Brig, known as Brig in German and Briga in Italian, is a town in the

canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

, in the commune of Brig-Glis.

Toponymy

The name Brig comes from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

''Briga'', meaning “hill fortress” or “height, then castle”.

History

Mentioned for the first time in 1215, Brigue was not recognized as a town until the 17th century. It underwent major development thanks to Kaspar Jodok von Stockalper (1609-1691), a shrewd businessman nicknamed “King of Simplon”. Brig’s thermal springs were already renowned during the Middle Ages. Ruined by a landslide in the 15th century, they were cleared in 1471 and annexed to the public baths. The Jesuit Collège du Saint-Esprit, built between 1673 and 1688, is a fine example of Baroque architecture. On January 25, 1913, Brig was the starting point for

Juan Bielovucic Juan Bielovucic (30 July 1889 – 14 January 1949) was a Peruvian aviator who set several speed and altitude aviation records in 1910–13. He was also the first person to complete a successful powered aircraft crossing of the Alps in 1913, f ...

's 28-minute

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

flight across the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

Domodossola Domodossola (; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola (due to it ...

. On September 24, 1993, the town was partially devastated by flooding, following the overflow of the Saltina River.

Population

Demonym and nicknames

This town’s inhabitants are called Brigois. They are nicknamed the Brigands, and are also known as ''Holzschüö, Sschüöblätza'' and ''Turugeuche'' in

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

, i.e. the clogs, the bakers and those who take pride in their turreted houses.

Demography

The community had 468 inhabitants in 1798, 412 in 1802, 596 in 1827, 721 in 1850, 1,012 in 1860, 1,172 in 1888, 2,182 in 1900, 3,132 in 1920, 3,854 in 1950, 5,191 in 1970, 9,608 (including Glis and Brigerbad) in 1980, 10,602 in 1990 and 11,590 in 2000.

Famous people

* Pierre Emmanuel Jacques de Rivaz (1745-1827), Swiss general in the armies of the French Republic, was born in Brig. * Silvan Zurbriggen (1981-), former world cup alpine skier and runner-up in the world slalom. *

Gianni Infantino Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (); (born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss-Italian Association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and the president of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 26 Febr ...

(1970-), lawyer,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

President (2016). * Nico Hischier, professional ice hockey player with the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

. * Henri Colpi, French filmmaker born in Brig July 15, 1921, died January 14, 2006 in Menton, France. *

Viola Amherd Viola Patricia Amherd (born 7 June 1962) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2019 to 2025, and as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2024 between 1 January and 31 December. She was the head of the ...

, Federal Councillor born June 7, 1962 in Brig-Glis, President of the Swiss Confederation for the year 2024.

Places and monuments

* Stockalper Castle * Brig tunnel on the Simplon line * The Gamsen town wall dates back to the 14th century. * A monument to aviation pioneer Jorge Chávez Dartnell has been built on the Place Saint-Sebastien.

Transportation

Main roads

* Brig is crossed by main road 9. * In Brig, main road 19 leads to the Goms valley. * Via the A9 Vallorbe-Lausanne-Brigue freeway. * The E62 via the A9, then main road 9 over the

Simplon Pass The Simplon Pass (; ; ; ; ; ) is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig in the canton of Valais with Domodossola in Piedmont (Italy). The pass itself and the villag ...

. * SBB offers car loading (Autoverlad) to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, via the

Simplon tunnel The Simplon Tunnel (''Simplontunnel'', ''Traforo del Sempione'' or ''Galleria del Sempione'') is a railway tunnel on the Simplon railway that connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shor ...

and Iselle di Trasquera.

Railway lines

* By SBB line ( Simplon line),

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

- Sion-Brigue- Simplon-

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

* By BLS line ( Lötschberg line), Zürich HB or

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Spiez Spiez is a town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental (administrative district), Frutigen-Nied ...

-Brigue-Simplon-Domodossola-

* Only in winter, the town is served by a TGV Lyria,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-Brigue * By the Glacier Express line, Saint-Moritz-

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

Disentis Mustér (, Romansh) or Disentis (German), with its official name Disentis/Mustér is a village and a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. The skiing and summer tourism resort high up in the Rhine valley is the si ...

Andermatt Andermatt () is a mountain village and municipalities of Switzerland, 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 ...

-Brigue-

Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...

* At regional level, the Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn serves the city to

and

destinations.

Road level (Bus)

● PostBus offers connections to

Saas Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

, Naters,

Visp Visp (; ; ) is the capital of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Geography Visp lies in the Rhône valley, at the confluence of the Vispa and the Rhône, west of Brig-Glis. Visp has an area, , of . Of this a ...

and

via the

Tourism

It is located near the resorts of Belalp, Saas-Fee,

, Fiesch, Bettmeralp, etc. The thermal baths at Brigerbad attract many visitors.

References

{{reflist

External links

* Louis Carlen
Brigue (ville)
in the

Historical Dictionary of Switzerland The ''Historical Dictionary of Switzerland'' (Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse; DHS) is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland. It aims to present the history of Switzerland in the form of an encyclopaedia, published both on paper a ...

online, October 15, 2004 version.
Brigue sous l'eau
''Télé journal'' of September 25, 1993, accessed March 30, 2015, 2 min, rts.ch/archives