Klosters is a

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 ...

village in the

Prättigau The Prättigau is a geographical region in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland. It consists of the main valley of the river Landquart and the valleys of its side-rivers and creeks. Landquart River, which drains into the Alpine Rhine in the town ...

, politically part of the

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' ...

Klosters-Serneus Klosters is a Swiss village in the Prättigau, politically part of the municipality of Klosters-Serneus, which belongs to the political district Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Grisons. In 2021, the municipality shortened its name to Klosters ...

, which belongs to the political district Prättigau/Davos in the canton of

Grisons The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; *Romansh language, Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...

. In 2021, the municipality shortened its name to Klosters. Klosters itself consists of the two main parts Klosters Dorf ('Village') and Kloster Platz ('Place'), and the settlements Selfranga, Äuja, Monbiel. Together with neighbouring Serneus, the two villages form the former municipality of

. On 1 January 2016, the former municipality of

Saas im Prättigau Saas im Prättigau is a Switzerland, Swiss village in the Prättigau and a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos (district), Prättigau/Davos in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. On ...

merged into Klosters-Serneus. The village's

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

lies from

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, the nearest

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

. Klosters is north from

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 ...

and part of its extended ski area.

History

Klosters is first mentioned in 1222 as ''ecclesiam sancti Iacobi''. In 1436 it was mentioned as ''zuo dem Closter''. It was part of one of the

Three Leagues The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, was the 1471 alliance between the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, and the Grey League. Its members were all Swiss Associates, associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ...

in the

League of the Ten Jurisdictions The League of the Ten Jurisdictions was the last of the Three Leagues founded during the Middle Ages in what is now Canton Graubünden of Switzerland. The League was created in the County of Toggenburg after the counts of Toggenburg died out ...

. A part of the league's coat of arms is visible on Klosters' coat of arms.

Geography

The

Landquart River The Landquart is a river of Switzerland in the canton of Grisons and a right tributary of the Alpine Rhine, formed by the confluence of two mountain streams, ''Vereinabach'' and '' Verstanclabach'', that originate from glaciers in the Silvretta ...

flows northwesterly through the village of Klosters and, along with various side streams, defines the geography of this region. Klosters-Serneus has an area, (as of 2016) of . Of this area, about 24.7% is used for

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

purposes, while 19.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and 54.2% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of or about 0.8% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1985 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by and is now about 0.08% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is used for

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s and vineyards, is fields and grasslands and consists of alpine grazing areas. Since 1985 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by . Over the same time period the amount of forested land has increased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality.Regionalporträts 2017: Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 18 May 2017 Before 2017, the municipality was located in and is the only municipality in Klosters sub-district of the Prättigau/Davos district, after 2017 it was part of the Prättigau/Davos Region. It was created in 1865 through the merger of the formerly independent municipalities of Serneus and Klosters. Until 1973 Klosters-Serneus was known as Klosters.
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009 It is the largest and uppermost village in the

valley. It consists of the villages of Klosters and Serneus and is made up of the sections of Platz, Dorf, Selfranga, Äuja and Monbiel. The

Jöriseen The Jöriseen are a group of Alpine lakes located west of the Jörifless Pass and north of the Flüela Wisshorn, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The largest lake has an area of 0.095 km² and is located at 2,489 metres above sea level ...

, a group of Alpine

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s located west of the Jörifless Pass and north of the

Flüela Wisshorn The Flüela Wisshorn is a mountain of the Silvretta Alps, overlooking the Flüela Pass The Flüela Pass (, , elevation ) is a high mountain pass of the Swiss Alps in Graubünden. Traditionally considered the boundary between the Albula and ...

, are within the village.

Demographics

Klosters-Serneus has a population () of . , 19.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. In 2015 a small minority (226 or 5.9% of the population) was born in Germany and a small minority (286 or 7.5% of the population) was born in Portugal. The

birth rate Birth rate, also known as natality, is the total number of live childbirth, human births per 1,000 population for a given period divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registr ...

in the municipality, in 2015, was 7.0, while the

death rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...

was 9.2 per thousand residents. Most of the population () speaks German (88.7%), with Portuguese being second most common (2.9%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (2.6%). , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 17.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 57.0% of the population and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 25.3%. In 2015 there were 1,508 single residents, 1,768 people who were married or in a civil partnership, 231 widows or widowers and 301 divorced residents. In 2015, there were 2,113 private households in Klosters-Serneus with an average household size of 2.13 persons. In 2015, about 33.5% of all buildings in the

were single family homes, which is much less than the percentage in the canton (49.4%) and much less than the percentage nationally (57.4%). Of the 1,376 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 34.8% were single family homes and 43.9% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 20.3% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 9.0% were built between 1991 and 2000.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Thema 09 - Bau- und Wohnungswesen
accessed 5 May 2016 In 2014 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 10.24. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.89%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width: auto height:200 barincrement:45 PlotArea = top:20 left:40 bottom:20 right:35 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:5000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:300 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width: 35 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from:start till:1302 text:"1,302" bar:1860 from:start till:1372 text:"1,372" bar:1870 from:start till:1473 text:"1,473" bar:1880 from:start till:1510 text:"1,510" bar:1888 from:start till:1529 text:"1,529" bar:1900 from:start till:1555 text:"1,555" bar:1910 from:start till:1719 text:"1,719" bar:1920 from:start till:2136 text:"2,136" bar:1930 from:start till:2558 text:"2,558" bar:1941 from:start till:2774 text:"2,774" bar:1950 from:start till:2978 text:"2,978" bar:1960 from:start till:3181 text:"3,181" bar:1970 from:start till:3534 text:"3,534" bar:1980 from:start till:3487 text:"3,487" bar:1990 from:start till:3542 text:"3,542" bar:2000 from:start till:3890 text:"3,890" bar:2010 from:start till:3899 text:"3,899" bar:2015 from:start till:4537 text:"4,537"

Skiing

Klosters is well known as a favorite ski resort for

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and subsequently one cable car to the top of Gotschnagrat is recently renamed the " King Charles cablecar".

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Reformierte Kirche am Platz'' is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Politics

In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP with 41.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (18.7%), the BDP (17.6%) and the SP (10.8%). In the federal election, a total of 1,341 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was 51.4%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 46.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (28.7%), the SP (17.2%) and the CVP (4.7%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 4 October 2011

Education

In Klosters-Serneus about 76.4% 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 ...

'').

Economy

Klosters-Serneus is classed as a tourist community. In 2015 local hotels had a total of 128,053 overnight stays, of which 54.4% were international visitors. , there were a total of 2,190 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 144 people worked in 62 businesses in the primary economic sector. 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 ...

employed 554 workers in 83 separate businesses. There were 10 small businesses with a total of 219 employees and one mid sized business with a total of 97 employees. Finally, 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 ...

provided 1,492 jobs in 313 businesses. There were 25 small businesses with a total of 645 employees. In 2015 a total of 10.2% of the population received social assistance. In 2011 the unemployment rate in the municipality was 1.2%. In 2015 the average cantonal, municipal and church tax rate in the municipality for a couple with two children making was 3.5% while the rate for a single person making was 15%, both of which are close to the average for the canton and nationally. In 2013 the average income in the municipality per tax payer was and the per person average was , which is greater than the cantonal averages of and respectively In contrast, the national tax payer average is , while the national per person average is .

Religion

From the , 895 or 23.0% 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 2,587 or 66.5% 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 ...

. Of the rest of the population, there are 106 individuals (or about 2.72% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 13 individuals (or about 0.33% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 32 (or about 0.82% of the population) who are

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. There are 14 individuals (or about 0.36% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 221 (or about 5.68% of the population) belong to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 27 individuals (or about 0.69% of the population) did not answer the question.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009

Transport

Kloster Platz has cable car lift service to the top of Gotschnagrat at . In winter it is part of the large ski area between

and Klosters. GotschnaPanorama-pjt

Klosters-Sunnibergbruecke-view from the raetische Bahn-01

Klosters lies 150 km (93 mi) southeast from Zürich, the nearest international airport. National train service is available from Zürich to Landquart, with regular regional train service to Klosters. The municipality has four railway stations: , , , and . There is also a variety of regional and local bus services. The local Rhaetian line is the Landquart-Davos Platz line, which connects at

Landquart railway station Landquart railway station () is a major railway station in the municipality of Landquart, Switzerland, Landquart, in the Canton of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Grisons, Grisons. It is an intermediate stop on the Swiss Federal Railways Ch ...

with national rail to Zürich. The portion from Landquart to Klosters was first opened in 1889. Near Serneus this local line passes the 525 m long award-winning

Sunniberg Bridge The Sunniberg Bridge is a curved multi-span Extradosed bridge, extradosed road bridge with low outward-flaring pylons above the roadway edges, designed by the renowned Swiss engineer Christian Menn and completed 1998. It carries the Klosters bypa ...

, which was completed 1998 as the centerpiece of the Klosters bypass and the Lanquart valley that lies south of the railway. In 2005 the Klosters bypass, which includes both the Sunniberg Bridge and the Gotschna Tunnel, was opened for traffic in a ceremony with

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, a frequent visitor to Klosters.

Society

The Klosters

has been the winter destination for the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

, notably

, for over three decades. Klosters takes pride in what

Tom Robbins Thomas Eugene Robbins (July 22, 1932 – February 9, 2025) was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy dramas"). Robbins had lived in La Conner, Washington, since 1970, where he wrote nine of his ...

refers to as "Discreet luxury yes, pomposity just for show, no", it warns; here "understatement is written in capital letters".

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

and

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...

learned to ski in the village and were often spotted at their usual haunt: Casa Antica. Other notables include

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner (), was a Russian-born actor. He was known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical ''The King and I'' (19 ...

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

Juliette Gréco Juliette Gréco (; 7 February 1927 – 23 September 2020) was a French singer and actress. Her best known songs are "Paris Canaille" (1962, originally sung by Léo Ferré), "La Javanaise" (1963, written by Serge Gainsbourg for Gréco) and "Désh ...

Irwin Shaw Irwin Shaw (February 27, 1913 – May 16, 1984) was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for two of his novels: '' The Young Lions'' (1 ...

, Charles Korvin,

Robert Capa Robert Capa (; born Endre Ernő Friedmann, ; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist. He is considered by some to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history.Kershaw, Al ...

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

and

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

, who famously danced on the tables in the hotel bar of the legendary Hotel Chesa Grischuna where

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French W ...

discussed his musical notes for "

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

" with the hotel pianist.

Peter Viertel Peter Viertel (16 November 1920 – 4 November 2007) was an author and screenwriter. Biography Viertel was born to Jewish parents in Dresden, Germany, the writer and actress Salka Viertel and the writer Berthold Viertel. In 1928, his parents m ...

described Klosters as "Hollywood on the Rocks" in his acclaimed autobiography "Dangerous Friends" and in 1960 married

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a Scottish actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first person from Scotland to be no ...

in Klosters. In more recent history other regulars include

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

, billionaires Nathaniel Rothschild,

Thomas Schmidheiny Thomas Schmidheiny (born 17 December 1945) is a Swiss billionaire businessman, and the former chairman of cement manufacturer Holcim. Early life Thomas Schmidheiny was born in 1945, the son of Max Schmidheiny (1908-1991). The family's construc ...

Friede Springer Friede Springer (born Friede Riewerts, 15 August 1942) is a German publisher and widow of Axel Springer. She is the main owner of the Axel Springer SE media conglomerate - and thus of Europe's largest newspaper ''Bild'' - being one of the richest ...

Guy Spier Guy Spier (; born February 4, 1966) is a Zurich-based Swiss-German-Israeli investor. He is the author of ''The Education of a Value Investor''. Spier is the manager of the Aquamarine Fund with $400 million in assets. He is well known for bidding ...

and

Peter Munk Peter Munk (November 8, 1927 – March 28, 2018) was a Hungarian-Canadian businessman, investor, founder and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of a number of high-profile business ventures, including the hi-fi electr ...

. Other notables include

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson Tara Claire Palmer-Tomkinson (23 December 1971 – 8 February 2017) was an English socialite and television personality. She appeared in several television shows, including the reality programme ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British ...

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...

and Swiss movie producer

Marc Forster Marc Forster (born 30 November 1969) is a German-Swiss filmmaker. He is best known for directing the feature films ''Monster's Ball'', ''Finding Neverland (film), Finding Neverland'', ''Stranger than Fiction (2006 film), Stranger than Fiction'' ...

. Local hotel proprietor and skier Ruth Guler ran the Hotel Wynegg, and socialised with several royals, though she treated them no differently to other guests. Nicholas Wheeler and Chrissie Rucker own the Haus Alpina chalet in Klosters.

Climate

Klosters has a

Tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

climate (ET) under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

. The average annual temperature is . The average coldest month is January with an average temperature of , while the warmest month is July with an average temperature of . The wettest month is August during which time Klosters received an average of of rain or snow. During this month it receives precipitation for 14.6 days. The month of June has the most precipitation days, 14.9 but only has of precipitation. The driest month is February during which time Klosters receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month it receives precipitation for 10.6 days.Weatherbase climate summary
accessed 19 June 2013. The weather station is above sea level.

References

{{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden