Leukerbad (french: Loèche-les-Bains,

Walliser German Walser German (german: Walserdeutsch) and Walliser German (, locally ) are a group of Highest Alemannic dialects spoken in parts of Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Grisons), Italy (Piedmont, Aosta Valley), Liechtenstein (Triesenberg, Planken), and ...

: ''Leiggerbad'', although locally known as ''Baadu'') is 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 go ...

in the district of

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 ...

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 ...

History

The story of Leukerbad dates back to the 4th century B.C. Graves and ceramics attest the presence of habitation in Leukerbad. From the 5th century, the pass of the

Gemmi Gemmi Pass is a high mountain pass across the Bernese Alps connecting Leukerbad (on the south) in the canton of Valais with Kandersteg (on the north) in the canton of Bern. The pass itself lies within the canton of Valais, at a height of above se ...

, a unique link between the cantons of Valais and

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, has been in use. Leukerbad3

In 1229, Leukerbad is mentioned for the first time and called "Boez". French was the locally spoken language at that time. In 1315, the commune becomes independent and the oldest known document about Leukerbad already mentions the baths. In 1501, the Bishop and Cardinal

Matthäus Schiner Matthäus Schiner (or ''Schinner'', c. 1465 – 1 October 1522) was a bishop of Sion, Cardinal and diplomat. He was a military commander in several battles in northern Italy. Biography He was born in Mühlebach (in what is now the Swiss cant ...

acquires the rights for the baths and speaks highly of the health resort during his visits; the thermal tourism develops. By that time, German (

Walser German Walser German (german: Walserdeutsch) and Walliser German (, locally ) are a group of Highest Alemannic dialects spoken in parts of Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Grisons), Italy (Piedmont, Aosta Valley), Liechtenstein (Triesenberg, Planken), an ...

, brought by the

Walser migrations The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Swiss Alps, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser people ...

) is spoken locally. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, several major avalanches hit the village but the inhabitants rebuilt it each time. During the early history of

tourism in Switzerland Tourists are drawn to Switzerland's diverse landscape as well as the available activities, which take advantage of the Alpine climate and Alpine region, landscapes, in particular for Alpine skiing, skiing and Alpinism, mountaineering. As of 2016 ...

, a number of notable guests visited Leukerbad, including

Isabelle de Charrière Isabelle de Charrière (20 October 174027 December 1805), known as Belle van Zuylen in the Netherlands, née Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken, and adameIsabelle de Charrière (married name) elsewhere, was a Dutch and ...

(1776 and 1777),

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

(1779),

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

(1877) and

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

(1878). In 1908, the Company “Chemin de Fer Electric Leukerbad” was founded but the road quickly dominated the access to the village and the trains stopped in 1967. The cable-car to the top of Gemmi Pass was built in 1957 and the one to Torrent Alp in 1970-72. Beginning in the 1980s, the municipality under president Otto G. Loretan began to undertake massive investments into infrastructure. In 1980, the community's thermal centre, The Burgerbad, was opened. The sports centre followed in 1990 and the thermal centre Alpentherme in 1993. In 1998, Leukerbad offered for the first time a "fixed-rope climbing" (Via ferrata/Klettersteig) route of the Daubenhorn, which is currently the longest in Switzerland. By 1998, the municipality had accumulated debts of CHF 346 million (some CHF 200,000 per inhabitant), and as the first municipality in the history of Switzerland had to file for bankruptcy. As a consequence, Leukerbad was placed under cantonal administration during 1998 to 2004. Former president Loretan was convicted to a five-year prison sentence for fraud in August 2004.

Geography

Leukerbad has an area, , of . Of this area, or 14.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 8.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 1.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.0% is either rivers or lakes and or 73.6% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.3%. Out of the forested land, 6.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops and 2.6% is pastures and 11.6% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 1.1% is in lakes and 0.9% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 9.0% is unproductive vegetation, 53.8% is too rocky for vegetation and 10.8% of the land is covered by glaciers. Leukerbad is situated in the canton of Valais in the south of Switzerland at above sea level. The location is very impressive because of the cliffs which surround Leukerbad: To the east, the Daubenhorn at above sea level; to the north the Gemmi Pass () and the Balmhorn (); to the west the Torrenthorn (). The road which leads to Leukerbad comes into the secluded valley from the south and the town of

Leuk Leuk (french: Loèche-Ville) is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013, the former municipality of Erschmatt merged into the municipality of Leuk. The Gemmi Pass is famous in the history of the Valais because it had for a long time been a very busy route between Valais and Bern. The Gemmi is accessible with the cable-car which connects Leukerbad to the highest point on the pass (). From the pass, there are extensive views of the Alps. The region is well known in summer for its hiking trails to

Kandersteg Kandersteg is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located along the valley of the River Kander, west of the Jungfrau massif. It is noted for its spectacular mounta ...

Adelboden , neighboring_municipalities= Diemtigen, Frutigen, Kandersteg, Lenk im Simmental, Leukerbad (VS), Sankt Stephan , twintowns= } Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental admin ...

or the

Wildstrubel The Wildstrubel () is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the border between the Swiss cantons of Canton of Bern, Bern and Valais. It forms a large glaciated massif, about 15 km wide, extending between the Rawil Pass and the Gemmi Pass. Along w ...

. It is visited by the families too because of the small lake called "Daubensee" which is surrounded by easy walks and provides a popular place for picnics. In winter, this same lake is ideal for the cross-country skiers but you can also go there for a snow-shoe trail, a run downhill with a sledge or just a walk on prepared, signposted hikes.

Torrent

The cable-car to Torrent Alp brings to the Rinderhütte at above sea level. In winter it is the paradise of skiers who then have of runs at their disposal. In summer it offers a huge network of hiking and mountain bike trails. The panoramic views from the Rinderhütte of the peaks of the Valais, French and Italian Alps is breath taking.

Thermal baths

The history of the springs of Leukerbad dates back to Roman times. People, even then, were already aware of the therapeutic effect of the thermal water. Today, of thermal water - up to - flow from the springs and feed 22 thermal pools. Several baths are at the disposal of guests in private hotels, in the Rehabilitation centre and in th
Volksheilbad
but the biggest public baths are the Leukerbad Therme (previously Burgerbad) and the Walliser Alpentherme (previously the Lindner Alpentherme).

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

of 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 ''Gules, standing on Coupeaux Vert a Griffin rampant coward Argent and Or holding in dexter a Chalice of the last pouring water of the third in chief crowned of the fourth.''

Demographics

Leukerbad has a population () of . , 39.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 0.9%. It has changed at a rate of -7.1% due to migration and at a rate of 6.3% due to births and deaths.
accessed 09-September-2011 Most of the population () speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(1,185 or 82.8%) as their first language, French is the second most common (67 or 4.7%) and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

is the third (53 or 3.7%). There are 33 people who speak

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and 2 people who speak Romansh. , the gender distribution of the population was 51.1% male and 48.9% female. The population was made up of 471 Swiss men (29.5% of the population) and 344 (21.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 506 Swiss women (31.7%) and 275 (17.2%) non-Swiss women.Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls
accessed 24 August 2011 Of the population in the municipality 567 or about 39.6% were born in Leukerbad and lived there in 2000. There were 267 or 18.7% who were born in the same canton, while 268 or 18.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 287 or 20.1% were born outside of Switzerland. The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 66.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 9.4%. , there were 618 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 705 married individuals, 63 widows or widowers and 45 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 568 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 people per household. There were 199 households that consist of only one person and 27 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 627 households that answered this question, 31.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 3 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 139 married couples without children, 189 married couples with children. There were 32 single parents with a child or children. There were 6 households that were made up of unrelated people and 59 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 151 single family homes (or 29.4% of the total) out of a total of 513 inhabited buildings. There were 230 multi-family buildings (44.8%), along with 52 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.1%) and 80 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (15.6%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 , a total of 527 apartments (18.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2,108 apartments (72.5%) were seasonally occupied and 274 apartments (9.4%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.3 new units per 1000 residents. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:960 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:300 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:60 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from:start till:557 text:"557" bar:1860 from:start till:545 text:"545" bar:1870 from:start till:593 text:"593" bar:1880 from:start till:655 text:"655" bar:1888 from:start till:647 text:"647" bar:1900 from:start till:613 text:"613" bar:1910 from:start till:619 text:"619" bar:1920 from:start till:562 text:"562" bar:1930 from:start till:545 text:"545" bar:1941 from:start till:514 text:"514" bar:1950 from:start till:505 text:"505" bar:1960 from:start till:619 text:"619" bar:1970 from:start till:1056 text:"1,056" bar:1980 from:start till:1070 text:"1,070" bar:1990 from:start till:1442 text:"1,442" bar:2000 from:start till:1431 text:"1,431"

Heritage sites of national significance

The Gemmi Daubenwand is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Twin Town

Leukerbad is twinned with the town of

Dombóvár Dombóvár (german: Dombowa; la, Iowia) is a town in Tolna County, Hungary. Twin towns – sister cities Dombóvár is twinned with: * Kernen im Remstal, Germany * Ogulin, Croatia * Vir, Croatia * Höganäs, Sweden Notable people * Ján Gol ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 57.46% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (23.56%), the SP (12.75%) and the FDP (3.94%). In the federal election, a total of 449 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

was 53.3%. In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 415 votes were cast, of which 21 or about 5.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 51.8%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 432 votes were cast, of which 14 or about 3.2% were invalid. The voter participation was 51.3%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 59.88%.

Economy

, Leukerbad had an unemployment rate of 3.1%. , there were 25 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 14 businesses involved in this sector. 56 people were 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 construction. ...

and there were 15 businesses in this sector. 1,170 people were 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 124 businesses in this sector. There were 865 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 50.1% of the workforce. the total number of

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employee, employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to me ...

jobs was 1,102. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 13, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 54 of which 11 or (20.4%) were in manufacturing, 1 was in mining and 42 (77.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,035. In the tertiary sector; 104 or 10.0% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 32 or 3.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 511 or 49.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 10 or 1.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 2 or 0.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 31 or 3.0% were in education and 182 or 17.6% were in health care. , there were 328 workers who commuted into the municipality and 69 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 4.8 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 5.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 18% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 1,107 or 77.4% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, while 138 or 9.6% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 63 members of an Orthodox church (or about 4.40% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 9 individuals (or about 0.63% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 12 (or about 0.84% of the population) who were

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic. There were 2 individuals who were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. 40 (or about 2.80% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 62 individuals (or about 4.33% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather

Leukerbad has an average of 121.9 days of rain or snow 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 December during which time Leukerbad receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 10.2 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is August, with an average of 11.4, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is April with an average of of precipitation over 9.9 days., the LeukerBad weather station elevation is 1390 meters above sea level.

Education

In Leukerbad about 553 or (38.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 133 or (9.3%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

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 arts ...

''). Of the 133 who completed tertiary schooling, 46.6% were Swiss men, 29.3% were Swiss women, 12.8% were non-Swiss men and 11.3% were non-Swiss women. During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 169 students in the Leukerbad school system. The

education system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

. During that school year, there 2 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 25 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. In Leukerbad there were a total of 7 classes and 123 students in the primary school. The

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 46 lower secondary students who attended school in Leukerbad. All the upper secondary students attended school in another municipality. , there were 36 students in Leukerbad who came from another municipality, while 21 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Famous residents

*African-American author James Baldwin (1924-1987) lived in Leukerbad for three months. Baldwin's experiences, which include reflections on racial identity and being likely the first black man the residents of Leukerbad encountered in person, are recounted in the essay ''

Stranger in the Village "Stranger in the Village" is an essay by African-American novelist James Baldwin about his experiences in Leukerbad, Switzerland, after he nearly suffered a breakdown. The essay was originally published in ''Harper's Magazine'', October 1953, an ...

'', from his 1955 collection ''

Notes of a Native Son ''Notes of a Native Son'' is a collection of ten essays by James Baldwin, published in 1955, mostly tackling issues of race in America and Europe. The volume, as his first non-fiction book, compiles essays of Baldwin that had previously appear ...

''.

References

External links

Official website

Leukerbad Tourism

More information to Leukerbad's history
{{Authority control Municipalities of Valais Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Spa towns in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in Valais