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Vals (locally pronounced ) is a village and a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the g ...
in the
Surselva Region Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...
of Graubünden in
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 ...
. On 1 January 2015 the former municipality of St. Martin merged into the municipality of Vals.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009


History


Vals

Archeological finds from the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pr ...
around the thermal baths and Tomül pass as well as
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
items on the slopes of the ''Valserberg'' indicate that this area was used before written history. In the 11th and 12th Centuries the Valser valley was extensively used by the local Romansh. Vals is first mentioned in mid 12th Century as ''in Valle''. About 1290 they were 4 to 7 farm houses with flocks of sheep. In the 13th Century, the
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 ...
were driven from the canton of Wallis in south-west Switzerland into the Valser valley. The expansion of the Walliser German speaking Walser stopped in 1457 when they were forbidden from marrying or buying land from the Romansh speaking locals. They were able to settle at the end of the valley because that was the only place that wasn't claimed. The Walser also brought with them the Valliser style of house, which uses more wood than stone and has triangular roofs.


St. Martin

The village was settled around the 14th Century 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 ...
immigrants. Initially it was a held in
fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of ...
for the
Bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Tersnaus and von Mont families. In 1457 the German-speaking population was forbidden from purchasing land or marrying in the neighboring village of Tersnaus. The village church (consecrated 1345) was initially under the
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities ...
of St. Vinzenz in Pleif (in
Vella Vella is a village and a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The municipalities of Cumbel, Degen, Lumbrein, Morissen, Suraua, Vignogn, Vella, and Vrin merged on 1 January 2013 int ...
municipality), but in 1528 came under the authority of Tersnaus. After 1776, St. Martin's village church had a German-speaking
Prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...
though in 1868 it fell back under the authority of Tersnaus. By 1671 the farm houses of St. Martin's were a neighborhood in Tersnaus, and in 1878 the municipality separated from Tersnaus to become politically independent. The municipality remained firmly rural, and in 1972-73 became the last municipality in Switzerland to be connected to the electric grid.


Coat of arms

The municipal
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
is described as ''Per fess Or a bend couped embattled bretesse Sable and of the second a Key in bend wards inwards of the first.'' The key represents
Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupa ...
who was on the old municipal
seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
while the cross shape represents the rights of the barons of Belmont.


Geography

Based on the 2009 survey, the former municipalities that make up Vals had an area of . Of this area, or 32.1% was used for agricultural purposes, while or 12.2% was forested. Of the rest of the land, or 0.6% was settled (buildings or roads), or 2.2% was either rivers or lakes and or 52.9% was unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 15 January 2015
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.3%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 1.7% is pastures and 30.4% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 1.0% is in lakes and 1.1% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 23.0% is unproductive vegetation, 26.9% is too rocky for vegetation and 3.0% of the land is covered by glaciers. Before the merger Vals had an area, , of . Of this area, 34.1% was used for agricultural purposes, while 7.9% was forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.5% was settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (57.4%) was non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Lugnez sub-district of the Surselva district, after 2017 it was part of the Surselva Region. It consists of the village of Vals at an elevation of and the
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
of Leis at an elevation of ). The highest point of the municipality is reached on
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 ...
on 3,402 m (11,161 ft). Zervreilasee is a reservoir in the valley, formed by a dam on the Vals Rhine.


Demographics

Vals has a population (as of ) of . , 10.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (94.4%), with Romansh being second most common ( 2.3%) and Italian being third ( 0.8%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 24-Nov-2009
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009
The age distribution, , in Vals is; 94 children or 10.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 93 teenagers or 10.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 88 people or 9.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 114 people or 12.9% are between 30 and 39, 127 people or 14.4% are between 40 and 49, and 115 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 104 people or 11.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 105 people or 11.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 40 people or 4.5% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 5 people or 0.6% who are between 90 and 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 63.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (19.8%), the SP (11.6%) and the FDP (3.9%). In Vals about 70.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''
Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied ar ...
''). Vals has an unemployment rate of 1.08%. , there were 75 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 30 businesses involved in this sector. 166 people are employed in the
secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructio ...
and there are 15 businesses in this sector. 338 people are employed in the
tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
, with 41 businesses in this sector.


Historic population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width: auto height:500 barincrement:45 PlotArea = top:20 left:40 bottom:90 right:35 Legend = columns:3 left:20 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1200 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:200 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:40 start:0 Colors= id:ST value:yellowgreen legend:St._Martin id:VA value:powderblue legend:Vals PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 0 till:0 color:ST bar:1860 from: 0 till:0 color:ST bar:1870 from: 0 till:0 color:ST bar:1880 from: 0 till:150 text:"150" color:ST bar:1890 from: 0 till:118 text:"118" color:ST bar:1900 from: 0 till:99 text:"99" color:ST bar:1910 from: 0 till:86 text:"86" color:ST bar:1920 from: 0 till:95 text:"95" color:ST bar:1930 from: 0 till:91 text:"91" color:ST bar:1940 from: 0 till:83 text:"83" color:ST bar:1950 from: 0 till:112 text:"112" color:ST bar:1960 from: 0 till:79 text:"79" color:ST bar:1970 from: 0 till:68 text:"68" color:ST bar:1980 from: 0 till:49 text:"49" color:ST bar:1990 from: 0 till:35 text:"35" color:ST bar:2000 from: 0 till:36 text:"36" color:ST bar:1850 from: 0 till:761 text:"761" color:VA bar:1860 from: 0 till:755 text:"755" color:VA bar:1870 from: 0 till:720 text:"720" color:VA bar:1880 from: 150 till:896 text:"746" color:VA bar:1890 from: 118 till:826 text:"708" color:VA bar:1900 from: 99 till:835 text:"736" color:VA bar:1910 from: 86 till:825 text:"739" color:VA bar:1920 from: 95 till:881 text:"786" color:VA bar:1930 from: 91 till:955 text:"864" color:VA bar:1940 from: 83 till:993 text:"910" color:VA bar:1950 from: 112 till:1055 text:"943" color:VA bar:1960 from: 79 till:1047 text:"968" color:VA bar:1970 from: 68 till:1105 text:"1,037" color:VA bar:1980 from: 49 till:929 text:"880" color:VA bar:1990 from: 35 till:898 text:"863" color:VA bar:2000 from: 36 till:921 text:"885" color:VA


Tourism

Located in the Vals Valley, it is known for its thermal baths (
Therme Vals 7132 Thermal Baths (formerly Therme Vals) is a hotel/spa complex in Vals, built over the only thermal springs in the Graubünden canton in Switzerland. Completed in 1996, the spa was designed by Peter Zumthor ( Pritzker 2009). History I ...
). It is the source of the ''Valser'' mineral water and Valserstein, a granite with many minerals in it giving it a sparkle.


Weather

Vals has an average of 121.1 days of rain per year and on average receives of
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. ...
. The wettest month is August during which time Vals receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 12.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.8, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is January with an average of of precipitation over 12.6 days., the weather station elevation is 1253 meters above sea level.


Heritage sites of national significance

The ''double house at Nr. 81'' is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 24-Nov-2009


References


External links

*http://www.vals.ch
Therme Vals
{{Authority control Municipalities of Graubünden Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Spa towns in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden