The Rheinwald (from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

in the Canton of Grisons 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 ...

, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the Grisons, the Rheinwald, the

Schams image:Schams Andeer.jpg, thumb , The Schams north of Andeer. In the top left, the ruins of Cagliatscha Castle The Schams () is a section of the Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein valley in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Graubünden. Geograp ...

and the Domleschg.

Geography

The Rheinwald is about 26 km long and mainly runs from East to West. It is lined on both sides with peaks of over 3000 m high. The highest peaks are the Rheinwaldhorn (3402 m) to the West and the Pizzo Tambo (3279 m) in the South. The Hinterrhein leaves the valley at the entrance to the Rofla Gorge, which separates the Rheinwald from the

valley. Two mountain passes lead South from the Rheinwald: the San Bernardino Pass into Misox valley and the Splügen Pass into Val San Giacomo in Italy. The San Bernardino Tunnel (Swiss Highway A13) was opened in 1967 and stays open all winter. Mule tracks on Mount Safierberg and Mount Valserberg connect the Rheinwald with its Northern neighbour

Safien Safien is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Surselva (district), Surselva in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. The municipalities of Valendas, Versam, Safien and Tenna, Swi ...

valley and Vals. Another trail leads through the Val Curciusa valley via Bocchetta di Curciusa Pass and then connects to the San Bernardino. The villages in the valley are all on the Northern bank of the river and between 1420 m and 1620 m high, at the foot of the moderately steep slopes on the sunny side of the valley. The northern slope is covered with many Alpine meadows; the Southern side also has some meadows, separated by several side valleys.

Municipalities

The economic and cultural center of the valley is Splügen. The Rheinwald Kreis is a sub-district of the Hinterrhein District. It includes the municipalities of Hinterrhein, Nufenen, Splügen and Sufers. The municipality of Val Curciusa belongs orographically to the Rheinwald, but administratively to the district of San Bernardino.

History

The San Bernardino Pass and the route via Splügen have been used since at least the days of the Romans. The Rheinwald valley, however, was sparsely inhabited until well into the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

. During the 13th Century, Walser settlers travelled into the valley, at the behest of the Barons of Sax-Misox and the Barons of Vaz. Their language and culture shape the valley today. The 1286 ''Erblehensbrief'' ("Letter of

enfeoffment In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of t ...

") documents the legal relations between the settlers and their ruler. In 1337, after the death of the last Baron of Vaz, the Rheinwald came was given as a dowry to the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans. They sold it in 1493 to the Trivulzio family of Milan. In 1616, the umbrella contract with the Trivulzio was terminated, and after paying the last interest payment the inhabitants of the Rheinwald obtained full autonomy within the Grey League, to which they had belonged to since around 1400.

References

* Kurt Wanner: ''Unterwegs auf Walserpfaden'', Chur, 1993,

External links

* {{Authority control Rheinwald Regions of Switzerland Valleys of Graubünden Geography of Graubünden