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At
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...
, Säntis is the highest
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
in the
Alpstein The Alpstein are a subgroup of the Appenzell Alps in Switzerland. The Alpstein massif is in Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen. Despite it being rather low when compared to other Alpine peaks – the highest mountain ...
massif of northeastern
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 ...
. It is also the culminating point of the whole
Appenzell Alps The Appenzell Alps (german: Appenzeller Alpen) are a mountain range in Switzerland on the northern edge of the Alps. They extend into the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and St. Gallen and are bordered by the Glarus Alps ...
, between
Lake Walen The Walensee, also known as ''Lake Walen'' or ''Lake Walenstadt'' from Walenstadt, is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland, with about two thirds of its area in the Canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the Canton of Glarus. Other towns an ...
and
Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
. Shared by three
cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
, the mountain is a highly visible landmark thanks to its exposed northerly position within the Alpstein massif. As a consequence, houses called ''Säntisblick'' (English: ''Säntis view'') can be found in regions as far away as the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
in Germany. Säntis is among the most prominent summits in the Alps and the most prominent summit in Europe with an observation deck on the top. The panorama from the summit is spectacular. Six countries can be seen if the weather allows: Switzerland,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.


Geography

Säntis is located in the Alpstein region, nearly (as the crow flies) southwest of the town of Appenzell. Three cantons meet on Säntis:
Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Ausserrhoden; rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadora; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Esterno) is one of the 26 canton ...
, Appenzell Innerrhoden, and
St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...
, the mountain being split between the municipalities of
Hundwil Hundwil is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. History Hundwil is first mentioned in 921 as ''Huntwilare''. Geography Hundwil has an area, , of . Of this area, 58.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while ...
, Schwende and Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann. Even though its summit is at only 2502 metres above sea level, the mountain ranks number 13th in the Alps and 29th in Europe in
topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
at . Peaks with high prominence often have impressive summit views, even if their elevations are relatively modest, Säntis being a prime example. Säntis is also the highest mountain of both cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden.


Climate

The exposed position of Säntis results in weather conditions normally observed in the
high Alps The High Alps are the parts of the Alps unsuitable for habitation or seasonal transhumance. This includes all regions higher than 3,000 m above sea level, as well as most regions between 2,500 m and 3,000 m (Juf at 2,126 m is the highest permanent ...
, which means being a typically
polar climate The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month in a polar climate has an average temperature of less than . Regions with polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''ET'') with heavy precipitation not found in most of the
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
. For example, in April 1999, just beneath the summit on the northern snowfield of the mountain, a snow height of was recorded. The daily mean temperature is with a
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
of per year.


Panorama


History

The name ''Säntis'' dates back to the 9th century. It is an abbreviation of the
Romansh language Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Putèr: ; Sutsilvan: , , ; Jauer: ) is a Gallo-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grison ...
for ''Sambatinus'' (English: ''the one born on Saturday''), which was thought to be the name of a nearby area. The name was later used to refer to the summit. In the German language it was called ''Semptis'' or ''Sämptis''. The mountain later gave its name to a canton of the
Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...
(1798–1803).


Weather station

The International Meteorological Congress of Rome in 1879 declared it as a necessity to build
weather stations A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...
on adequate and accessible summits. Therefore, the Swiss built a weather station on Säntis. The position of the northern ridge proved to be ideal for such an endeavour. The weather station was commissioned in autumn of 1882.


Säntis murder

The so-called ''Säntismord'' (English: ''Säntis murder'') happened in the winter of 1922. It refers to a crime in which the weather station keeper Heinrich Haas and his wife Maria Magdalena were murdered. The murder was only discovered because of missing weather reports on 21 February. As a result of the missing reports, a search party was sent to Säntis, where they discovered the bodies. The prime suspect was shoemaker Gregor Anton Kreuzpointner, who committed suicide three weeks after the murder. The truth about this double murder hence remains unclear to this day.


Lightning measurements station

Säntis has one of the highest rate of lightning strikes in Europe. In 2010 a lightning measurement station was installed atop a tall telecommunications tower on the mountain by the Electromagnetic Compatibility Lab of the EPFL in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
. The station automatically records about one
gigabyte The gigabyte () is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix ''giga'' means 109 in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one gigabyte is one billion bytes. The unit symbol for the gigabyte is GB. This defini ...
of data per strike and then notifies researchers. In the first nine months of operation it recorded about 50 strikes, including 7 positive lightning strikes. Since 2021, a research consortium led by
Jean-Pierre Wolf Jean-Pierre Wolf (born July 14, 1960) is a French and Swiss physicist and biophotonics expert and a professor at the Applied Physics Department (GAP) of the University of Geneva. Education and career Wolf was born in Lausanne and studied physic ...
has been testing a ''laser
lightning rod A lightning rod or lightning conductor (British English) is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducte ...
'' system from here, firing short 0.7 TW
laser pulse A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
s into clouds to stimulate lightning discharge.


Economy


Transmission tower

Located at the peak of Säntis is a 123.55 meter high
transmission tower A transmission tower, also known as an electricity pylon or simply a pylon in British English and as a hydro tower in Canadian English, is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. In electrical gri ...
, which was commissioned in November 1997. The original tower, built in 1955, had to be renovated several times due to the rough weather conditions before finally being replaced. The antenna of the new transmission tower got a fibre-glass enforced plastic layer on the outside in order to prevent ice falling onto the visitors' terrace. Swiss radio channels such as DRS 1, DRS 2, DRS 3, RSR la Première and RSI Rete Uno are broadcast from the tower. Swiss television channels such as SF 1, SF 2, SF Info, TSR 1 and TSI 1 are also broadcast from this location.


Tourism

Today, the summit is easily accessible by
aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...
from Schwägalp. It had been a popular destination for tourists since the mid 19th century. However, even though many ideas to make the summit more easily accessible existed since those days, it took almost another century for them to materialize. Many approaches, using various types of railways starting from several nearby towns, were tried, but ultimately failed. One project planned to access Säntis from
Wasserauen Wasserauen is a place in the district of Schwende in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland. The settlement consists of a few farms, the terminus stations of the railway line Gossau – Appenzell – Wasserauen of the Appenzeller B ...
or
Unterwasser Unterwasser ( en, Underwater) is a village in the Toggenburg region of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, situated at the confluence of the two streams forming the upper Thur (Switzerland), Thur (known as ''Säntisthur'' and ''Wildhausthur''). ...
by rack-and-pinion railway. While the lower section of this project between Appenzell and
Wasserauen Wasserauen is a place in the district of Schwende in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland. The settlement consists of a few farms, the terminus stations of the railway line Gossau – Appenzell – Wasserauen of the Appenzeller B ...
was built and is still part of today's active railway network, the rest of it was halted due to a lack of funding. Finally, local businessman Dr. Carl Meyer of Herisau came forward with the idea to construct an aerial tramway from the base of the mountain, at Schwägalp, and build a mountain road from the nearby town of
Urnäsch Urnäsch is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland. History In 831 AD a part of Urnäsch known as ''Färchen'' was first mentioned. In 1344 the village is sold to the German Earl ''Werdenberg'', but later the Abbey ...
for easier access to its lower terminal. On 22 September 1933, his project was ultimately selected for construction and Meyer was awarded with the necessary licences by the federal government. Finally, on 1 July 1935, the aerial tramway started operations. The original cabins were replaced by larger ones in 1960. The entire aerial tramway installation was replaced between 1968 and 1976. In 2000, new cabins were commissioned. The aerial tramway Luftseilbahn Schwägalp-Säntis is one of the most frequented tramways in Switzerland. It has a total length of 2307 meters. The altitude gain between the terminals is 1123 meters. The journey takes roughly 8 minutes. The first tramway was constructed from 1933 to 1935.


Miscellaneous

In honour of the Swiss National Day, which is celebrated 1 August each year, the world's largest Swiss flag was to be seen on Säntis from 31 July – 2 August 2009. The square national flag was 120 meters each side and weighed 1.2 tons. The flag ripped on 2 August 2009 due to strong winds in the area.20 Minuten, Printausgabe vom 3. August 2009


See also

*
List of most isolated mountains of Switzerland A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of mountains of Switzerland accessible by public transport This is a list of mountains of Switzerland above 800 metres whose summits are accessible by public transport. This list includes mountains with a topographic prominence of at least 30 metres that have a station above the height of their key col a ...


References


External links


Säntis on SummitPost
*
''Säntis Sepp''-Webcam

Säntis-Schwebebahn AG

Säntis: pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santis Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of the Alps Mountains of the canton of St. Gallen Mountains of Appenzell Innerrhoden Mountains of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Tourist attractions in the canton of St. Gallen Cable cars in Switzerland Highest points of Swiss cantons Appenzell Alps Two-thousanders of Switzerland Appenzell Ausserrhoden–Appenzell Innerrhoden border Appenzell Ausserrhoden–St. Gallen border Appenzell Innerrhoden–St. Gallen border