The Bernina Pass (el. .) ( it, Passo del Bernina) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

in the

Bernina Range The Bernina Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. It is considered to be part of the Rhaetian Alps within the Central Eastern Alps. It is one of the highest ranges of the Alps, covered with many glacie ...

of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

of Graubünden (Grisons) in eastern

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It connects the famous resort town of St. Moritz in the

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ...

valley with the Italian-speaking Val Poschiavo, which ends in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

town of Tirano in

Valtellina Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Tod ...

. The pass lies a few kilometres east of

Piz Bernina Piz Bernina ( Romansh, it, Pizzo Bernina, ) is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps, the highest point of the Bernina Range, and the highest peak in the Rhaetian Alps. It rises and is located south of Pontresina and near the major Alpine ...

, and south of

Val Minor Val Minor is a valley in the municipal area of Pontresina, north of the Bernina Pass in Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. The valley is at an elevation of around . The valley entrance lies between the Piz Lagalb and Piz Alv (Livigno Alps), Piz A ...

. The Bernina Pass is crossed by both the Hauptstrasse 29 road and the

Bernina railway line The Bernina Railway (german: Berninalinie; it, Linea del Bernina; rm, Lingia dal Bernina) is a single-track railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the canton of Graubünden, Switzer ...

, with a popular tourist train, the ''

Bernina Express The Bernina Express is a train connecting Chur (or Davos) in Switzerland to Poschiavo in Switzerland and Tirano in Italy by crossing the Swiss Alps, Swiss Engadin Alps. For most of its journey, the train also runs along the World Heritage Site kn ...

'' operating year-round between

Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers , twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxe ...

and Tirano. The train crosses the pass west of the road at a slightly lower (at Ospizio Bernina) - it is the highest

adhesion railway An adhesion railway relies on adhesion traction to move the train. Adhesion traction is the friction between the drive wheels and the steel rail. The term "adhesion railway" is used only when it is necessary to distinguish adhesion railways from ...

route in Europe. Lago Bianco, Lej Nair and Lej Pitschen are located on the pass.

History

Johann Heinrich Müller, 1825-1894 J11 Bernina Hospiz

The pass was an important trade route over the Alps during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. In 1410 several communities north and south of the pass agreed to work together to maintain the path. In 1512 the

Three Leagues The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, and the Grey League, leading eventually to the formation of the Swiss canton of Graubünden (Grison ...

and their

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

allies

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

the

region through the Bernina Pass. Around this time the route over the pass was described for the first time. It covered a distance of about from

Poschiavo Poschiavo ( it, Poschiavo, lmo, Pusciaaf, german: Puschlav, rm, Puschlav) is a municipality in the Bernina Region in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. History Poschiavo is first mentioned in 824 as ''in Postclave'' though this comes fro ...

to Pontresina. The building of the road began in 1842. Head of engineers was Rudolf Albertini (1821–1896) from Zuoz. The work was finished in 1865 and a hospice at an elevation of was also opened. Since this time the road has been widened several times. Since 1965 it has been open all year round, although there is snow during 8 months.

Climate

Gallery

File:Bernina Pass (& Lago Bianco).JPG, Bernina Pass and Lago Bianco File:Over the Bernina Pass.JPG, Bernina Pass by train in winter

References

External links

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian: ''Ufficio federale di topografia''; Romansh: ''Uffizi federal d ...

ma
of the passPictures from the Bernina Pass Mountainbike RouteProfile on climbbybike.com
* * {{Authority control Mountain passes of Switzerland Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Graubünden Bernina Range Engadin Rail mountain passes of Switzerland Poschiavo

History

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links