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Davos



 
 
Davos (Romansh: Tavau, Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
: Tavate) is a municipality
Municipalities of Switzerland

Municipalities are the smallest government division in Switzerland, and are called Gemeinden in German language, communes in French language, comuni in Italian language and vischnancas in Romansh language....
 in the district of Prättigau/Davos
Prättigau/Davos (district)

Pr?ttigau/Davos is an Districts of Switzerland in the Cantons of Switzerland of Graub?nden, Switzerland. It has an area of 823.95 km? and a population of 25,728 ....
 in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland

File:Karte 13 Alte Orte.pngThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the State s of the federation of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereignty state with its own borders, army and currency until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848....
 of Graubünden
Graubünden

Graub?nden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost cantons of Switzerland of Switzerland. The name Graub?nden translates as "Grey Leagues," referring to the canton's origin in three local alliances, the League of God's House, the Grey League, and the League of Ten Jurisdictions....
, Switzerland
Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
.

It is located on the Landwasser River
Landwasser River

The Landwasser River is a river in Switzerland. Davos is the largest town on the river....
, in the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position with the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
, between the Plessur
Plessur Range

The Plessur Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. It is considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. It is named after the river Plessur, which originates from the center of the ranges....
 and Albula Range
Albula Range

The Albula Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. It is considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. It is named after the Albula River....
.

Davos is famous as the host to the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world including health and the environment....
 (WEF), an annual meeting of global political and business elites, which is often referred to as simply Davos. It is also known as a winter sports area, including serving as the site of the annual Spengler Cup
Spengler Cup

Spengler Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. Originally held in 1923, the Spengler Cup tournament is one of the oldest international ice hockey club team tournaments in the world....
 ice hockey
Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team sport played on ice. It is a fast paced and physical sport. Ice hockey is most popular in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural reliable seasonal ice cover such as Canada, the northern United States, Scandinavia and Russia, though with the advent of indoor artificial ice r...
 tournament, which is hosted by the HC Davos
HC Davos

Hockey Club Davos is a professional Switzerland ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos play in the Swiss Nationalliga A, which is ranked as Europe's sixth best ice hockey league....
 local hockey team.

Davos is the largest ski resort in Switzerland and the highest city in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
.

current settlement of the Davos area started back in High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was the periodization of history of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
 with the immigration of Rhaeto-Romans.






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Davos (Romansh: Tavau, Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
: Tavate) is a municipality
Municipalities of Switzerland

Municipalities are the smallest government division in Switzerland, and are called Gemeinden in German language, communes in French language, comuni in Italian language and vischnancas in Romansh language....
 in the district of Prättigau/Davos
Prättigau/Davos (district)

Pr?ttigau/Davos is an Districts of Switzerland in the Cantons of Switzerland of Graub?nden, Switzerland. It has an area of 823.95 km? and a population of 25,728 ....
 in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland

File:Karte 13 Alte Orte.pngThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the State s of the federation of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereignty state with its own borders, army and currency until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848....
 of Graubünden
Graubünden

Graub?nden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost cantons of Switzerland of Switzerland. The name Graub?nden translates as "Grey Leagues," referring to the canton's origin in three local alliances, the League of God's House, the Grey League, and the League of Ten Jurisdictions....
, Switzerland
Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
.

It is located on the Landwasser River
Landwasser River

The Landwasser River is a river in Switzerland. Davos is the largest town on the river....
, in the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position with the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
, between the Plessur
Plessur Range

The Plessur Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. It is considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. It is named after the river Plessur, which originates from the center of the ranges....
 and Albula Range
Albula Range

The Albula Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. It is considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. It is named after the Albula River....
.

Davos is famous as the host to the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world including health and the environment....
 (WEF), an annual meeting of global political and business elites, which is often referred to as simply Davos. It is also known as a winter sports area, including serving as the site of the annual Spengler Cup
Spengler Cup

Spengler Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. Originally held in 1923, the Spengler Cup tournament is one of the oldest international ice hockey club team tournaments in the world....
 ice hockey
Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team sport played on ice. It is a fast paced and physical sport. Ice hockey is most popular in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural reliable seasonal ice cover such as Canada, the northern United States, Scandinavia and Russia, though with the advent of indoor artificial ice r...
 tournament, which is hosted by the HC Davos
HC Davos

Hockey Club Davos is a professional Switzerland ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos play in the Swiss Nationalliga A, which is ranked as Europe's sixth best ice hockey league....
 local hockey team.

Davos is the largest ski resort in Switzerland and the highest city in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
.

History

The current settlement of the Davos area started back in High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was the periodization of history of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
 with the immigration of Rhaeto-Romans. Then from about 1280 the barons of Vaz
Vaz/Obervaz

Vaz/Obervaz is a municipalities of Switzerland in the district of Albula in the Cantons of Switzerland of Graub?nden in Switzerland.The municipality of Vaz/Obervaz includes the following villages: Lain, Muldain, Zorten, Lenzerheide, and Valbella, as well as the hamlets of Nivaigl, Fuso, Trantermoira, Sporz, Tgantieni, Sartons, Creusen and...
 allowed Walser
Walser

The Walser are German language-speaking people who live in the Alps of Swiss Alps, Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria. The Walser people are named after the Valais , the uppermost Rh?ne River valley....
 (German speaking) colonists to settle down and conceded them extensive self-administration rights Davos became the largest Walser settlement area in eastern Switzerland Natives therefore still speak. In the "natural ice" era of winter sport
Winter sport

A winter sport is a sport commonly played during winter. As a formal term, it refers to a sport played on snow or ice, but informally can refer to sports played in winter that are also played year-round like basketball....
s, Davos, and the Davos Eisstadion was a mecca for speed skating
Speed skating

Speed skating or speedskating is a competition form of skating in which the competitors racing each other in travelling a certain distance on skating....
. Many international championships were held here, and many world records were set, beginning with Peder Østlund
Peder Østlund

Peder ?stlund was a Norway speed skating.Peder ?stlund held the first position on the Adelskalender ranking during two periods, for a total of almost 10 years ....
 who set four records in 1898. A dialect
Dialect

A dialect is a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class....
 that may seem a typical for Graubünden, rather showing similarities with (German) idioms of western parts of Switzerland is spoken, such as in Bernese Oberland
Bernese Oberland

The Bernese Oberland is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the south of the canton: The area around Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and the valleys of the Bernese Alps ....
 and the Upper Valais
Valais

The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of Switzerland, around the valley of the Rh?ne from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps....
 1436, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions
League of the Ten Jurisdictions

The League of the Ten Jurisdictions was the last of the Three Leagues founded during the Middle Ages in what is now Graub?nden of Switzerland. The League was created in the County of Toggenburg after the counts of Toggenburg died out....
 was founded in Davos from the middle of the 18th century, Davos became a popular destination for the rich and ailing because the microclimate
Microclimate

A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles ....
 in the high valley was deemed excellent by doctors and recommended for lung disease patients. For example Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson , was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and Travel writing. Stevenson was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov, J....
, who suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
, wintered in Davos in 1880 at the recommendation of his Edinburgh doctor, Dr. George Balfour. Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, Deputy Lieutenant was a Scotland author most noted for his stories about the Detective fiction Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger....
 wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899. Davos is also the setting of Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann

Paul Thomas Mann was a German literature, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize for Literature, known for his series of highly symbolic and irony epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual....
's novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain

The Magic Mountain is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of 20th century German literature....
), which takes place at a sanatorium
Sanatorium

A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, typically tuberculosis. A distinction is sometimes made between "sanitarium" and "sanatorium" ....
.

Subsequently, Davos became a famous ski resort
Ski resort

A ski area is a developed recreational facility, usually on a mountain or large hill, containing skiing trails and vital supporting services....
, especially with tourists from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and The Netherlands. After a high peak in the 1970s and 1980s, the two-part city finally re-established itself as a leading, and less high-profile, tourist attraction.

The six main ski areas are:
  • Parsenn / Gotschna
    Parsenn

    Parsenn, renowned ski area near Davos, Switzerland, offering 35 ski runs.The recently updated Parsenn "red railway" funicular covers the difference of 1100 meters to the Weissfluhjoch ridge....
  • Jakobshorn
    Jakobshorn

    Jakobshorn is one of the five skiing regions of the Davos Klosters Mountains, offering 14 pistes.Located between the Dishmatal and Sertigtal, it is served by a two-part Aerial tramway running from Davos Platz....
  • Pischahorn
    Pischahorn

    The Pischahorn is a mountain in the Silvretta Range , located in Graub?nden, Switzerland.External links...
  • Rinerhorn
  • Schatzalp
  • Madrisahorn
    Madrisahorn

    The Madrisahorn is a mountain in the R?tikon mountain range , located in Graub?nden, Switzerland.External links...


Pronunciation

English-speaking broadcast journalists covering the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, along with many speakers at the meeting itself, commonly pronounce the town's name by emphasizing the first syllable and shortening the o to make the word rhyme with "moss
Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1?10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations....
", i.e., DAH-voss . The local pronunciation is dah-VOHS .

See also

  • Lake Davos
    Lake Davos

    Lake Davos is a small natural lake at Davos, Switzerland. Its surface area is 1 E5 m2 and the maximum depth is 54 m. Fed by Fl?elabach, Totalpbach and other mountain creeks, the lake is used as a hydropower reservoir, its water no longer flows to the Landwasser River but is channeled into the Landquart river at Klosters....
  • World Economic Forum
    World Economic Forum

    The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world including health and the environment....
  • Davos Man
    Davos Man

    Davos Man is a neologism which refers to the global elite of wealthy people whose members view themselves as completely international. Davos is an Alpine city in eastern Switzerland which became famous in the 1990s for hosting the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of international politicians and financiers who represented a transnat...
  • List of ski areas and resorts in Switzerland
    List of ski areas and resorts in Switzerland

    This is a list of ski resorts in Switzerland....


External links

  • - Official website tourism information
  • - Official website