellowstone (1877): these were the important markers of its growth path [mass tourism].
External links
- Engiadina in Romansh, German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2014-04-09.
- Culture archive of the Engadin
- Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). pp. 403–404.
- Webcams of the Engadin
- Vegetation map Upper Engadine, 1:50'000, GIS, June 2010 ISBN 978-3-033-02480-9