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34-641: Samedan ( [saˈmedən] , German: [sɐˈmeːdən] ) is a town and municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons . It is served by Samedan railway station on the Rhaetian Railway network and by the Samedan Airport . Samedan is first mentioned in 1137–1139 as Samadene , and in 1156 as Samadn . For 1288 there is evidence of a residential tower in

68-477: A certain time in Switzerland are also allowed to participate in municipal politics. As at the cantonal and federal level, citizens enjoy political rights, including direct democratic ones, in their municipality. Municipalities are financed through direct taxes (such as income tax ), with rates varying more or less within a framework set by the canton (see Taxation in Switzerland ). As among the cantons, there

102-559: A major RhB railway station with regular trains towards Pontresina , Chur and St. Moritz , and a regional airport ( Engadin Airport ). Both the Bernina Express and Glacier Express trains pass Samedan. The funicular Muottas-Muragl-Bahn leads to the top of Muottas Muragl (2454 m). As of  2012, there were a total of 2,891 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 26 people worked in 8 businesses in

136-597: A slightly different accent, although the written form remains the same. Gian Travers wrote the first surviving work in Romansh, the Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs , in the Putèr dialect. This epic poem, written in 1527, describes the first Musso war , in which Travers himself had taken part. There is an individual dictionary for this dialect, as well as texts dealing with its grammar. The fable The Fox and

170-449: Is a tax transfer among the municipalities to balance various levels of tax income. Switzerland has a relatively high number of small municipalities, with a population of 1,000 or less, especially in rural areas. Because of the increasing difficulty in providing professional government services and in finding volunteers for political offices in small municipalities, the cantons tend to encourage voluntary mergers of municipalities. This led to

204-789: Is rescued by his future wife, Tracy. The nineteenth century campaigner for women's rights and the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts , Josephine Butler , holidayed in Samedan in 1881 preferring it to Pontresina . She walked extensively with friends whilst her husband, because of his rheumatism, painted and sketched. He preached at the local Protestant church, which was largely run by another English clergyman Mr Eardley. Municipalities of Switzerland Municipalities ( German : Gemeinden , Einwohnergemeinden or politische Gemeinden ; French : communes ; Italian : comuni ; Romansh : vischnancas ) are

238-480: Is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and 72.9% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85-2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by 34 ha (84 acres) and the agricultural land has decreased by 120 ha (300 acres). Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Oberengadin sub-district of

272-809: The Bürgerrecht (citizenship), regardless of where they were born or where they may currently live. Instead of the place of birth , Swiss legal documents, e.g. passports, contain the Bürgerort (place of citizenship, or place of origin ). The Bürgergemeinde also often holds and administers the common property in the village for the members of the community. Each canton determines the powers and responsibilities of its municipalities. These may include providing local government services such as education, medical and social services, public transportation, and tax collection. The degree of centralization varies from one canton to another. The federal constitution protects

306-758: The primary economic sector . The secondary sector employed 500 workers in 51 separate businesses. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 2,365 jobs in 335 businesses. In 2013 a total of 31.9% of the population received social assistance. The Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and the Library of Fundaziun de Planta are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance . Köppen-Geiger climate classification classifies its climate as subarctic (Dfc). Between 1961 and 1990 Samedan had an average of 95.5 days of rain per year and on average received 700 mm (28 in) of precipitation . The wettest month

340-647: The Maloja district in the central Oberengadin valley along the Inn river . After 2017 it was part of the Maloja Region. It consists of the village of Samedan and the hamlet of Punt Muragl, the upper section of the Val Bever as well as an exclave that includes nearly the entire Val Roseg , a valley surrounded by the highest mountains of the canton: Piz Bernina , Piz Scerscen and Piz Roseg . Until 1943 Samedan

374-482: The Protestant school, today's Academia Engiadina , in 1943. On 1 October 1943, Samedan was mistakenly bombed by American planes. Luckily, nobody was hurt. From the 1980s, the formerly Romansh farming village developed into a modern service centre, in which German speakers outnumber Romansh speakers. Samedan has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of 113.8 km (43.94 sq mi). Of this area, about 15.5%

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408-403: The autonomy of municipalities within the framework set out by cantonal law. Municipalities are generally governed by an executive council headed by a president or mayor . Legislative authority is exercised by a town meeting of all citizens, or by a municipal parliament, depending on the size of the municipality, and on cantonal and municipal law. In some cantons, foreigners who have lived for

442-724: The exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the Bürgergemeinde . In the Regeneration era (1830–1848), the liberal revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the Bürgergemeinden were able to maintain power as political communities. In the city of Zürich it was not until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the political municipality came back into existence. The relationship between

476-608: The lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons , which form the Swiss Confederation . In most cantons, municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,131 municipalities as of January 2024 . Their populations range between several hundred thousand ( Zürich ), and a few dozen people ( Kammersrohr , Bister ), and their territory between 0.32 km² ( Rivaz ) and 439 km² ( Scuol ). The beginnings of

510-584: The modern municipality system date back to the Helvetic Republic . Under the Old Swiss Confederacy , citizenship was granted by each town and village to only residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of

544-471: The municipalities under cantonal or federal law. Municipalities are numbered by the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics (see Community Identification Number#Switzerland ). One or more postal codes (PLZ/NPA) can by assigned to a municipality or shared with other municipalities. Between 2011 and 2021 nine of the smallest municipalities merged into others as part of the effort to eliminate

578-436: The number of municipalities dropping by 384 between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2019. Some municipalities designate themselves as "city" ( ville or Stadt ) or as "village" ( Dorf ). These designations result from tradition or local preference – for example, several small municipalities designated as cities held city rights in medieval times – and normally do not impact the legal or political rights or obligations of

612-533: The old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the "new citizens", who were generally poor. The compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created. The first,

646-441: The outside world, Romansh usage began to decline in the 19th century. In 1880, only 47% spoke Romansh as a first language, while in 1910, it was 45% and in 1941, it was 42%. The Romansh-speaking percentage dropped until, in 1970, only 31% spoke it as their first language. In the 1980s, Romansh speakers increased slightly, but since then, the proportion has decreased. However, in 2000, there were 42% who understood Romansh even if it

680-408: The political municipality and the Bürgergemeinde was often dominated by the latter's ownership of community property. Often the administration and profit from the property were totally held by the Bürgergemeinden , leaving the political municipality dependent on the Bürgergemeinde for money and use of the property. It was not until the political municipality acquired rights over property that served

714-447: The political voting and electoral body rights from the Bürgergemeinde . In the cities, the percentage of members in the Bürgergemeinde in the population was reduced as a result of increasing emigration to the cities. This led to the Bürgergemeinde losing its former importance to a large extent. However, the Bürgergemeinde has remained, and it includes all individuals who are citizens of the Bürgergemeinde , usually by having inherited

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748-424: The population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 64.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.3%. In 2013 there were 1,423 private households in Samedan. Of the 489 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 21.9% were single family homes and 47.6% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 22.5% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 9.4% were built between 1991 and 2000. In 2012

782-507: The public (such as schools, fire stations, etc.) and taxes, that they obtained full independence. For example, in the city of Bern, it was not until after the property division of 1852 that the political municipality had the right to levy taxes. It was not until the Federal Constitution of 1874 that all Swiss citizens were granted equal political rights on local and Federal levels. This revised constitution finally removed all

816-526: The rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 31.86. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2014, was 2.14%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (61.5%), with Romansh being second most common (16.7%) and Italian being third (14.9%). Originally, the entire population spoke the Upper-Engadin Romansh dialect of Putèr . Due to increasing trade with

850-499: The smallest communities. Only Bister has not merged into a new municipality although the smallest municipality is now Kammersrohr with a population of just 32. In addition to the municipalities as basic territorial political subdivisions, a number of other local subdivisions exist in several cantons. These include: Put%C3%A8r Puter and Vallader are sometimes referred to as one specific variety known as Ladin, as they have retained this word to mean Romansh. However,

884-677: The so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the former local citizens who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde /bourgeoisie. During the Mediation era (1803–1814), and especially during the Restoration era (1814–1830), many of the gains toward uniform citizenship were lost. Many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on

918-616: The term Ladin is primarily associated with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains also known as Ladin . Puter and Vallader are distinguished from the other Romansh dialects among other things by the retention of the rounded front vowels / y / and / ø / (written ü and ö ), which have been derounded to / i / and / e / in the other dialects. Compare Putèr mür to Sursilvan mir ‘wall’ and Putèr chaschöl to Sursilvan caschiel 'cheese'. Each village between S-chanf and St. Moritz has

952-524: The upper part of the village. In 1462 Samedan became the seat of lower jurisdiction . In the Swabian War of 1499, the village burned down. In 1551 the parish of Samedan, one of three large parishes in the Upper Engadin , converted to Protestantism . From the 16th century onwards, some families, especially the von Salis and von Planta , became very wealthy and had magnificent houses built in

986-471: The village. They owed their financial success, among other things, to their political offices, but also to emigration and mercenary service abroad. In the 19th century, trade and commerce developed earlier and faster in Samedan than anywhere else in the Engadin. Tourism began circa 1830: Hotels were built, mountains were climbed for the first time, and English tourists had an English church erected in 1872 (it

1020-584: The vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (28.7%), the FDP (28.2%) and the CVP (10.4%). In Samedan about 75.7% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). It is the administrative center of the upper Engadin region, and services include a regional hospital (Spital Oberengadin),

1054-632: Was August during which time Samedan received an average of 99 mm (3.9 in) of precipitation. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 11.5 days. The driest month of the year was February with an average of 25 mm (0.98 in) of precipitation over 5 days. The Upper Engadine Cultural Archives is housed in the Chesa Planta in Samedan. James Bond escapes from Blofeld 's base at Piz Gloria to Samedan in Ian Fleming 's On Her Majesty's Secret Service where he

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1088-474: Was demolished in 1965). A golf course was built in 1893; the Muottas-Muragl-Bahn (a funicular railway) was constructed in 1907. The first power station was built in 1888 and a major hospital in 1895. Banks and a printer settled in Samedan. In 1903 the town was connected to the Rhaetian Railway ; it soon became the most important railway junction in the Engadin. The airfield was opened in 1937;

1122-413: Was known as Samaden. Samedan has a population (as of December 2020) of 2,923. As of 2013, 23.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 3 years (2010–2013) the population has changed at a rate of 1.31%. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2013, was 8.3 while the death rate was 7.0 per thousand residents. As of 2013, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.1% of

1156-505: Was not their first language. In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP with 23.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (22.5%), the BDP (19.6%) and the SP (16.4%). In the federal election, a total of 821 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.3%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 30.6% of

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