Grächen is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
The village is situated at an altitude of on a terrace above St. Niklaus in the Mattertal, north of the Mischabel range (and Dom).
History
Settlements in the area of Grächen probably date back to Neolithic times. It certainly was a hunting ground for early Bronze Age alpine people (celts List of Celts). Around 750 (CE), the Alamanni started to settle in the upper (German-speaking) part of what is now the canton of Valais.
Grächen is first mentioned in 1210 as de Grachan. In 1250 it was mentioned as de Granges.
|source 2 = MeteoSwiss
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, issuant from base three Cliffs Or from which are rising as many Pine trees Vert trunked and rooted proper.
Demographics
thumb|upright|Houses near Grächen
thumb|Electric taxi in Grächen
Grächen has a population () of . , 6.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of -1.7%. It has changed at a rate of 1.6% due to migration and at a rate of 0.9% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks German (1,229 or 98.0%) as their first language, Dutch is the second most common (11 or 0.9%) and French is the third (4 or 0.3%). There is 1 person who speaks Italian and 1 person who speaks Romansh. Of the population in the municipality, 888 or about 70.8% were born in Grächen and lived there in 2000. There were 214 or 17.1% who were born in the same canton, while 96 or 7.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 42 or 3.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
, there were 477 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. , the construction rate of new housing units was 35.2 new units per 1000 residents.
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Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 75.92% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (13.04%), the SP (5.52%) and the FDP (4.26%). In the federal election, a total of 527 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 50.8%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 591 votes were cast, of which 44 or about 7.4% were invalid. The voter participation was 57.8%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 523 votes were cast, of which 32 or about 6.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 50.9%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Grächen had an unemployment rate of 2.6%. , there were 49 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 29 businesses involved in this sector. 61 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 12 businesses in this sector. 356 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 81 businesses in this sector.
, there were 78 workers who commuted into the municipality and 222 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 14.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 39% used a private car. In 2011, a plan to renovate and enlarge the ski area was launched.
Grächen also attracts many people due to its proximity to Zermatt and to Saas-Fee, two major ski resorts.
Sport
Grächen hosts the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships on 22 September 2019.
Religion
thumb|Church in Grächen
From the , 1,166 or 93.0% were Roman Catholic, while 46 or 3.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 5 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.40% of the population), and there were 13 individuals (or about 1.04% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 4 (or about 0.32% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist. 11 (or about 0.88% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 13 individuals (or about 1.04% of the population) did not answer the question. During that school year, there was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 18 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Grächen there were a total of 5 classes and 104 students in the primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Grächen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 43 students from Grächen who attended schools outside the municipality.