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Andermatt

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Overview

Andermatt (Romansh: ) is a mountain village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. At an elevation of 1,437 meters (4,715 ft) above sea level, Andermatt is located at the center of the Saint-Gotthard Massif and the historical center cross of north-south and east-west traverses of Switzerland. It is some 28 km (17 mi) south of Altdorf, the capital of Uri.

Facts

Rank

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Coordinates

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Source

WBP almanac

External sources

Wikivoyage Wikipedia

Media

From Wikipedia2,065 words

WBP editorial3

Alpine logistics hub

Andermatt’s position at the crossroads of the St. Gotthard, Furka and Oberalp passes means it operates more like a high‑altitude logistics centre than a typical resort village. Seasonal freight trucks still climb the passes to supply Alpine farms and ski‑area maintenance crews, while the recently upgraded tunnel network channels long‑distance rail traffic away from the streets. Visitors who time their arrival for early morning can watch the quiet rhythm of these movements, a glimpse into the infrastructure that sustains the region’s tourism engine. The village’s modest road parking and limited car‑free zones reflect a deliberate balance between preserving the valley’s ambience and accommodating the flow of goods essential for winter grooming and summer hiking.

Seasonal character shift

Beyond the ski‑season bustle, Andermatt adopts a markedly different tone in the warm months. The snow‑covered slopes retreat, yielding to a network of high‑altitude trails that link historic alpine pastures with the quiet chapels dotting the Urseren valley. Local families often host modest al fresco meals featuring milking‑season cheese, an experience that tourists rarely encounter when the village is swamped with winter sports enthusiasts. This seasonal transformation is also evident in the cultural calendar: folk music evenings and low‑key agricultural fairs replace the high‑energy nightlife of the ski months, offering a more intimate insight into the valley’s enduring traditions.

What guidebooks miss: micro‑climatic nuance

Most travel guides point to Andermatt’s altitude and snow reliability, but they overlook the micro‑climatic quirks that affect day‑to‑day planning. The valley sits in a basin that can trap fog and low clouds, especially in late autumn, reducing visibility on the passes for several hours. Conversely, on clear summer mornings the sun strikes the south‑facing slopes while the north side remains shrouded in cool mist, creating distinct temperature zones within a short walk. Savvy visitors schedule morning hikes on the sunnier side and reserve afternoons for indoor pursuits, such as the local heritage museum, to make the most of the variable light and temperature.

Introduction

For the surname, see Andermatt (surname). Municipality in Uri, SwitzerlandAndermattMunicipalityAndermatt looking west through the Urseren valley towards Hospental in front and the Furka Pass in the back (March 2005)Andermatt looking east towards the Oberalp Pass with cable car (to Gemsstock) bottom station in front and Rossbodenstock (2836m) in the back (8 Feb 2003) FlagCoat of armsLocation of AndermattAndermattShow map of SwitzerlandAndermattShow map of Canton of UriCoordinates: 46°37′N 8°35′E / 46.617°N 8.583°E / 46.617; 8.583CountrySwitzerlandCantonUriDistrictn.a.Government • ExecutiveGemeinderat with 5 members • MayorPräsidentinYvonne Baumann • Parliamentnone (Offene Dorfgemeinde)Area • Total62.26 km2 (24.04 sq mi)Elevation (Church)1,437 m (4,715 ft)Highest elevation (Pizzo Centrale)2,999 m (9,839 ft)Lowest elevation (Schöllenen)1,289 m (4,229 ft)Population (December 2020) • Total1,527 • Density24.53/km2 (63.52/sq mi)DemonymGerman: Andermatter(in)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)Postal code6490SFOS number1202ISO 3166 codeCH-URLocalitiesAndermatt, Gurschen, Unteralp, Nätschen, Oberalp, Alp RossbodenSurrounded byAirolo (TI), Göschenen, Gurtnellen, Hospental, Tujetsch (GR)Websitewww.gemeinde-andermatt.ch Andermatt (Romansh: Urseraⓘ) is a mountain village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. At an elevation of 1,437 meters (4,715 ft) above sea level, Andermatt is located at the center of the Saint-Gotthard Massif and the historical center cross of north-south and east-west traverses of Switzerland. It is some 28 km (17 mi) south of Altdorf, the capital of Uri.

Geography

[edit] Parish Church St. Peter and Paul in Andermatt Aerial view by Walter Mittelholzer (1931) Andermatt is in the Urseren valley, on the headwaters of the river Reuss and surrounded by the Adula Alps. Immediately to the north of Andermatt, the Reuss flows through the steeply descending Schöllenen Gorge (or "the Schöllenen") to Göschenen and further down the Reuss Valley to the north. It then flows, near Altdorf, into the Urnersee, part of Lake Lucerne. In the other three directions, the valley is linked by three Alpine passes: the Oberalp Pass (6,706 ft; 2,044 m) to the east, the St Gotthard Pass (6,909 ft; 2,106 m) to the south and the Furka Pass (7,992 ft; 2,436 m) to the west. Andermatt has an area, as of 2006[update], of 62.2 km2 (24.0 sq mi). Of this area, 40.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (52%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). In the 1993/97 land survey[update], 0.4% of the total land area was heavily forested, while 5.1% is covered in small trees and shrubbery. Of the agricultural land, 4.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 36.5% is used for alpine pastures. Of the settled areas, 0.5% is covered with buildings, and 1.1% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.5% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), 1.0% is unproductive flowing water (rivers), 30.9% is too rocky for vegetation, and 19.7% is other unproductive land.

Transport

[edit] Andermatt serves as a crossroads between southern Switzerland and the north as well as between eastern Switzerland (i.e. Graubünden/Grisons) and western Switzerland, (i.e. Valais, Bern and the Swiss Romande). The village is connected by three Alpine passes: the Oberalp Pass (6,706 ft; 2,044 m.) to the east connecting the Surselva in the canton of Graubünden, the St Gotthard Pass (6,909 ft; 2,106 m.) to the south connecting with the Valle Leventina in canton of Ticino, and the Furka Pass (7,992 ft; 2,436 m.) to the west connecting with the Obergoms in canton of Valais. To the north the steeply descending Schöllenen Gorge links Andermatt with Göschenen and is the location of the famous Devil's Bridge. Since the opening of the Schöllenen route, around 1200, Andermatt has been on the Gotthard route. The town is served by a Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB) owned and operated railway station. The station is connected with Brig and Visp (Valais) and with the western terminus of the Rhaetian Railway at Disentis/Mustér (Grisons). There is also a very short branch line, the Schöllenenbahn, nowadays part of MGB, between Andermatt and Göschenen, at the northern end of the Gotthard Rail Tunnel, connecting with the Gotthard railway line.

History

[edit] Andermatt village centre Old St Gotthard post on the pass Archaeological finds dating back to 4000 BC indicate that the Urseren was already populated in the Neolithic period. During Roman times this Alpine valley was probably inhabited by some Helvetic Celtic tribes. However, the origins of Andermatt can only be traced back to Alemannic tribes, the Walsers, who established settlements in the area, where the current town of Andermatt is situated. The Devil's Bridge by J.M.W. Turner (ca. 1803/04) The parish of Andermatt was not mentioned until 1203; it was held by the Benedictine Disentis Abbey. This first mention refers to it as de Prato. In 1290 it was mentioned as A der Matte. In 1649, with the emergence of an independent Swiss Confederation, the ecclesiastical rights of the Disentis monastery were revoked in favour of civil legislation.[clarification needed] In the Flight of the Earls, Irish earls lost a fortune in gold at the Devil's Bridge crossing the ravine on St Patrick's Day 1608. It has never been recovered and is known as the Lost Treasure of the St Gotthard Pass.[citation needed] Nearby Schöllenen Gorge is the site of a memorial commemorating the 1799 campaign of the Russian general Alexander Suvorov. Between 1818–1831 the nearby St Gotthard Pass was made accessible to stagecoaches. As the last resort before the pass, Andermatt flourished economically and became a popular spa town. However the opening in 1881 of the St Gotthard railway tunnel reversed the village's fortunes, as the tunnel runs immediately beneath it, connecting the Central Swiss town of Göschenen with Airolo in Ticino. Some Andermattians who worked on the tunnel were killed during its construction. A strike by the tunnel workers, furthermore, was put down by military force, killing a further four workers. Since 1885, Andermatt has been a garrison town of the Swiss Federal Army. Here the infrastructure for the High Command of the Swiss Federal Army in the event of war was built. Today it is the location of a training centre of the Swiss army. Plans to build a series of reservoirs in the valley of Andermatt, the Urseren, encountered fierce resistance by the locals in 1946 and were abandoned four years later. A huge reservoir was built instead in the next valley, the Göschenertal. Several avalanches, in particular in the winters of 1951 and 1975, have caused havoc in some residential areas of Andermatt, killing some residents.[citation needed] Hotel Furkablick on the Furka Pass, east side By the 1930s the village's income from tourism had seriously declined, and many of the Ursental's hotels were abandoned or changed use. The Grand Hotel Bellevue, which was built by the aristocratic Müller family from neighbouring Hospental (who at one time or another owned many other hotels nearby including the Hotel Furkablick and Hotel Furka Passhöhe - as well as hotels in Flüelen, Alpnachstad, Herisau and Neuchâtel) was converted in the 1970s into apartments, but by 1990 it had been abandoned and was demolished with explosives. By the turn of the 21st century, as an alternative to the expensive ski resorts St Moritz and Gstaad, Andermatt steadily expanded its ski resort.[citation needed] Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis are now three interconnected all-season resorts and serviced by the Glacier Express train.

Demographics

[edit] Andermatt has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 1,527. As of 2007[update], 10.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years[when?] the population has decreased by −8.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (95.2%), with Portuguese being second most common (1.0%) and Italian being third (0.9%). As of 2007[update] the gender distribution of the population was 50.8% male and 49.2% female. In Andermatt about 75.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Andermatt has an unemployment rate of 0.9%. As of 2005[update], there were 51 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 22 businesses involved in this sector. 90 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 13 businesses in this sector. 599 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 78 businesses in this sector. Historical population Year Population 1799 605 1850 677 1900 818 1950 1,231 1970 1,589 2000 1,282 2008 1,242 2010 1,304 2014 1,408

Real-estate developments

[edit] Andermatt is exempt from Switzerland’s Lex Koller restrictions, allowing foreign nationals to purchase real estate without authorization as part of the Andermatt Swiss Alps development. In 2006, the Swiss Federal Council granted this exception, citing the region’s economic reorientation needs after the withdrawal of federal enterprises, such as the Swiss Army. The SFr1.8 billion project, led by Samih Sawiris, also bypasses second-home restrictions until 2040, attracting international buyers, including a surge of American investors in early 2025 who purchased SFr14.2 million in apartments amid U.S. political uncertainty.

Climate

[edit] Between 1991 and 2020 Andermatt had an average of 139.4 days of rain per year and on average received 1,423 mm (56.0 in) of precipitation. The wettest month was November, with an average of 142 mm (5.6 in) of precipitation and an average of 11.8 days with precipitation. The month with the most days of precipitation was June, with an average of 13.2, but with only 131 mm (5.2 in) of precipitation. The driest month of the year was February with an average of 91 mm (3.6 in) of precipitation over 11.4 days. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Andermatt has a subarctic climate, abbreviated "dfc" on climate maps. Climate data for Andermatt, elevation 1,435 m (4,708 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1973–present) Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 12.5(54.5) 12.7(54.9) 14.6(58.3) 20.5(68.9) 23.6(74.5) 28.5(83.3) 29.5(85.1) 28.3(82.9) 25.0(77.0) 23.0(73.4) 20.3(68.5) 11.0(51.8) 29.5(85.1) Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 0.4(32.7) 1.5(34.7) 4.5(40.1) 8.5(47.3) 12.5(54.5) 17.0(62.6) 19.4(66.9) 18.6(65.5) 14.2(57.6) 11.1(52.0) 5.4(41.7) 1.6(34.9) 9.6(49.3) Daily mean °C (°F) −3.7(25.3) −3.2(26.2) −0.4(31.3) 4.0(39.2) 7.8(46.0) 11.5(52.7) 13.8(56.8) 13.3(55.9) 9.3(48.7) 6.3(43.3) 1.5(34.7) −2.6(27.3) 4.8(40.6) Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −8.1(17.4) −8.2(17.2) −4.3(24.3) −0.4(31.3) 3.7(38.7) 6.8(44.2) 8.7(47.7) 8.5(47.3) 5.2(41.4) 2.1(35.8) −2.6(27.3) −6.8(19.8) 0.4(32.7) Record low °C (°F) −28.0(−18.4) −27.3(−17.1) −24.6(−12.3) −19.2(−2.6) −10.2(13.6) −5.0(23.0) 0.2(32.4) −3.5(25.7) −4.6(23.7) −17.2(1.0) −21.5(−6.7) −24.5(−12.1) −28.0(−18.4) Average precipitation mm (inches) 99.4(3.91) 91.2(3.59) 102.8(4.05) 108.5(4.27) 133.9(5.27) 131.3(5.17) 112.5(4.43) 133.7(5.26) 130.0(5.12) 125.3(4.93) 142.2(5.60) 112.5(4.43) 1,423.3(56.04) Average snowfall cm (inches) 106.4(41.9) 110.8(43.6) 89.4(35.2) 65.2(25.7) 18.3(7.2) 1.3(0.5) 0.1(0.0) 0.0(0.0) 2.4(0.9) 24.9(9.8) 81.7(32.2) 112.2(44.2) 611.7(240.8) Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 11.2 10.3 11.5 11.5 12.9 13.2 12.3 12.7 10.4 10.2 11.8 11.4 139.4 Average snowy days (≥ 1.0 cm) 11.2 11.4 9.9 6.2 2.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.4 2.6 7.7 12.0 63.6 Average relative humidity (%) 75 75 74 72 73 75 75 77 77 75 77 77 75 Mean monthly sunshine hours 58.4 80.9 133.3 156.3 149.1 190.4 206.0 182.8 155.1 110.4 81.3 59.7 1,563.7 Source 1: NOAA Source 2: MeteoSwiss Infoclimat

Skiing

[edit] Main article: Skiarena Andermatt-Sedrun Andermatt has two main ski areas in the winter. Nätschen is a mountain located on the north-east side of Andermatt. Gemsstock is a mountain located on the southern side of Andermatt. Both areas are accessible by ski lifts running up from the village, and have valley runs which are open until around mid-March. Additionally, Nätschen is accessible by the railway. There are plans to overhaul the ski areas, and connect Nätschen with the neighbouring slopes of Oberalp, which are currently only accessible by train, however they are a part of the whole ski area. Andermatt's mountains are popular for their off-piste, deep snow characteristics.