The Urseren (also ''Ursern'') is the valley of the upper

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) *Reuss (river) in Switzerland *Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss *Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line (House of Reuss), members incl ...

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

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 ...

, running southwest to northeast, from

Realp Realp (archaic : ''Frialp'') is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History Realp is first mentioned in 1363 as ''Riealb''. Geography Realp has an area, , of . Of this area, 41.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.3% i ...

Hospental Hospental (locally ''Oschpidall'') is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History Hospental is first mentioned in 1285 as ''Hospenthal''. In 1499 it was mentioned under its Latin name as ''Hospicium'', and in 1616 as ''Spithal'' ...

and

Andermatt Andermatt ( rm, ) is a mountain village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. At an elevation of above sea level, Andermatt is located at the center of the Saint-Gotthard Massif and the historical center cross of north-south and e ...

. Separated from the main valley of Uri, it connects to the

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

via the

Furkapass Furka Pass (french: Le Col de la Furka), with an elevation of , is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting Gletsch, Valais with Realp, Uri. The Furka Oberalp Bahn line through the Furka Tunnel bypasses the pass. The base tunnel ope ...

, to the

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, (Cant ...

via the

Oberalppass Oberalp Pass ( rm, Alpsu or ''Cuolm d'Ursera''; german: Oberalppass) (2044 meters above sea level) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the cantons of Graubünden and Uri between Disentis/Mustér and Andermatt. Winter closure ...

and to the

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

via the

Gotthard Pass german: Gotthardpass , photo = File:Gotthardpass 2008.jpg , photo_caption = The area of the Gotthard Pass from the west , elevation_m = 2106 , elevation_ref = , traversed = National Road 2 Old paved road ( Tremola) Gotthard Rail Tunnel Go ...

. The valley was in possession of

Disentis Abbey Disentis Abbey (german: Reichskloster Disentis) is a Benedictine monastery in the Graubünden, Canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis ( rm, Mustér) grew up. Early history Formerly the date of the f ...

from 800. It was colonized by

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 af ...

settlers prior to the 12th century. The ''

Blutgericht High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. Low just ...

'' lay with the

counts of Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Gl ...

from 1232, in 1283 passing to the

house of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

, and in 1317 to local nobility of Uri. In 1332, there was a skirmish between settlers and troops of the abbey's at Oberalp, resulting in a defeat of Disentis. Urseren became '' reichsfrei'' in 1382 and joined the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ...

in 1410, and associated itself with Uri for purposes of defence and external representation, however retaining privileges as an independent territory. In 1649, Urseren bought itself out of the last remaining ties to Disentis. In 1798, the Urseren became part of the

canton of Waldstätten Waldstätten was a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, combining the territories of the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy, Uri (without the Leventina but with the Urseren), Schwyz (without March and Höfe) and both ...

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 ...

, and in 1803 became part of the

canton of Uri The canton of Uri (german: Kanton Uri rm, Chantun Uri; french: Canton d'Uri; it, Canton Uri) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territ ...

. In 1946, there were riots over a disputed dam project which intended to flood the entire valley. The project was never realized; instead,

Göscheneralpsee __NOTOC__ Göscheneralpsee is a reservoir in the municipality of Göschenen, Canton of Uri, Switzerland. The volume of the reservoir is and its surface area . See also *List of lakes of Switzerland *List of mountain lakes of Switzerland Th ...

reservoir was built in the upper

Göschenen Göschenen (German, it, Casinotta, rm, Caschanuttais) a village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. It sits at the northern end of the Gotthard tunnel. The Göschenen riots (1875) saw Urner troops opening fire on Italian miner ...

Valley in 1960. The project was proposed in 1941, after a first project of 1920 had to be abandoned. In 1946, engineer Karl Fetz was "chased out of town" and the architect's office was vandalized. It is known as the ''Krawall von Andermatt'' on 19 February 1946. The project was abandoned in the early 1950s in favour of the Göschenen dam.

References

Valleys of Switzerland Valleys of the Alps Landforms of the canton of Uri Reuss basin 15th-century establishments in the Old Swiss Confederacy 1410s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1410 establishments in Europe {{Uri-geo-stub