Obergoms is the upper part of the Goms and a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It was formed on 1 January 2009 when the three municipalities Ulrichen, Obergesteln and Oberwald merged.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 19 July 2011
History Obergesteln is first mentioned in 1322 as castellione. In 1415 it was mentioned as obergestillen. Oberwald is first mentioned in 1386 as Superiore Valde. In 1419 it was mentioned as Oberwaldt. Ulrichen is first mentioned in 1235 as Vlrighingen. In 1240 it was mentioned as holriquinguen.
The area around Ulrichen was the site of two battles during the Middle Ages. The First Battle of Ulrichen in 1211 was a decisive defeat of Bernese troops under Duke Berthold V of Zähringen by the army of the Canton of Valais under the Bishop of Sion Landrich von Mont. Many details about the battle are uncertain or questioned by historians. The Second Battle of Ulrichen in 1419 was between the Old Swiss Confederacy led by Bern and Valais. The second battle was a Valais victory and negotiations after the battle led to the end of the Raron affair.
Geography
The municipality of Obergoms occupies the uppermost reaches of the valley of the Rhone, extending up to and including the Rhone glacier that feeds the river. It is surrounded on all but its downstream boundary by high mountains, and forms the junction of routes over the Grimsel, Furka, Nufenen and the Gries Passes, as well as the lower level route down the Rhone valley towards Brig. With the exception of the Gries Pass, which is traversed only by a track, all these passes carry paved roads. The Furka–Oberalp railway line also passes through the municipality, with its current route entering the western portal of the Furka Base Tunnel at Oberwald, whilst its earlier route, now preserved as a heritage railway, passes over the Furka Pass.
The lowest settlement of Obergoms is Ulrichen, which lies in the Rhone valley at the foot of the Nufenen and Gries Passes. The route to both passes initially passes through the side valley of the Agene, and the municipality includes that valley, its surrounding slopes, the Griessee lake at its head, and the Gries glacier that feeds it. To the south of the lake and glacier, the municipality reaches as far as the border with Italy, a border crossed by the Greis Pass, whilst to the east it reaches the border with Bedretto in the canton of Ticino at the summit of the Nufenen Pass.
The next settlement up the Rhone valley is Obergesteln, which is located on a terminal moraine of the Rhone glacier in the Rhone valley, at an elevation of . Obergesteln is overlooked by the mountains of the Sidelhorn, to the north, and the Pizzo Gallina, to the south.
Obergesteln is followed by Oberwald, at on the right (north) bank of the Rhone, and Unterwassern, on the opposite bank of the Rhone. Beyond Oberwald, the municipality continues up the valley of the Rhone to Gletsch, at and Belvedere, at . From Gletsch, the Grimsel Pass climbs to the north, over the border into the canton of Bern. Belvedere overlooks the Rhone glacier, whilst the Furka Pass climbs on to the border with the canton of Uri.
Obergoms has an area, , of . Of this area, 26.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and 63.3% is unproductive land.
Demographics
Obergoms has a population () of . , 11.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -5.7%. It has changed at a rate of -2.2% due to migration and at a rate of -2.2% due to births and deaths.Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 07-September-2011
, the gender distribution of the population was 52.3% male and 47.7% female. The population was made up of 338 Swiss men (46.4% of the population) and 43 (5.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 308 Swiss women (42.3%) and 39 (5.4%) non-Swiss women.Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls accessed 24 August 2011
The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.2%.
, the construction rate of new housing units was 30.2 new units per 1000 residents.
Obergesteln demographics
Most of the population, in Obergesteln , speaks German (183 or 93.8%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (8 or 4.1%) and Tschechisch is the third (2 or 1.0%). There is 1 person who speaks French.
Of the population in the municipality 115 or about 59.0% were born in Obergesteln and lived there in 2000. There were 49 or 25.1% who were born in the same canton, while 11 or 5.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 18 or 9.2% were born outside of Switzerland.
, there were 69 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 108 married individuals, 14 widows or widowers and 4 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 accessed 2 February 2011
There were 34 households that consist of only one person and 3 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 92 households that answered this question, 37.0% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 28 married couples without children, 24 married couples with children There was one single parent with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 3 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 39 single family homes (or 32.0% of the total) out of a total of 122 inhabited buildings. There were 67 multi-family buildings (54.9%), along with 9 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (7.4%) and 7 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.7%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen accessed 28 January 2011
, a total of 88 apartments (35.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 148 apartments (59.0%) were seasonally occupied and 15 apartments (6.0%) were empty.
Oberwald demographics
Most of the population, in Oberwald , speaks German (249 or 95.8%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (6 or 2.3%) and Italian is the third (2 or 0.8%). There is 1 person who speaks French.
Of the population in the municipality 155 or about 59.6% were born in Oberwald and lived there in 2000. There were 48 or 18.5% who were born in the same canton, while 30 or 11.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 19 or 7.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
, there were 97 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 142 married individuals, 11 widows or widowers and 10 individuals who are divorced.
There were 44 households that consist of only one person and 5 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 117 households that answered this question, 37.6% were households made up of just one person and there was 1 adult who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 31 married couples without children, 32 married couples with children There were 2 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 5 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 37 single family homes (or 23.6% of the total) out of a total of 157 inhabited buildings. There were 83 multi-family buildings (52.9%), along with 16 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.2%) and 21 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (13.4%).
, a total of 112 apartments (24.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 331 apartments (71.3%) were seasonally occupied and 21 apartments (4.5%) were empty.
Ulrichen demographics
Most of the population, in Ulrichen , speaks German (213 or 96.4%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (3 or 1.4%) and Portuguese is the third (3 or 1.4%).
Of the population in the municipality 141 or about 63.8% were born in Ulrichen and lived there in 2000. There were 47 or 21.3% who were born in the same canton, while 16 or 7.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 17 or 7.7% were born outside of Switzerland. , there were 93 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 119 married individuals, 9 widows or widowers and individuals who are divorced.
There were 24 households that consist of only one person and 8 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 89 households that answered this question, 27.0% were households made up of just one person and there was 1 adult who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 26 married couples without children, 33 married couples with children There were 3 households that were made up of unrelated people and 2 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 41 single family homes (or 38.0% of the total) out of a total of 108 inhabited buildings. There were 47 multi-family buildings (43.5%), along with 11 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.2%) and 9 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.3%).
, a total of 85 apartments (36.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 129 apartments (54.9%) were seasonally occupied and 21 apartments (8.9%) were empty.
Historic Population The historical population is given in the following chart:Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 accessed 29 January 2011
Sights
The entire villages of Obergesteln and Ulrichen, the Gletsch region and the Furkabahn Cog-Wheel Railway are all designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Politics In the 2007 federal election in Obergesteln, the most popular party was the CVP which received 71.92% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (12.47%), the FDP (7.48%) and the SP (6.69%). In the federal election, a total of 112 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 64.7%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton accessed 28 May 2010
In Oberwald, the most popular party was the CVP which received 68.83% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (21%), the SP (5.56%) and the FDP (2.98%). In the federal election, a total of 110 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 61.1%.
In Ulrichen, the most popular party was the CVP which received 58.16% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (18.89%), the SP (15.11%) and the FDP (6.48%). In the federal election, a total of 111 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 63.1%.
Economy , Obergoms had an unemployment rate of 2.3%. , there were 64 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 86 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 11 businesses in this sector. 239 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 50 businesses in this sector.
Of the working population, 7.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 40.6% used a private car.
Obergesteln economy