Lenzerheide (Pass)

Parpanerhöhe

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The Lenzerheide (sometimes Lenzerheidepass ) is a valley in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland, stretching from the south of the village of Parpan located Parpanerhöhe ( 1547 m asl ) with mostly gently rolling over a length of about six kilometers to the south to St. Cassian (1415 masl) extends. For the most part the valley is located in the municipality Vaz / Obervaz. On the south it is on the bottom of the municipality Lantsch / Lenz.

The leading from Chur over Lenzerheide / Lai to Tiefencastel 32 km long section of the main road 3 crosses the Lenzerheide over their entire length. It serves not only to connect the neighboring communities, but is also frequented by transit traffic in the direction of Above and Engadin, as the track on the Lenzerheide is shorter than the connection via the Schin canyon.

History

In Roman times and the Middle Ages resulted from Chur over the Lenzerheide and on over the Julier and Maloja, or, later, over the Septimerpass one of the two historically important Graubünden Alpentraversierungen, the so-called Upper Street to the south. On the way through the Lenzerheide could avoid going through the Domleschg and used to be very exposed Schin canyon. The Obere Strasse stood to the Lower Street above the town and the Splügenpass to Chiavenna or over the San Bernardino to Bellinzona, the bottleneck, the Via Mala, was expanded in 1473 to mule in competition. In a massive road-building program were after the famine 1816/17, as spoiled grain shipments on the southern side, because the mule tracks, no transport was possible to expand all the valleys until the Averserstrasse from 1897 to Commercial streets of at least four meters wide.

Upgrading of the above Lenzerheide for engineered road was from about 1840. Tourist use learned through the licensing of private motor vehicles in 1926, as expected an upswing. From 1935 to 1940, the road was redesigned for the automobile traffic. In the 1960s, a jaunty ride was on the road for motorists already possible while the west running track was to drive very slowly and carefully through the Schin canyon. Today, however, runs - the signaling following - the greater part of the traffic from Chur in the direction of the Julier Pass on the A13 motorway and the rail road.

Geography

The Lenzerheide extends the average for approximately one kilometer- wide high valley of the area between Valbella and Parpan Parpanerhöhe in the north to St. Cassian in the south. The upper valley is divided, from north to south, in the areas Canols ( with the village Valbella ), Lai ( and Heid Lake and the village of Lenzerheide / Lai ) and Planoiras, with the vast forest area and the golf course. The latter is, as well as the area around St. Cassian, in the municipality of Lantsch / Lenz.

The water of Heidsee flows, up to a so-called residual amount of water from the water intake at Clavadoiras in a southwesterly direction through an ancient channel, and then, with a slope of 599 meters, through a pressure tunnel to the power plant Solis GR, and from there, through a further pressure tunnels, to the northwest to the power plant Sils im Domleschg before it enters the Albula and after one km in the Rhine. The residual amount of water flowing through their traditional stream bed, as Rain digl Lai, southward directly into the Albula.

Urban is the valley on the main road 3 Their north ramp rises at the output of Churwaldnertals directly from Chur with three pairs of serpentine and reaches a maximum slope of eleven percent. The southern ramp is less steep and runs after two bends above Tiefencastel gentler slope on the plateau of Lenzerheide.

The wide high valley runs almost parallel to the lower part of the background Rhine with Domleschg. In between lies a mountain range with the mountains Stätzerhorn, Piz Danis, Piz Scalottas Crap la Pala and. The Lenzerheide seems to continue the Above stone to the north. The reason in the 19th century arisen presumption Shaped by glacial glaciers valley of Lenzerheide is the former lower reaches of the Albula valley system is controversial.

Until well into the modern era, the formed by landslides and glacial glacier valley its wildness, its harsh climate and snowstorms to have been notorious for. Thanks to the targeted forest cover large parts of the plateau the hitherto much exposed to the wind valley received its present mild climate.

Name

The name Lenzerheide will be due on the covered with alpine flowers meadows, the whole of the region between Lenz and the lakeside serves. In addition, to this day is the origin of this north German sounding name in the Romansh language region ( the field names in Lenzerheide are consistently Romanesque ), not explored.

The earliest known document in which the name " Lenzerhaid " is mentioned, the purchase agreement dated February 20, 1456, with which the had just become independent municipality Obervaz of the impoverished Counts of Berg -Sargans today's municipal area, to how mentioned, the Lenzerheide heard bought from for 600 guilders. In the possession of the Counts of Berg -Sargans the area was in 1440 by the marriage of Ursula von Vaz, a daughter and heiress of the late 1438 probably powerful barons of Vaz Donat, with the Counts of Berg- Sargan, arrives. In the noble houses German was spoken in the Middle Ages, while their rural subjects spoke Romansh in many parts of the Grisons. This explains that the field names are entirely Romanesque, while the sovereigns used German names for larger areas. Until far into the 19th century were never heard in Obervaz Geu van a Lenzerheid but Geu van a Cuolm ( I go to mountain or on my Berggut ).

With the beginning of the exploration of the Alpine valleys by German Alps watchers in the 18th century, the name Lenzerheide then appeared in travelogues. A proof of this is found in the late 18th century.

" From Parpan comes from one of the prevailing winds and weather of there because so much decried zweytausend step long Lentzer Haide Planuras in 2 hours on I. Lenz, Laentz, but trift you wegens under 1 hour from Parpan still an inn on. "

The part relating to the area south of Lenzerheide / Lai area name Planoiras ( obervazerromanisch for levels ) is not included on the map of Switzerland, however, since Vaz, testified, according to the 1993 issued by the municipality Vaz / Obervaz Codesch in the 18th century. He has become particularly associated with the last few years taking place in Lenzerheide Planoiraslauf, a cross-country race, notoriety.

The name Lai (Romanesque for lake ) of the central part of the village of Lenzerheide and the lakeside serves comes from the time when the plane between Valbella and the northern entrance to the village of Lenzerheide was still largely covered by the sea. This dragged on through the centuries always in the direction of today's Valbella back until it was developed into a reservoir from 1917 to 1919. Even today, the ground between the dam of Heidsee and the north of the village the resort Lenzerheide is partly marshland.

The name Canols of the northern part of the plateau Lenzerheide Valbella is also Romanesque, probably meaning channels.

The term Lenzerheidepass (also: pass over the Lenzerheide ) is not an official name; neither the country nor the researched map 142 geographical names recorded a pass. Only with the advent of private transport - motor vehicles were registered in the Canton of Grisons only in 1926 - these new terms were from 1930 used in publications on Alpine roads.

1930, the transition has been referred to as the pass of Parpan.

The relevant inventory of historic routes in Switzerland uses the description matching similar counter slope of almost 700 m, because the track is seen as a major portion of the Upper Street. In the overview of the road passes the Civil Engineering Department Graubünden not listed Lenzerheide under the year-round passes.