Sierre

Siders in the evening light In the background the Gorwetschgrat and the foothills of Pfynwald, the right of the entrance to the Val d' Anniviers (German Eifischtal )

Siders (French Sierre) is a municipality and capital of the district of the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Geography

The south-facing to the Val d' Anniviers tourist region Sierre -Anniviers with Situated on a hillside villages Vercorin, Chandolin, St- Luc Vissoie, St- Jean, Grimentz, Zinal and Ayer is a starting point for summer and winter sports. To the north, Sierre is connected by the cable car Sierre -Crans -Montana with the Montana community.

Cityscape

The old town of Sierre is situated on the northern side of the Rhône and is decisively by six hills ( Goubing, Pradegg, colline du château Mercier, Géronde, Planzette and colline de l' ancien Sierre), by the rock fall of Varneralp after the withdrawal of the Rhône glacier built around 16,000 BC, marked.

History

On the slopes and the hills described, there are prehistoric and ancient traces of settlement. The importance of Sierre is based on its location on the trade route to the Simplon Pass and through its agricultural importance, especially wine, made ​​possible by complex irrigation systems ( irrigation channels ) from the late Middle Ages.

The chapel of Saint - Ginier is one of the oldest buildings (7th century). The most important medieval building is the ruin of the Goubingturms of 1297, which dominates the town next to the modern Castle Mercier from the 19th century. Situated in the valley is home to the Neustadt dating from the 15th century castle Vidôme, the St. Catherine Church (17th century) and the coming of the 19th century town hall.

In 1972 the then independent municipality Granges VS was merged in the valley of the Rhone River with the city of Sierre. Siders thus came to a territory that extends far to the west towards Lake Geneva.

In 1996, the city was connected with the construction of the A9- section manners - Siders to the Swiss motorway network. Siders has two motorway, Sierre- Ouest and the current end of the motorway Sierre- Est. In between there is a tunnel in which the evening of March 13, 2012, a bus accident with 28 casualties, including 22 children occurred. The continuation of Sierre- Est to Visp to be completed in stages by 2019.

Population

The city of Sierre, located in the French-speaking Lower Valais, has about 15,000 inhabitants and is located directly on the language border to the German-speaking Upper Valais. Sierre itself houses a German -speaking minority, and ranks next to Biel / Bienne, Murten, Domat / Ems and Fribourg to the bilingual cities in Switzerland.

Economy

At the beginning of the 20th century came Siders by aluminum smelting, made ​​possible by hydro- electric power from the Val d' Anniviers to economic importance. The Alcan aluminum factory (formerly Alusuisse ) employs 1070 workers in Sierre, web and Chippis. In Granges is the largest theme park in Switzerland, the Happy Land.

Culture

Siders houses the Valais wine museum ( Musée Valaisan de la Vigne et du Vin ) and a Rilke Museum, commemorating Rainer Maria Rilke, three kilometers away, on the northern slope above Siders, the Château de Muzot from 1921 until shortly before his death 1926 lived. His grave is located in Raron.

Until 1966, the Hill Climb race was up to Crans -Montana part of the World Sportscar Championship.

Festivals:

  • Fête de la sainte Catherine ( on the last Monday of November )
  • Sierre -Zinal Volkslauf
  • Wine Festival ( VINEA ).

Festival:

  • Sierre Blues Festival (in August)
  • Rilke Festival (every 3 years in August )
  • Week-end au bord de l' eau ( in July )

Education

In Siders are

  • Swiss School of Tourism ( STF), the first bilingual tourism school in Switzerland with 270 students
  • The Ecole Cantonal d' art du Valais ( ECAV, German: School of Design Wallis ), an art school with 211 students
  • Research institutes of the University of Valais
  • The ICARE Institute

Twinning

Siders maintains partnerships with cities

Personalities

  • Kurt Bolliger (1919-2008), head of the Swiss Air Force, the Mayor and President of the SRC
  • Bernard Fellay (* 1958), Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X.
  • Stéphane Grichting ( b. 1979 ), football player
  • Hans -Peter Pfammatter ( born 1974 ), jazz pianist and composer
  • Jacques Plante (1929-1986), Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender
  • Jean -Yves Rey (born 1970 ), ski mountaineer, mountain and marathon runner

Gallery

The St. Catherine Church

Notre -Dame du Marais

Castle Vidôme

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