Pontresina is a
municipalityCommunes are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,636 as of 2009. While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of
MalojaMaloja is an administrative district in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has an area of 973.28 km² and a population of 17,810 .It consists of two Kreise and sixteen municipalities:-References:...
in the
cantonThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of
GraubündenGraubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland adjoining Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
.
The city was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as
pontem sarasinam in 1137. In 1237 it was mentioned as
de Ponte Sarraceno and in 1303 as
ponte sarracino. Some historians translate it as
The Bridge of the Saracens and see in it a reference to a tenth-century Arab invasion of the lands that later became Switzerland.
Pontresina has an area, , of .
Pontresina is a
municipalityCommunes are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,636 as of 2009. While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of
MalojaMaloja is an administrative district in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has an area of 973.28 km² and a population of 17,810 .It consists of two Kreise and sixteen municipalities:-References:...
in the
cantonThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of
GraubündenGraubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland adjoining Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
.
History and name
The city was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as
pontem sarasinam in 1137. In 1237 it was mentioned as
de Ponte Sarraceno and in 1303 as
ponte sarracino. Some historians translate it as
The Bridge of the Saracens and see in it a reference to a tenth-century Arab invasion of the lands that later became Switzerland.
Geography
Pontresina has an area, , of . Of this area, 16.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 8.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (72.9%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
The municipality is located in the Oberengadin sub-district of the Maloja district. It sits in Val Bernina, which is the highest altitude valley that branches off the
Upper Engadin ValleyThe Engadin or Engadine is a long valley in the Swiss Alps located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. It follows the route of the Inn River from its headwaters at Maloja Pass running northeast until the Inn flows into Austria one hundred kilometers downstream...
. Pontresina is a noted tourist destination in its own right, but is often overshadowed by its more famous neighbor
St. MoritzSt. Moritz is an exclusive resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
.
It consists of the old village sections of Laret, San Spiert as well as Giarsun and the new sections on the mountain slopes (including Muragls).
Nearby glaciers include the
Morteratsch GlacierThe Morteratsch Glacier is the largest glacier by area in the Bernina Range of the Bündner Alps in Switzerland....
and the
Roseg GlacierThe Roseg Glacier is a 4 km long glacier situated in the Bernina Range in the canyon of Graubünden in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of 8.52 km².-External links:*...
. The Morteratsch has a ski lift and a long run down the glacier. The Roseg Valley has a groomed cross country ski trail along its length.
Demographics
Pontresina has a population of 1,989, of which 29.7% are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 3.9%.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The age distribution, , in Pontresina is; 165 children or 7.5% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 95 teenagers or 4.3% are 10 to 14, and 136 teenagers or 6.2% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 438 people or 20.0% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 435 people or 19.9% are 30 to 39, 354 people or 16.2% are 40 to 49, and 269 people or 12.3% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 153 people or 7.0% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 97 people or 4.4% are 70 to 79, there are 45 people or 2.1% who are 80 to 89, and there are 4 people or 0.2% who are 90 to 99.
In the 2007
federal electionElections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, October 21, 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, or 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the
FDPThe Free Democratic Party of Switzerland, with official name FDP.The Liberals , is a political party in Switzerland that was formed on February 28, 2009, after two parties, the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland , and the Liberal Party of Switzerland united. Its youth organisation is Young...
which received 35.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the
SVPThe Swiss People's Party also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre is a populist, national conservative political party in Switzerland....
(34.1%), the
SPThe Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is a political party in Switzerland.It was founded on October 21, 1888, and is currently the second largest of the four leading coalition political parties in Switzerland. It is the left-most party with representatives in the Swiss Federal Council...
(17%) and the
CVPThe Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a centrist political party in Switzerland and the smallest member of the four-party coalition government...
(8.1%).
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Pontresina about 62.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a
FachhochschuleA Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of university, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland...
).
Pontresina has an unemployment rate of 1.26%. , there were 19 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 323 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 22 businesses in this sector. 1,073 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 124 businesses in this sector.
From the , 1,055 or 48.2% are Roman Catholic, while 713 or 32.5% belonged to the
Swiss Reformed ChurchThe Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Berne , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there are 40 individuals (or about 1.83% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 56 individuals (or about 2.56% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are less than 5 individuals who are
JewishJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
, and 27 (or about 1.23% of the population) who are
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic. There are 10 individuals (or about 0.46% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 158 (or about 7.21% of the population) belong to no church, are
agnosticAgnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims — particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of deities, spiritual beings, or even ultimate reality — are unknown or, in some forms of agnosticism, unknowable.It is not a...
or
atheistAtheism can be either the rejection of theism,or the position that deities do not exist.In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities....
, and 132 individuals (or about 6.02% of the population) did not answer the question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year |
population |
| 1850 |
270 |
| 1900 |
488 |
| 1950 |
774 |
| 1960 |
1,067 |
| 1970 |
1,646 |
| 1980 |
1,726 |
| 1990 |
1,604 |
| 2000 |
2,191 |
Languages
Most of the population speaks German (57.7%), with Italian being second most common (16.1%) and Portugese being third ( 9.0%). Until the 19th Century, the entire population spoke the Upper-
EngadinThe Engadin or Engadine is a long valley in the Swiss Alps located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. It follows the route of the Inn River from its headwaters at Maloja Pass running northeast until the Inn flows into Austria one hundred kilometers downstream...
Romansh dialect of Puter. Due to increasing trade with the outside world, Romansh usage began to decline. In 1880 only 45.7% spoke Romansh as a first language, while in 1900 it was only 33.61%. Romansh continued to decline in the 20th Century (1941 26.7%, 1970 16.22%, 2000 7.94%).
| Languages in Pontresina GR |
| Languages |
Census 1980 |
Census 1990 |
Census 2000 |
| Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
| German German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
|
990 |
57.36 % |
993 |
61.91 % |
1264 |
57.69 % |
| Romansh |
250 |
14.48 % |
194 |
12.09 % |
174 |
7.94 % |
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
|
362 |
20.97 % |
290 |
18.08 % |
353 |
16.11 % |
| Population |
1726 |
100 % |
1604 |
100 % |
2191 |
100 % |
Weather
Pontresina has an average of 97.8 days of rain per year and on average receives of
precipitationIn meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel...
. The wettest month is August during which time Pontresina receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 10.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 10.7 days.
Heritage sites of national significance
The
Church of S. Maria,
Grand Hotel Kronenhof and the
Spaniola tower are listed as Swiss
heritage sites of national significanceThe Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland. In its current form, it was issued in 1995 by the Swiss Federal Council...
.
The old
parish churchA parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
and currently a village church of S. Maria is a late-
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
structure. The church has several significant paintings on the walls. The tower and north and west walls are from an earlier church, most likely from the 12th Century.
Transportation
The town has a fair sized railway station positioned to the west of the town which serves a wide area and a youth hostel. Several bus lines of the Engadin Bus company also serve the area and there is a chair lift for skiing in the winter months, and walking in the summer months. The area has road links to the neighbouring, larger town of St Moritz.
External links