Ftan is a former

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 district of

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of

Ardez Ardez () is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Inn District, Switzerland, Inn in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland. The village is located in the Lower Engadin valley. On ...

, Guarda,

Tarasp Tarasp is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Inn District, Switzerland, Inn in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. Its eleven settlements are situated within the Lower Engadin ...

, Ftan and Sent merged into the municipality of

Scuol Scuol () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Grisons. The official language in Scuol is Romansh language, Romansh. On 1 January 2 ...

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 27 April 2016

History

Ftan is first mentioned in 1150 as ''Vetane''. In the 12th century, the lords of

owned land in Ftan and made donations to the

Müstair Müstair Help:IPA/Romansh, yʃtɐiris a village in the Val Müstair municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Inn District, Switzerland, Inn in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. In 2009 ...

and Scuol monasteries. As a parish, Ftan is first documented in 1492. Around 1542, it became

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. In 1499, and again in 1622, Ftan was destroyed by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n troops. In 1652, the village finally bought its freedom from Austria. From the 16th to the 19th century, Ftan was repeatedly devastated by avalanches and village fires (the last fire was in 1885). In 1875, the first avalanche barriers were erected and

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover. There are three types of afforestation: natural Regeneration (biology), regeneration, agroforestry and Tree plantation, tree plan ...

began. Between 1860 and 1862, a road was built along the bottom of the

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine (;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 ''Gidegna'' ...

valley; since then there has been very little road traffic on the hillside of Ftan. The station of 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, ...

(opened 1913) is also far below the village. Until the middle of the 20th century, the inhabitants of Ftan lived from arable farming. Only in the 1950s did the transition to livestock farming take place. In 1970, the first

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a Lift ticket, paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, ...

s were opened; after that, winter tourism increased rapidly and numerous holiday apartments were built.

Geography

Ftan had an area, , of . Of this area, 40.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 15.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (42.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The former municipality is located in the Suot Tasna sub-district of the Inn district on a terrace above the left bank of the

river. It consists of the village sections of Ftan Grond and Ftan Pitschen. Until 1943 Ftan was known as Fetan.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009

Demographics

Ftan had a population (as of 2014) of 492. , 11.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 9.6%.
accessed 12-Oct-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Ftan is; 57 children or 11.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 40 teenagers or 7.8% are 10 to 14, and 84 teenagers or 16.3% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 39 people or 7.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 65 people or 12.6% are 30 to 39, 69 people or 13.4% are 40 to 49, and 53 people or 10.3% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 43 people or 8.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 48 people or 9.3% are 70 to 79, there are 15 people or 2.9% who are 80 to 89, and there are 3 people or 0.6% who 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 43% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (42.1%), the FDP (7.7%) and the CVP (5.1%). In Ftan about 81.8% 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 ...

''). Ftan has an unemployment rate of 0.81%. , there were 64 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 24 businesses involved in this sector. 16 people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

and there are 6 businesses in this sector. 180 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

, with 25 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Languages

Most of the population () speaks Rhaeto-Romance (57.8%), with German being second most common (37.0%) and Italian being third ( 1.2%).

Hochalpines Institut Ftan

In 1793 the Ftan priest Andrea Rosius à Porta, influenced by Ulysses von Salis-Marschlins and

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (; ; ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking ...

, founded an institute for boys and girls which existed until 1869. This was followed in 1916 by the ''Hochalpines Töchterinstitut'', which since the 1970s has also been a regional secondary school with federally recognised maturities and diplomas (since 1993 Hochalpines Institut Ftan).

References

{{Authority control Scuol Former municipalities of Graubünden Populated places disestablished in 2015