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Geography Andermatt is located in a high Alpine valley—the Ursern Valley—in the Adula Alps. Transport Andermatt serves as a crossroads between southern Switzerland and the North as well as between eastern Switzerland i.e. Graubünden/Grisons and Western Switzerland, i.e. Valais, Berne and the Swiss Romande. The town is thus connected by four Alpine passes: the Oberalp Pass to the East, the St. Gotthard Pass (6,916 ft) to the South, the Realp Pass (5,046 ft) and the Furka Pass (7,992 ft) to the West, as well as the Göscheneralp Pass (5,850 ft) to the North. The Schöllenen Gorge in the Reuss Valley between Andermatt and Göschenen is the location of the infamous Devil's Bridge. Rail It is a station on the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn. History Archaeological finds dating back to 4,000 BC indicate that the Ursern Valley was populated already in the Neolithic period. During Roman times this Alpine valley was probably inhabited by some Helvetic Celtic tribes. However, the origins of Andermatt can only be traced back to Alemannic tribes, the Walsers, who established settlements in the area, where the current town of Andermatt is situated. The parish of Andermatt was, however, not mentioned until the year of 1203 AD, serving as a tenure to the Benedictine Monastery of Disentis. In 1649 AD, with the emergence of an independent Swiss Confederation, the ecclesiastical rights of the Monastery Disentis were revoked in favour of civil legislation. Between 1818-1831 AD the nearby St. Gotthard Pass was made accessible to stagecoaches. As the last resort before the pass, Andermatt flourished economically and became a popular spa town. The opening, in 1881 AD, of the St. Gotthard railway tunnel, however, reverted its fortunes as the tunnel runs immediately beneath the town, connecting the Central Swiss town Göschenen with Airolo in Ticino. Some Andermattians, who worked on the tunnel were killed during its construction. A strike by the tunnel workers, furthermore, was put down through the use of millitary force killing a further four workers. Since 1885 AD Andermatt has been converted into a garrison town of the Swiss Federal Army. Here the the infrastructure for the High Command of the Swiss Federal Army in an event of war was built. Today it is location of a Training Centre of the Swiss army. Plans to build a series of reservoirs in the Ursern Valley were voted down by the locals. Several avalanches, in particular in the winter of 1951 AD and 1975 AD have caused havoc in some residential areas of Andermatt killing the inhabitants of the houses affected. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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