Arosa is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Plessur Region in the canton of Graubünden in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is both a summer and a winter tourist resort. On 1 January 2013, the former municipalities of Calfreisen, Castiel, Langwies, Lüen, Molinis, Peist and St. Peter-Pagig merged into the municipality of Arosa.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 9 February 2013 At the end of 2013 the Arosa ski resort was linked with

Lenzerheide Lenzerheide ( Romansh: ''Lai'') is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village lies in the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein. Th ...

by cable-car, creating the new ski resort of

Arosa Lenzerheide Arosa Lenzerheide is a ski area located in Arosa, Lenzerheide, Valbella, Vaz/Obervaz, Valbella, Parpan and Churwalden, Canton of Graubünden, Graubünden/Switzerland. It originated 2013/14 by connecting the existing ski areas of Arosa and Lenzerh ...

; since that change, transport passes have been valid in both resorts. The official language of Arosa is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

dialect. The resort is known throughout Switzerland for its famous ice hockey team, the EHC Arosa which used to be one of the most successful teams in the country.

History

Arosa is first mentioned about 1330 as ''Araus''. In 1383 it was mentioned as ''Orossen'' and in 1428 it was first mentioned as ''Arosa''. The first known settlements are from the 13th century. After 1300 Arosa German-speaking Walser settlers came from Davos and replaced the original Romansh-speaking inhabitants. During the following centuries, the village had a subsistence alpine pasture economy. Until 1851 it was politically a part of the Davos municipality. Arosa was established as a health resort by a German doctor in 1883, and the first sanatorium was opened in 1888. From 1900 on it gradually developed as a winter resort. In 1938 the first ski lifts were built, and in 1956 the Weisshorn cable car was opened and further rope and chair lifts followed. Arosa weisshorn 14 08 06

In 1851 Arosa separated from the municipality of

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009 Skiing in Switzerland received a big boost from Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

, author of the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

series. Conan Doyle, an avid sportsman, was wintering in

. For entertainment, he ordered some skiing "boards" from Norway and hiked up the mountain with two local guides. They then skied down into Arosa, ending their journey with a luncheon at a local inn, the Seehof, the first hotel in Arosa. Conan Doyle wrote of his pioneering Davos/Arosa ski adventure in a British magazine, ''The Strand'', in 1894, and the story attracted British skiers to Switzerland.

Erwin Schrödinger Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger ( ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was an Austrian-Irish theoretical physicist who developed fundamental results in quantum field theory, quantum theory. In particul ...

was vacationing in Arosa at Christmas 1925 when he made his breakthrough discovery of wave mechanics. In 1933,

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

stayed in Arosa during the first week of his Swiss exile. The 1939 film '' Over the Moon'' (shot 1937–9) has brief Technicolor exterior shots of the train station and ski resort areas. On 20 February 1940, Germany's Hassall met with British J. Lonsdale Bryant in Arosa, to make a plan to overthrow the ruling German Nazi Adolf Hitler. The Cinema Museum in London holds film of the resort from 1959,

Geography

The municipality of Arosa has an area of . Of this, 42% is used for agriculture, and 15.2% is forested. 3.1% is settled (buildings and roads) and the remainder (39.7%) includes the rivers, glaciers and mountains which attract tourists which constitute the primary industry. Before 2017, the municipality was in the Schanfigg sub-district of the Plessur district, after that date it was part of the Plessur Region. Located on the south-east slope of the Weisshorn chain, the town of Arosa is at the top of the Schanfigg valley at the foot of the Aroser Weisshorn (). Adjoining are the areas of Innerarosa, Dorf-Obersee, Untersee and Maran-Prätschli at an elevation of . The two lakes in the centre of Arosa are the Obersee (upper lake) and . The town's

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

is at the end of a branch line from

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

Tourism

Arosa has a well-known and safe skiing area and boasts over of slopes. The main industry is tourism: there are 4287 guest beds. Arosa has an unemployment rate of 1.32%. , there were only 4 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. 308 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 30 businesses in this sector. 1,202 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 185 businesses in this sector.

Demographics

Arosa has a year-round population (as of ) of . , 22.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased by 9.8%, but fluctuates seasonally from about 4600 in January to about 2500 in May. Most of the population () speak German (79.8%), with Portuguese being second most common language (7.3%) and Italian third (4.1%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 27-Oct-2009 , there were 51.1% males and 48.9% females.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Arosa is: 7.0% between 0 and 9 years old; 3.2% are 10 to 14; 4.5% are 15 to 19. 26.2% are between 20 and 29 years old. 18.0% are 30 to 39, 14.5% are 40 to 49, 11.6% are 50 to 59. 7.0% are between 60 and 69 years old, 4.9% are 70 to 79, 2.3% are 80 to 89, and 0.6% are 90 to 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 45% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (24.7%), the SP (17%) and the CVP (12%). In Arosa about 70.3% of the population between age 25-64 have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). From the , 1,140 or 41.1% are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, while 1,150 or 41.5% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. 109 individuals (or about 3.9% of the population) belong to the Orthodox Church, and 17 individuals (about 0.6% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. The remainder belong to other religions or did not specify a religion. The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

The archeological site of ''Carschlingg'' near Castiel, a prehistoric, late- Roman and

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

settlement, and the Langwieser Viaduct for the Rhätische Bahn are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The hamlets of Medergen, Sapün and Strassberg are all part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

Climate

Arosa experiences a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: Dfc) similar to that of Valdez,

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, with short, cool summers, and long cold, but not severely cold winters. Precipitation is abundant year round, and so is snowfall, with annual totals averaging 285 inches (723 cm). Between 1961 and 1990 Arosa had an average of 147 days of rain per year and on average received of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

. The wettest month was August, with an average of of precipitation and an average of 14.5 days with rain. The month with the most days of precipitation was June, with 15.6, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year was February with of precipitation over 14.5 days., the weather station elevation is 1840 metres above sea level.

Transportation

The

Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Cantons of Switzerland, ...

operates frequent train services on the Chur–Arosa railway to

Notable people

* Carl Rüedi (1848 – 1901 in Arosa) a Swiss pulmonologist, treated author

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

* Egbert Coleby Morland FRCS FRCP (1874–1955) an English physician, he practised as a pulmonary specialist in Switzerland 1903–1914, first at Davos and then in Arosa * Lieutenant Alfred Michael Koch MC (born 1894 in Arosa – 1984) a Swiss-born Canadian flying ace credited with ten aerial victories * Paul ten Bruggencate (1901 in Arosa – 1961) a German astronomer and astrophysicist. * Karl-Heinz Kipp (1924 – 2017 in Arosa) a German billionaire, lived in Arosa and owned the Tschuggen Grand Hotel * Youri Messen-Jaschin (born 1941 in Arosa) an artist of Latvian origin, he often combines oils and gouaches. ; Sport * David Zogg (1902–1977) a Swiss alpine and Nordic combined skier. He was raised in Arosa * Werner Lohrer (1917 in Arosa – 1991) an ice hockey player, bronze medallist at the 1948 Winter Olympics * Heini Lohrer (1918 in Arosa – 2011) an ice hockey player, bronze medallist at the 1948 Winter Olympics * Roger Staub (1936 in Arosa – 1974) an alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

* Werner Geeser (1948 in Arosa – 2011) a Swiss cross-country skier, competed in the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...

* Engelhard Pargätzi (born 1959 in Arosa) a retired Swiss alpine skier who competed in the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (, ) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 (), were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 4 to 15, 1976. The games were awarded to Inn ...

* Isabel Waidacher (born 1994 in Arosa) a Swiss ice hockey player, six-time Swiss champion with the ZSC Lions Frauen

References

External links

*
Tourism information

Alpine PearlsLivecams of Arosa
* {{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Municipalities of Graubünden Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden