Андерматт: Альпийский перекресток Швейцарии

the surname

Andermatt is a mountain village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. At an elevation of above sea level, Andermatt is located at the center of the Saint Gotthard Massif and the historical center cross of north south and east west traverses of Switzerland. It is some south of Altdorf, the capital of Uri.

Andermatt is in the Urseren valley, on the headwaters of the river Reuss and surrounded by the Adula Alps. Immediately to the north of Andermatt, the Reuss flows through the steeply descending Schöllenen Gorge (or the Schöllenen) to Göschenen and further down the Reuss Valley to the north. It then flows, near Altdorf, into the Urnersee, part of Lake Lucerne. In the other three directions, the valley is linked by three Alpine passes: the Oberalp Pass (6,706 ft; 2,044 m.) to the east, the St Gotthard Pass (6,909 ft; 2,106 m.) to the south and the Furka Pass (7,992 ft; 2,436 m.) to the west. Andermatt has an area, as of 2006, of Of this area, 40.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (52%) is non productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Andermatt serves as a crossroads between southern Switzerland and the north as well as between eastern Switzerland (i. e. Graubünden/Grisons) and western Switzerland, (i. e. Valais, Bern and the Swiss Romande). The village is connected by three Alpine passes: the Oberalp Pass (6,706 ft; 2,044 m.) to the east connecting the Surselva in the canton of Graubünden, the St Gotthard Pass (6,909 ft; 2,106 m.) to the south connecting with the Valle Leventina in canton of Ticino, and the Furka Pass (7,992 ft; 2,436 m.) to the west connecting with the Obergoms in canton of Valais. To the north the steeply descending Schöllenen Gorge links Andermatt with Göschenen and is the location of the famous Devil's Bridge. Plans to build a series of reservoirs in the valley of Andermatt, the Urseren, encountered fierce resistance by the locals in 1946 and were abandoned four years later. A huge reservoir was built instead in the next valley, the Göschenertal. Several avalanches, in particular in the winter of 1951 and 1975 have caused havoc in some residential areas of Andermatt, killing the inhabitants of the houses affected. By the 1930s the town's income from tourism had seriously declined, and many of the Ursental's hotels were abandoned or changed use. The Grand Hotel Bellevue, which was built by the aristocratic Müller family from neighbouring Hospental (who at one time or another owned many other hotels nearby including the Hotel Furkablick and Hotel Furka Passhöhe as well as hotels in Flüelen, Alpnachstad, Herisau and Neuchâtel) was converted in the 1970s into apartments, but by 1990 had been abandoned and was demolished with explosives. By the turn of the 21st century, as an alternative to the expensive skiing resorts in the Grisons (Graubünden) at St Moritz and Gstaad, Andermatt's fortunes again revived and the town has seen considerable expansion and is currently undergoing much speculative building.

Between 1961 and 1990 Andermatt had an average of 147.3 days of rain per year and on average received of precipitation. The wettest month was April, with an average of of precipitation and an average of 14 days with precipitation. The month with the most days of precipitation was May, with an average of 14.1, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year was February with an average of of precipitation over 14 days. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Andermatt has a Marine West Coast climate, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.

Andermatt has two main ski areas in the winter. Nätschen is a mountain located on the north east side of Andermatt. Gemsstock is a mountain located on the southern side of Andermatt. Both areas are accessible by ski lifts running up from the village, and have valley runs which are open until around mid March. Additionally, Nätschen is accessible by the railway. There are plans to overhaul the ski areas, and connect Nätschen with the neighbouring slopes of Oberalp, which are currently only accessible by train, however they are a part of the whole ski area. Andermatt's mountains are popular for their off piste, deep snow characteristics.

Andermatt's concert hall became the first purpose built arts venue in an Alpine village, with Constantinos Carydis conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on the venue's opening night.

The gas station Aurora, near the Gemsstock departure, appears in the James Bond movie Goldfinger. Bond fills up his Aston Martin there after a car chase on the Furka pass. In November 2012 Andermatt appeared on the British television series The Gadget Show, where presenters Jason Bradbury and Pollyanna Woodward were testing electric bicycles, scooters, and several mobile phone photo editing applications, on the hills of Nätschen.