Scuol

Scuol () is a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. The official language in Scuol is Romansh. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Ardez, Guarda, Tarasp, Ftan and Sent merged into Scuol.

Name

The official name has undergone several changes in the 20th century:
* Until 1943, the official name of the municipality was ''Schuls''.
* In 1943, it was changed to ''Bad Scuol/Schuls''.
* In 1970 ''Schuls'' was dropped as an official name, leaving only ''Bad Scuol''.
* In 1999 ''Bad'' was dropped, leaving today's name, ''Scuol.''

History

Scuol is first mentioned in 1095 as ''Schulles''.

The Neo-Renaissance style Grand Hotel Waldhaus Vulpera in Scuol-Tarasp with Sgraffito-Elements was opened on 8 June 1897 and was one of the first addresses in the Swiss Alps and was a major Belle Époque monument in Europe.

Geography

After the 2015 merger Scuol had an area of . Before the merger Scuol had an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 26.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and 46.1% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85-2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by and the agricultural land has decreased by .Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Regional portraits
accessed 2 May 2016

The whole southern face towards Piz Champatsch on is being used as a skiing area called "Motta Naluns", named after a place north of Scuol. The resort has 80 kilometers of slopes and 12 lifts (aerial cableway/ chair lifts / drag lifts).

Before 2017 it was the municipality is the capital of the Inn district and was located in the Suot Tasna sub-district, after 2017 it was part of the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region. It is a well known spa town and vacation spot and is the business center of the Unterengadin valley. It is the largest village on the left side of the Inn river. It consists of the village of Scuol with the section Pradella and the old mining village of S-charl. Until 1970 Scuol was known as Scuol/Schuls.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009

The God da Tamangur ("the forest back there") is the highest continuous stone pine (pinus cembra) forest in Europe, right at the furthest end of the Val S-charl, south of Scuol. The forest nature reserve covers an area of about at up to in elevation. Due to the altitude and weather, the trees grow very slowly and may live up to 700 years.

Demographics

Scuol has a population (as of ) of . , 23.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1.4%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 12 October 2009

, the gender distribution of the population was 48.5% male and 51.5% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Scuol is; 220 children or 10.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 106 teenagers or 5.0% are 10 to 14, and 139 teenagers or 6.6% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 248 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 334 people or 15.7% are 30 to 39, 306 people or 14.4% are 40 to 49, and 278 people or 13.1% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 201 people or 9.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 154 people or 7.3% are 70 to 79, there are 115 people or 5.4% who are 80 to 89, and there are 21 people or 1.0% who are 90 to 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009

In 2013 there were 1,073 private households in Scuol. Of the 694 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 41.6% were single family homes and 36.6% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 36.5% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 11.4% were built between 1991 and 2000.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Thema 09 – Bau- und Wohnungswesen
accessed 5 May 2016 In 2012 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 20.57. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.48%.

Historic Population

The historical population is given in the following chart:

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id:SC value:yellowgreen legend:Scuol
id:AR value:green legend:Ardez
id:GU value:blue legend:Guarda
id:TA value:red legend:Tarasp
id:FT value:yellow legend:Ftan
id:SE value:orange legend:Sent

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bar:1850 from: 0 till:912 text:"912" color:SC
bar:1860 from: 0 till:945 text:"945" color:SC
bar:1870 from: 0 till:894 text:"894" color:SC
bar:1880 from: 0 till:894 text:"894" color:SC
bar:1888 from: 0 till:947 text:"947" color:SC
bar:1900 from: 0 till:1117 text:"1117" color:SC
bar:1910 from: 0 till:1333 text:"1333" color:SC
bar:1920 from: 0 till:1347 text:"1347" color:SC
bar:1930 from: 0 till:1363 text:"1363" color:SC
bar:1941 from: 0 till:1346 text:"1346" color:SC
bar:1950 from: 0 till:1384 text:"1384" color:SC
bar:1960 from: 0 till:1429 text:"1429" color:SC
bar:1970 from: 0 till:1686 text:"1686" color:SC
bar:1980 from: 0 till:1744 text:"1744" color:SC
bar:1990 from: 0 till:1889 text:"1889" color:SC
bar:2000 from: 0 till:2122 text:"2122" color:SC
bar:1850 from: 912 till:1498 text:"586" color:AR
bar:1860 from: 945 till:1550 text:"605" color:AR
bar:1870 from: 894 till:1506 text:"612" color:AR
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bar:1900 from: 1117 till:1729 text:"612" color:AR
bar:1910 from: 1333 till:2338 text:"1005" color:AR
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bar:1930 from: 1363 till:1990 text:"627" color:AR
bar:1941 from: 1346 till:1876 text:"530" color:AR
bar:1950 from: 1384 till:1925 text:"541" color:AR
bar:1960 from: 1429 till:1909 text:"480" color:AR
bar:1970 from: 1686 till:2177 text:"491" color:AR
bar:1980 from: 1744 till:2127 text:"383" color:AR
bar:1990 from: 1889 till:2282 text:"393" color:AR
bar:2000 from: 2122 till:2523 text:"401" color:AR
bar:1850 from: 1498 till:1778 text:"280" color:GU
bar:1860 from: 1550 till:1811 text:"261" color:GU
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bar:1880 from: 1528 till:1794 text:"266" color:GU
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bar:1930 from: 1990 till:2251 text:"261" color:GU
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bar:1950 from: 1925 till:2118 text:"193" color:GU
bar:1960 from: 1909 till:2072 text:"163" color:GU
bar:1970 from: 2177 till:2323 text:"146" color:GU
bar:1980 from: 2127 till:2261 text:"134" color:GU
bar:1990 from: 2282 till:2447 text:"165" color:GU
bar:2000 from: 2523 till:2667 text:"144" color:GU
bar:1850 from: 1778 till:2135 text:"357" color:TA
bar:1860 from: 1811 till:2206 text:"395" color:TA
bar:1870 from: 1775 till:2100 text:"325" color:TA
bar:1880 from: 1794 till:2141 text:"347" color:TA
bar:1888 from: 1847 till:2169 text:"322" color:TA
bar:1900 from: 1974 till:2252 text:"278" color:TA
bar:1910 from: 2714 till:3015 text:"301" color:TA
bar:1920 from: 2202 till:2516 text:"314" color:TA
bar:1930 from: 2251 till:2577 text:"326" color:TA
bar:1941 from: 2115 till:2425 text:"310" color:TA
bar:1950 from: 2118 till:2425 text:"307" color:TA
bar:1960 from: 2072 till:2468 text:"396" color:TA
bar:1970 from: 2323 till:2665 text:"342" color:TA
bar:1980 from: 2261 till:2554 text:"293" color:TA
bar:1990 from: 2447 till:2688 text:"241" color:TA
bar:2000 from: 2667 till:2995 text:"328" color:TA
bar:1850 from: 2135 till:2641 text:"506" color:FT
bar:1860 from: 2206 till:2784 text:"578" color:FT
bar:1870 from: 2100 till:2612 text:"512" color:FT
bar:1880 from: 2141 till:2662 text:"521" color:FT
bar:1888 from: 2169 till:2603 text:"434" color:FT
bar:1900 from: 2252 till:2655 text:"403" color:FT
bar:1910 from: 3015 till:3595 text:"580" color:FT
bar:1920 from: 2516 till:3116 text:"600" color:FT
bar:1930 from: 2577 till:3111 text:"534" color:FT
bar:1941 from: 2425 till:2913 text:"488" color:FT
bar:1950 from: 2425 till:2929 text:"504" color:FT
bar:1960 from: 2468 till:2934 text:"466" color:FT
bar:1970 from: 2665 till:3090 text:"425" color:FT
bar:1980 from: 2554 till:2989 text:"435" color:FT
bar:1990 from: 2688 till:3141 text:"453" color:FT
bar:2000 from: 2995 till:3511 text:"516" color:FT
bar:1850 from: 2641 till:3582 text:"941" color:SE
bar:1860 from: 2784 till:3933 text:"1149" color:SE
bar:1870 from: 2612 till:3542 text:"930" color:SE
bar:1880 from: 2662 till:3766 text:"1104" color:SE
bar:1888 from: 2603 till:3616 text:"1013" color:SE
bar:1900 from: 2655 till:3621 text:"966" color:SE
bar:1910 from: 3595 till:4571 text:"976" color:SE
bar:1920 from: 3116 till:3954 text:"838" color:SE
bar:1930 from: 3111 till:3893 text:"782" color:SE
bar:1941 from: 2913 till:3762 text:"849" color:SE
bar:1950 from: 2929 till:3739 text:"810" color:SE
bar:1960 from: 2934 till:3672 text:"738" color:SE
bar:1970 from: 3090 till:3794 text:"704" color:SE
bar:1980 from: 2989 till:3685 text:"696" color:SE
bar:1990 from: 3141 till:3911 text:"770" color:SE
bar:2000 from: 3511 till:4376 text:"865" color:SE

Languages

Half of the population () speaks Romansh (49.4%), with German being second most common (39.2%) and Italian being third ( 3.9%). Scuol is host to a branch of the Lia Rumantscha.

Economy

, there were a total of 2,240 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 39 people worked in 13 businesses in the primary economic sector. The secondary sector employed 394 workers in 33 separate businesses. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 1,807 jobs in 265 businesses. In 2013 a total of 20.6% of the population received social assistance.

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the BDP with 43.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (20.1%), the SP (15.1%) and the FDP (10.3%). In the federal election, a total of 666 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.0%.

Crime

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the Swiss Criminal Code (running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Scuol was 41.3 per thousand residents. This rate is only 63.9% of the average rate in the entire country. During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 8.5 per thousand residents and the rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 0.9 per thousand.

Education

In Scuol about 69.7% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''Fachhochschule'').

Transportation

The municipality has four railway stations: , , , and . All four are located on the Bever–Scuol-Tarasp line with regular service to and .

Hospital

There is one small regional hospital, called ''Ospidal Engiadina Bassa'' (Romansh: Hospital of the Lower Engadin). The hospital celebrated its 100th anniversary on 21 June 2008. It is one of the country's smallest hospitals, offering basic services such as departments of surgery, internal medicine, cardiology, dermatology, oncology, gynecology, a 24-hour Emergency Department, and a 2-bed intensive care unit. Understandably for a mountain resort with a major ski region, orthopedic procedures are very common.

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Baselgia refurmada'', the ''Chasa Wieland Nr. 29'' and the ''Kurhaus Bad Tarasp'' (spa Bad Tarasp) in Scuol, the '' Chasté'' (a prehistoric site, a medieval fortress and a church) and the ''Doppelwohnhaus'' (Double-house) in Ardez, Tarasp Castle and the ''Trinkhalle'' (drinking hall) in Tarasp are all listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21 November 2008 version, accessed 12 October 2009

The ''Chastè'' site includes settlements from the late Bronze Age (Melauner culture) into the early Iron Age ( Fritzens-Sanzeno culture) as well as some finds from the Roman Empire.

The Chasa Wieland Nr.29 in Scuol village was built around a three story medieval stone tower. It was likely built by one of a few Graubünden noble families. The tower may have been damaged when Scuol was destroyed in 1499 during the Swabian War, but if so it was quickly repaired. During the Bündner Wirren, in 1622, Scuol and the tower were burned. Soon thereafter a farmhouse was built over the ruins, incorporating the thick walls. Some of the doorways are from the tower, while new windows had to be broken into the walls. The date 1753 was carved into the lintel. The walls still show the Pietra Rasa construction, where the mortar that holds the rough stones together is also used as a plaster to them. After plastering with mortar, lines are incised into the mortar to give the appearance of regular bricks or stones.

Climate

Due to its geographical positioning, being located in the depth of a valley, Scuol features a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen: "''Dfb''") with moderate summers and chilly winters, which is usually accompanied with occasional snowfall. Despite seeing an average low of −8º in its coldest month, the winters here are not as cold as the towns upstream (such as St. Moritz).
The town sees an average of 94.5 days of rain per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is August during which time Scuol receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.8 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 4.9 days.

Notable people

* Felix Calonder, Swiss politician
* Tonia Maria Zindel, Swiss actress

References

External links

Scuol municipality website
(in Romansh and German)
*

{{Authority control

Municipalities of Graubünden
Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland
Spa towns in Switzerland
Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden
Populated places on the Inn (river)