The Rheinwald (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

in the

Canton of Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label=Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Surmiran, (Can ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the Grisons, the Rheinwald, the

Schams thumb , The Schams north of Cagliatscha_Castle.html"_;"title="Andeer.__In_the_top_left,_the_ruins_of_Cagliatscha_Castle">Andeer.__In_the_top_left,_the_ruins_of_Cagliatscha_Castle_ The_Schams_(_rm.html" ;"title="Cagliatscha_Castle_.html" ;"tit ...

and the

Domleschg Domleschg is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Almens, Paspels, Pratval, Rodels and Tomils merged to form the new municipality of Domleschg.

Geography

The Rheinwald is about 26 km long and mainly runs from East to West. It is lined on both sides with peaks of over 3000 m high. The highest peaks are the

Rheinwaldhorn The Rheinwaldhorn ( it, Adula) is the highest point in the Swiss canton of Ticino at 3,402 metres above sea level. It lies on the border between the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino, in the Adula massif, part of the St. Gotthard massif of the ...

(3402 m) to the West and the

Pizzo Tambo Pizzo is an Italian word with multiple meanings. It often means ''peak'' and hence is found in the name of numerous Italian mountains. It may also refer to * Pizzo, Calabria, a seaport in Calabria, Italy * Pizzo (mafia), imposed by a protection ra ...

(3279 m) in the South. The Hinterrhein leaves the valley at the entrance to the

Rofla Gorge The Rofla Gorge ( rm, Puntcrap, german: Roflaschlucht) is an ancient and narrow section of the river Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur between Sufers and Andeer in the canton of Graubünden. This narrow gorge was another obstacle on the approach to t ...

, which separates the Rheinwald from the

valley. Two mountain passes lead South from the Rheinwald: the

San Bernardino Pass San Bernardino Pass ( it, Passo del San Bernardino, german: Bernhardinpass, ) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina (Misox) valleys between Thusis (canton of Graubünden) and B ...

into

Misox The ''Valle Mesolcina'', also known as the ''Val Mesolcina'' or ''Misox'' (German), is an alpine valley of the Grisons, Switzerland, stretching from the San Bernardino Pass to Grono where it joins the Calanca Valley. It is the valley formed by ...

valley and the

Splügen Pass The Splügen Pass (german: Splügenpass; it, Passo dello Spluga; rm, Pass dal Spleia ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the ...

into Val San Giacomo in Italy. The San Bernardino Tunnel (Swiss Highway A13) was opened in 1967 and stays open all winter. Mule tracks on Mount Safierberg and Mount Valserberg connect the Rheinwald with its Northern neighbour

Safien Safien is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The municipalities of Valendas, Versam, Safien and Tenna merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Safiental.

valley and

Vals Vals is the word for waltz in many European languages. Vals or VALS may also refer to: * Peruvian waltz * Venezuelan waltz * Vals (dance), a dance related to Argentine tango * VALS, "Values And Lifestyles," a psychographic segmentation tool Place ...

. Another trail leads through the

Val Curciusa The Val Curciusa is an alpine valley in Graubünden, Switzerland. In the region of the San Bernardino Pass, it provides a connection between the Rheinwald valley and the Misox valley. Location Val Curciusa leads south from Nufenen in the dir ...

valley via Bocchetta di Curciusa Pass and then connects to the San Bernardino. The villages in the valley are all on the Northern bank of the river and between 1420 m and 1620 m high, at the foot of the moderately steep slopes on the sunny side of the valley. The northern slope is covered with many

Alpine meadows Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

; the Southern side also has some meadows, separated by several side valleys.

Municipalities

The economic and cultural center of the valley is

Splügen Splügen ( Romansh: ''Spleia'', Italian: ''Spluga'') is a former municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2006 Splügen incorporated its neighbouring municipality of Medels im Rheinwald. On 1 January ...

. The Rheinwald Kreis is a sub-district of the

Hinterrhein District Hinterrhein District is a former administrative district in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It had an area of and had a population of 13,179 in 2015. Much of the district became part of the Viamala Region on 1 January 2017 as part of a ...

. It includes the municipalities of Hinterrhein,

Nufenen Nufenen (Italian: ''Novena'', Romansh: ''Nueinas'') is a former municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2019 the former municipalities of Hinterrhein, Nufenen and Splügen merged to form the new muni ...

and

Sufers Sufers (Romansh language, Romansh: ''Sur'') is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Viamala Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. History Sufers is first mentioned in 831 as ''Subere''. G ...

. The municipality of Val Curciusa belongs

orographically Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...

to the Rheinwald, but administratively to the district of San Bernardino.

History

The

and the route via Splügen have been used since at least the days of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. The Rheinwald valley, however, was sparsely inhabited until well into the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

. During the 13th Century,

Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser people are named a ...

settlers travelled into the valley, at the behest of the Barons of Sax-Misox and the Barons of Vaz. Their language and culture shape the valley today. The 1286 ''Erblehensbrief'' ("Letter of

enfeoffment In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

") documents the legal relations between the settlers and their ruler. In 1337, after the death of the last Baron of Vaz, the Rheinwald came was given as a dowry to the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans. They sold it in 1493 to the

Trivulzio The House of Trivulzio is the name of an old Italian noble family, most closely associated with Milan, whose members were prominent politicians, military men and various clergymen. History The noble and ancient Trivulzio family was one of the g ...

family of Milan. In 1616, the umbrella contract with the Trivulzio was terminated, and after paying the last interest payment the inhabitants of the Rheinwald obtained full autonomy within the

Grey League The Grey League (german: Grauer Bund, it, Lega Grigia, rm, Ligia Grischa or ), sometimes called ''Oberbund'', formed in 1395 in the ''Vorderrhein'' and '' Hinterrhein'' valleys, Raetia. The name Grey League is derived from the homespun grey cl ...

, to which they had belonged to since around 1400.

References

* Kurt Wanner: ''Unterwegs auf Walserpfaden'', Chur, 1993,

External links

* {{Authority control Rheinwald Regions of Switzerland Valleys of Graubünden Geography of Graubünden