Saanen (; ; Highest Alemannic: Saanä) is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1228 as Gissinay. In 1340 it was mentioned as Sanon. During the Middle Ages several forts were built to guard the mule trails into the Valais and Vaud. These included the Kramburg (which was first mentioned in 1331 but is now covered by later construction), the Swabia Ried tower (11th-12th century) and the Schönried tower (remains are visible as part of house number 349). During the Middle Ages it was part of the vogtei of Vanel in the county of Gruyère. In 1244, the counts became the vassals of Savoy. The counts' financial problems forced them to sell parts of the vogtei and some of the rights to the residents of Saanen in the 14th century. It took about six years before Confederation mediation was able to resolve the arguments between Saanen and Bern.

The Palace Hotel opened in 1913 as Gstaad's first luxury hotel. During the World Wars and the Great Depression, the tourism industry suffered, and many hotels closed. After World War II, many of the large hotels remained closed, but they were replaced with a number of smaller non-hotel accommodation (chalets, apartment houses, residences). Most of the modern resorts and small hotels are built out of wood and retain traditional design elements.

Geography

thumb|400px|Hornberg and countryside near Saanen

Saanen has an area of .<!--119.74 - 119.74 km2--> Of this area, or 51.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 35.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 8.3% is unproductive land.

Of the built-up area, housing and buildings made up 2.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, 27.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 15.3% is pastures and 35.9% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 4.8% is unproductive vegetation and 3.5% is too rocky for vegetation.

Demographics

thumb|Houses in Gstaad village

Saanen has a population () of . , 24.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 5.4%. Migration accounted for 6.1%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.4%.

Most of the population () speaks German (5,676 or 82.1%) as their first language, French is the second most common (247 or 3.6%) and Portuguese is the third (239 or 3.5%). There are 120 people who speak Italian and 5 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality, 3,000 or about 43.4% were born in Saanen and lived there in 2000. There were 1,267 or 18.3% who were born in the same canton, while 842 or 12.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,392 or 20.1% were born outside of Switzerland.

, there were 2,660 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. , the construction rate of new housing units was 5.4 new units per 1000 residents.

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bar:1930 from:start till:4754 text:"4,754"

bar:1941 from:start till:4650 text:"4,650"

bar:1950 from:start till:4899 text:"4,899"

bar:1960 from:start till:5649 text:"5,649"

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Heritage sites of national significance

thumb|upright|Saanen village church

The Alte Kastlanei and the Church are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Saanen is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 54.58% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (17.06%), the SPS (8.03%) and the Green Party (5.92%). In the federal election, a total of 2,084 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 48.8%.

Economy

thumb|upright|Gstaad Promenade with a tourist office. About one-third of the jobs in Saanen are in tourism.

, Saanen had an unemployment rate of 1.8%. , there were 491 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 202 businesses involved in this sector. 1,199 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 110 businesses in this sector. 3,969 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 414 businesses in this sector.

, there were 1,013 workers who commuted into the municipality and 256 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 4.0 workers entering the municipality for each 1 leaving. Of the working population, 5.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 44.3% used a private car.

During the 2009–10 school year, there were a total of 740 students attending classes in Saanen. There were 7 kindergarten classes with a total of 109 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 27.5% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 29.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 17 primary classes and 335 students. Of the primary students, 13.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 18.5% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 16 lower secondary classes with a total of 228 students. There were 10.1% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 14.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language.

, there were 238 students in Saanen who came from another municipality, while 51 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Originally, called Kinderheim Chalet Pfrundacker, the school later became known as John F. Kennedy International School. Founded in 1949 by Fred Sicking and his wife, JFKIS's (upper) secondary education (Middle and High School) is neither approved as a Gymnasium by the bureau for gymnasial and vocational education MBA (Mittelschul- und Berufsbildungsamt MBA), administration for education (Erziehungsdirektion), canton of Bern, nor by the Swiss Federal State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). It is an English language school and offers daily ski instruction in the Swiss Alps. JFK School has a student-teacher ratio of 3 to 1.

Previously Gstaad International School had its Alpine Lodge Campus in Saanen.

Notable people

  • Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), musician
  • Andreas Matti (born 1959), actor
  • Christian Kracht (born 1966), writer
  • Michael von Grünigen (born 1969), world skiing champion
  • Philippe Bach (born 1974), conductor
  • Stefanie von Siebenthal (born 1977), snowboarder.
  • Gjon's Tears (born 1998), singer and songwriter

International relations

Saanen is twinned with:

{| class="wikitable"

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  • Cannes, France
  • Darmstadt, Germany <small>(1991)</small>
  • Ordino / La Massana, Andorra

|}

References

  • Homepage