Samedan, Tourism and Politics

24 January 2023

The village of Samedan (canton of Graubünden, Upper Engadine/Oberengadin) was first mentioned in 1139 following the sale of land by the counts of Gammertingen to the bishop of Chur. The counts of Gammertingen, whose homeland was north of the Danube in Swabia, ruled over a seigniory in this region.

Samedan became an independent municipality in 1538. From then on, it also gained increasing political importance but always fiercely competed with Zuoz.

In the 19th century, Samedan was recognised as the capital of the Upper Engadine. Socially and politically, the von Salis and von Planta family branches played an important role. They left their mark on the history of the village, the canton and Switzerland.

St.Peter Church and cemetery with the graves of the Von Planta family

Their wealth and power are still visible today in beautiful patrician houses.
The village church. A Romanesque church from the 13th century was rebuilt and extended into a Baroque church around 1700.

Grand Hotel Bernina

The Herz-Jesu-Church

The village church. Originally a Romanesque church from the 13th century. Rebuilt and extended into a baroque church around 1700

The tower. 12th century

History was also made by the Samedan Badrutt family of hoteliers. They built the legendary Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St Moritz. Samedan gained tourist significance, and in 1893, Switzerland’s oldest golf course was opened in Samedan. In 1903, the first train of the famous Räthische Bahn arrived in Samedan.

Source and further information: www.engadin.ch

Paracelsus (1493-1541), wall painting in Samedan.