Samnaun

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ADVENTURE ROAD, DUTY-FREE AND WINTER SPORTS

Samnaun - The Facts

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The first settlers to Samnaun, in around the year 800 AD, were farmers from the Lower Engadine, arriving with their cattle in search of new pastures. Samnaun has been inhabited year-round since about 1200 AD.Due to its unique location, Samnaun has, in many respects, developed in a very distinctive way. Certain individual features have emerged over the years which are still observable today. An excerpt from the history of the valley in the border triangle region:

Father Maurus Carnot

Father Maurus Carnot (originally named John) was born on 27 January, 1865 in Samnaun-Laret. After 5 years at the Kollegium Maria Hilf in Schwyz, he studied philosophy and theology at the University of Innsbruck. He was also a correspondent for a regional newspaper - the Bündner Tagblatt.

After his graduation in 1885, he joined the Monastery of Disentis. In 1909 he was appointed by the Federal Council to the Swiss Schiller Foundation. Father Maurus Carnot wrote numerous dramas, narratives and poems. He died on 2 January, 1935 at the age of almost 70 years.

Source: Aus der Gaschichte der Talschaft Samnaun by Arthur Jenal

About the life of Father Maurus Carnot

Duty-free Status Since 1892

With the centralization of the Swiss customs in 1848, a customs office was also set up in Samnaun-Compatsch. The introduction of customs procedures suddenly put an end to trade with Tyrol, since all incoming goods were now subject to customs duty. This placed the Samnaun peasants at considerable economic disadvantage. Therefore, in 1892, the Federal Council decided to make the Samnaun valley a duty-free area. This status remains today, even though there has been an access road over Swiss territory since 1912. After the opening of the Samnaunerstrasse (Samnaun’s main road), it was not long before the first guest houses in Samnaun also began to appear.

The Development of Winter Tourism

Tourism in Samnaun, as in many places in Switzerland, came to a standstill during the Second World War. It was only in 1951, with the founding of the Samnaun-Compatsch Tourist Board that a new era of tourism in the Samnaun area began. In 1954, the first ski lift was built. The early 1970s saw a significant downturn in tourism, a situation which was only improved by the construction of the first aerial cable car in 1977/78 and the merger of the ski area with Ischgl, Austria. Both of these developments gave a much needed boost to the Samnaun Valley. In 1995, the world's first double-decker cable car, the Twinliner, was opened.

Samnaun’s Languages

Romansch was the original language used in Samnaun - the names of the meadows, dating back to Roman times, testify to this today. Romansch remained the most important language until the 19th century. Nowadays, a Tyrolean dialect is spoken in Samnaun, making it the smallest linguistic minority in Switzerland. Samnaun has long enjoyed a lively trade with Tyrol and many Tyrolean families settled over the years in the Samnaun Valley which gave rise to the spread of the Tyrolean dialect. Religion also had a part to play - after the Reformation Samnaun, along with Tyrol, remained predominantly Catholic.

Contact
Guest-Information Samnaun
Dorfstrasse 4
CH-7563 Samnaun Dorf
+41 81 861 88 30
info@samnaun.ch
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