The Lötschental () is the largest valley on the northern side of the
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...
valley 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
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. It lies in the
Bernese Alps
The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Va ...
, with the running down the length of the valley from its source within the
Langgletscher (lit.: Long Glacier).
Geography
The valley extends about from the Lötschenlücke (3178 m) at the top of the Langgletscher to the mouth of the valley at Steg/Gampel (630 m). It is surrounded by 3,000 meter high mountains, including the
Bietschhorn (3,934 m), the
Hockenhorn (3,293 m), the
Wilerhorn (3,307 m) and the
Petersgrat (3,205 m). The
Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area is the most glaciated area in the
Swiss Alps
The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...
, and was declared a Natural
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
by decision of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
on December 13, 2001, along with southern and eastern parts of the Lötschental.
The main villages of the Lötschental are
Wiler and
Kippel, with 538 and 383 inhabitants respectively. Other villages in the valley include
Ferden and
Blatten. Altogether, the valley has approximately 1,500 inhabitants.
History
The Lötschental was likely first settled during the Roman period, but remained largely cut off from the outside world until the beginning of the twentieth century. The valley remained remote and difficult to access, especially during the winters, until the construction of the
Lötschbergbahn, between 1907 and 1913, connected it to an international railway line.
Traditional farming, involving primarily agriculture and cattle and sheep rearing, began to disappear with the extension of the road to
Blatten after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Tourism increasingly came to function as the valley's primary industry, especially since the construction of a
cablecar Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems:
* Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable
** Aerial tramway
** Chairlift
** Gondola lift
*** Bic ...
from
Wiler to
Lauchernalp in 1972. This lift had a capacity of only sixty people and was later replaced with one of a hundred. The Lötschental is now a destination resort for hiking with many tracks, such as the ''Höhenweg'', and winter sports, including Nordic and Alpine skiing as well as sledging and snowshoeing. In November 2003, a new
gondola lift
A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...
from Gandegg to the
Hockenhorngrat was opened, giving access to the ''Milibachgletscher'' and the Lötschen Pass. In December 2017 a six-person chair lift was opened from the top of the cablecar station to Stafel replacing the old chair and drag lifts originally built in the sixties, or seventies.
Lauchernalp and
Fischbiel have now 1,500 beds for rent, five restaurants and one hotel. The lift system supports a varied ski terrain with a vertical drop of 1,000 m or more and 33 km of ski runs.
The Lauchernalp ski area has FIS homologated race courses in all disciplines of Alpine skiing and was the venue for the Swiss National Championships in 1974.
On 28 May 2025,
a large landslide in the valley buried the village of
Blatten. The landslide had been anticipated, and the village had been evacuated since 19 May.
Tschäggättä
The Lötschental is known for its unique local custom involving the so-called
Tschäggättä: frightening figures wearing furs and carved wooden
mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...
s that walk the streets during
carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
tossing
soot
Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Soot is considered a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Most broadly, the term includes all the particulate matter produced b ...
at onlookers. The custom developed during the valley's history of relative isolation, though its exact origins are a matter of debate. The first official mention of the Tschäggättä occurs in a church chronicle of
Kippel dating from 1860, and witnesses the local
prior
The term prior may refer to:
* Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery)
* Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case
* Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics
* Prio ...
lamenting the difficulties of enforcing a ban on "the terrible misuse of the so-called Tschäggättä".
References
External links
Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn-GebietLötschental TourismMunicipality KippelLauchernalp Webcam*
Tschäggättä masksa Swiss Carnival in the Lötschental
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotschental
Valleys of the Alps
Valleys of Switzerland
Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland
Landforms of Valais