D’ Walser im Safiental

"From here you have a good view of the Safier farms of Camana, Hof, Bruschgaläschg, Zalön and Gün. They are a good example of the clearing activity of the Walser. In the 14th century, the Walser came from the Rhine Forest over the 2500 m high Safierberg and settled in the valley. Early on, they moved on and built their farms on glass and expanded further and further into Tschappina. The former Safien-Tschappina school association is just one example of Safien's close relations with Tschappina." Mattli Hunger, Walser, grew up in the Safien Valley

Around the year 1000, Alemannic settlers came from the Bernese Oberland to the Upper Valais. Years later, some of these shepherds, cattle breeders, muleteers and mountain farmers left the region again and moved on. Whether natural disasters, overpopulation, disease or climate change were the cause of the move on is still unclear today.

The feudal lords in Valais with their connections to the Alpine region were interested in the migrations of the Walser. The landlords had the Walser settled in order to consolidate their own rule. The Walser received rights and freedoms for their colonizing activities that were not self-evident at that time: free hereditary loans, with which they could transfer their estates to their descendants, as well as self-government, with which they elected judges and Ammann themselves. In return, they had to perform military service and interest taxes.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the Walser came from the Rhine Forest over the Safierberg to Safien and slowly settled the entire valley as far as Versam and Valendas. They moved over the Glaspass to Tschappina and settled on the upper Heinzenberg.

The Walser spread to various valleys in the canton of Graubünden and moved on to the St. Gallen Oberland, Liechtenstein, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. In their new homeland, the fertile areas were already occupied by locals, so that the Walsers usually only had the inhospitable mountain areas, which were often over 1500 m above sea level, in the Avers even over 2000 m above sea level, to settle.

At this altitude, large meadows were indispensable in order to be able to generate enough fodder for the cattle. The farms of the families are therefore often located at a great distance from each other, which can still be seen very well in the Safien Valley today. In other places, such as in the Rheinwald or Bosco Gurin, you can also find closed village settlements, as the topography there made extensive scattered settlements impossible.