Top photos, Ruin' aulta (Rheinschlucht) / Uaul Grond (Flimserwald)
Bottom photo, Foppa with Ruin' aulta in background Aux. from the other side
Romansh Regions and Landscapes
The majority of all Romansh communities fall into well-defined regions of one sort or another. The physical and confessional divides play an important role, but the relationship to agriculture and tourism is the harbinger of the cultural landscape. I divide this description into four Romansh regions each with its own theme(s). Surselva is the first region with its strong demographic features and potential for being one of or the only core Romansh area in the future. Nevertheless, it has some interesting boundary questions and seeds of German language contact that could bring about change. Engiadina is the other major Romansh region, but it seems to be going in two directions. In the first part, I discuss the upper Engadine (Engiadin' ota) and compare and contrast two places. Then, I discuss the lower Engadine (Engiadina bassa) and Val Müstair as they militantly preserve the Ladin language while pursuing tourism development. The fourth region is Grischun Central, and it is more of a condition than a well-defined territory. Here the loss of Romansh is quite severe, and the prospect for an invigoration seems rather low.
Surselva
Surselva is the one region that remains a strong center of Romansh language and culture. Moreover, I find it extremely conceivable that Surselva will remain a core Romansh region for the near future. I base my opinion on three factors: relative location, agricultural position, and preservation ethos. Being slightly isolated from the main pass trading routes and lacking mega-resort development except on its periphery, Surselva has not been under intense pressure to change its economic focus away from traditional agriculture. Moreover, Surselva has the best agricultural situation in the canton with plenty of open land below important elevation thresholds for corn and vegetable growing. The result is relatively high population densities, and moreover, these are cohesive communities with a strong sense of tradition. For many places, Catholicism reinforces the cohesion of these communities, which is not necessarily conservative, but the Catholic political movement in Switzerland has been anti-modern. In this instance, religion seems to have helped isolate the region from some negative effects of industrialization. The final factor is the preservation ethic. Now as significant change in agricultural is occurring, preservation is likely to mediate linguistic changes associated with any transitions.
The standardized Romansh in Surselva is known as Sursilvan, but Sursilvan is more complex than a regional idiom that develops in isolation from the others. Two written/orographic standards of Sursilvan developed during the Reformation. Both Catholics and Protestants independent of one another looked to different sources of gospel and literary inspiration (Caviezal, 1993). Eventually, this divide broke down as the two written forms came into contact. Linguists often consider Sursilvan to be a conservative dialect with many archaic retentions, but at the same time, Swiss German has been influential. For example, Sursilvan has become a "Verb Second" language following German grammar rules. Sursilvan is one of the two Romansh dialects with official status, and it is a quasi standard for the other "Reinish" dialects (Sutsilvan and Surmiran). Surselva stands out as the most populous Romansh region, and Sursilvan remains the most spoken dialect.
Ruin' aulta: Not only does Surselva stand out in the number of monolingual and total Romansh speakers, many of the individual communes have very high percent Romansh (Figure 51). The total population of the uppermost Rhine valley is 23,652 and the number of Romansh speakers is 15,407 (Bündesamt für Statistik, 1995). I base these numbers on the physical boundaries of the valley, which is basically defined as the drainage basin of the river (see Figure 39 "Rein Anteriur"). The river is the north fork of the Rhine above La Punt (Reichenau), where the two main branches of the upper Rhine come together. The official name is Rein Anteriur (Vorderrhein), which awkwardly translates as Anterior Rhine in English. The Romansh in Surselva omit any reference to the other branch and call the river "Rein" (Figures 52 and 53).
Figure 52 – Ruin' aulta Surselva
Top photos, Ruin' aulta (Rheinschlucht) / Uaul Grond (Flimserwald)
Bottom photo, Foppa with Ruin' aulta in background
Aux. from the other side
The official name for the region literally means "above the forest," so Surselva is a term that could be but is rarely translated into other languages (e.g. Ob dem Wald, Sopra Selva). The Romansh dialect of the lower Rhine valley and the adjacent Rein Posteriur is Sutsilvan literally "below the forest." The referenced forest in both names is known as Uaul Grond in Romansh or Flimserwald in German. It is more than a wooded area, it was a cultural boundary that reflected pre-modern settlement limitations. The forest sits on top of Europe's largest landslide (Bätzing, 1991:15). The cause of the landslide was the retreat/melting of glacial ice that allowed a massive slippage of the valley wall (around Crap da Flem) onto the valley floor. The earth movement completely blocked the Rein for a period of time, and over the last ten thousand years, the river has successfully incised itself through the unconsolidated earth. The Romansh call the canyon Ruin' aulta or literally high collapse. The result is a visually stunning landscape the Swiss like to call Switzerland's Grand Canyon, which is easily observable since the railroad follows the rivers pathway.
Historically, the major pathway between Surselva and Chur went around the forest along the northern edge (the landslide scarp), which reflects the current settlement and highway transportation patterns. Agricultural practices were not well suited to settling this area with erosion standing out as a major problem, but when left as a forest, it does quite well producing resources for near-bye villages. The most significant is wood in the form of lumber and firewood, but additionally, it is a habitat for deer as well as berries and mushrooms. Additional landuses are predominately recreational with camps, swimming, and hiking trails, and at least one commune uses a ravine for dumping bio-garbage.
The forest does provide a natural boundary of sorts, but the exact cultural boundary is questionable. The early language classifications such as the Chrestomathie (Decurtins, 1986 reprint Vol.15:10) and Dicziunari Rumantsch Grischun (1939) put Flem in Surselva and Trin in Sutsilvan (shown in Billigmeier, 1979:7; McRae, 1983:218). Flem and its western neighbors, Laax and Falera, operate a modern ski resort (Alpenarena) that is a driving force of change, which on the surface would seem to tie Flem to Surselva. Flem has taken the impact of growth, and today, Flem is predominately German speaking and goes by its Germanic spelling of Flims. On the other hand, Flem and Trin have historical and current ties. They both Reformed in the sixteenth century, they remain in the same political cirquit, and they have a unified school district that includes German speaking Tamins. While it seems that Flem is being pulled away from Surselva, it is the other direction that fascinates me. Recent depictions are putting the Il Plaun communes of Domat, Bonaduz, and Rhäzüns as part of the Surselva (Lia Rumantscha, 1996:23; Kraas, 1992:117). This may well reflect the geographical distribution of modern media such as newspapers and radio transmissions, or the large minority of Romansh speakers choosing to associate with a vibrant idiom. Another example of this imprecise boundary is that the highway department placed the "Surselva" regional roadsign just outside of Tamins where the highway begins to climb towards Trin.
There are multiple ways to define Surselva along its eastern frontier, and none of them is completely satisfactory. The physical approach of using the Rein (Anteriur) drainage basin includes a side valley that is completely German speaking. Walsers settled Safiental in the fourteenth century from their main Rheinwald settlement. The forest/selva itself reflected in the dialect names (Sursilvan and Sutsilvan) is not as precise as one would hope because linguistic identification has a voluntaristic quality. Using a purely Romansh-German linguistic definition creates enclaves and draws into question Romansh places with significant numbers of German speakers. The political organization provides a quantitative punch because the collection and aggregation of social data follows the politico-administrative boundaries. In this case, four cirquits are without doubt a part of the Surselva: Cadi, Ruiz, Glion, and Lumnezia. In these four political cirquits, only five of the 44 communes are not considered traditionally Romansh and their collective population is less than ten percent of the 20,000 plus total (Bundesamt für Statistik, 1995).
Monasterium Desertinum: Cadi is the region at the uppermost section of the Rein. As a region, it is historically, culturally, and politically unified. Cadi corresponds to the ecclesiastic lands of the monastery, and it remains a staunchly Catholic as well as Romansh speaking area. Today, Cadi is both a political cirquit (electoral units) and (judicial) district, known by their German names Kreis Disentis and Bezirk Vorderrhein. Clearly, the monastery has played a key role in the cultural life of the region; during the Middle Ages, the monastery had the feudal land rights of the uppermost Rhine valley plus the adjoining Urseren, which corresponds to the older Roman provincial boundaries. The monastery was one of the feudal entities in the Grischun that promoted the introduction of Walser settlers (Zinsli, 1991), especially the first wave that passed through their lands (Andermatt, Tschamut, Obersaxen) in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.
Figure 54 – Surselva Cadi
Top photos, Monastery (Claustra) in Mustèr
Bottom photos, Casa da Scola in Trun
Figure 55 – Surselva Foppa
Top photo, Chalet style house in Vuorz (Waltensburg)
Aux. photo, Ladir stall 
Bottom photo, Surrein, satellite settlement of Sumvitg
The actual monastery is in Mustér/Disentis, and it one of the more distinguished landmarks in the whole canton (Figure 54). Mustér is one of the growth poles of Romansh culture as it increases in population but remains strongly Romansh speaking. Trun is another large place that belies its historic importance as it served as a meeting place for the Grey League. Despite being the first region in the Rhine valley, the population is anything but sparse. Elevations of the valley bottom between Mustér and Trun are still under the thousand meter mark. The two valleys above Mustér are also heavy settled, even though they climb rather quickly through elevation gradients. Tavetsch is the source of the Rhine (Rheinquellen) and Sedrun is the largest village. Val Medel leads towards the Lucmagn Pass (Lukmanierpass) where one of the few common borders between Romansh and Italian exists.
A distinguishing element of the Cadi is a much higher degree of administrative centrality. Maybe it is a legacy of the ecclesiastic past and organization, but it does stand out among Grischun and Romansh regions. The Cadi consists of only seven communes, but most of them consist of a main settlement with a few other smaller settlements. In other parts of the canton, such an arrangement would have produced independent communes. Now, these fragmented units have to work together on issues such as tourism and environment that are regional in nature. Cadi as a administrative structure is better suited for planning, but it remains whether that plays out to their benefit.
Foppa: The heart of the Surselva is a large open area west of and upriver from the Uaul Grond / Ruin' aulta physical barrier. There is a string of settlements along the northern side of the valley (left bank of Rein Anteriur) with a southerly exposure, and a number of settlements on the right bank as well. The region is also known by the political district name Gruob (Glenner), but that implies all three sub-districts are part of it and Val Lumnezia is clearly a separate physical region. Foppa is a more culturally diverse region than first imagined (Figures 51 and 55). The confessional balance leans towards Catholic with eight Protestant communes, and there are a few Walser communes.
The most populous place in Surselva is the commune of Glion/Ilanz, whose Romansh and German names both evolved from the Latin Jliande. Glion is an interesting case study because it went from a Reformed Romansh community to a city with Catholic and German majorities. Glion was one of the rotating capitals of the Freestate, and two of the three important independence documents were crafted there—known as the Ilanz Articles. The commune promotes itself as "the first city on the Rhine," and it does serve a central role for the region. Steinhauser (1993) documents this early market relationship between Glion and a neighboring community Sagogn .
While the confessional distinction has become less salient, there is an interesting linguistic dilemma. Glion lost its Romansh majority, but the region it serves is still predominately Romansh speaking. Today, Glion is the transportation hub and shopping center for much of the Surselva. The near-bye places and the whole Val Lumnezia rely on Glion as their transportation link, and extensive post-auto bus network is coordinated with the train schedule. One can watch the hourly rhythms at the train station: first the postautos pull in, then the Chur bound train followed by the Mustér bound train, and finally, the postautos pull out (Figure 56). Numerous large stores and specialty services that cater to the region are in Glion, and it is one of the easiest ways to hear Romansh being spoken. I have dubbed the new Migros center in Glion as a Romansh hangout.
Figure 56 – Lumnezia and Glogn
Top photos, Train Station in Glion/Ilanz
Suburbia? 
Vrin
Bone-House in Vrin (Val Lumnezia)
Outside of Glion is a series of traditional feeling communities with both agricultural and residential functions. Agricultural activities are still in the center of town and small locally owned businesses survive. Surprisingly, new houses are very common and well integrated with older buildings and traditional activities. Some are vacation homes and some are just new family houses. These communities are close enough to commute into Chur or anywhere in Surselva, so they have a bedroom quality. At some basic level, the new development is not displacing traditional agriculture and it is actually contributing to a stronger community.
Val Lumnezia: Lumnezia is a major side valley to the upper Rein, and the Glogn River joins the Rein in Glion. The RNB identifies a Lepontin origin to the actual name "Lumnezia," which allows for some speculation that the valley was better connected to the Southern valleys, which are now Italian speaking. Bundi (1982:528) says that the valley was only settled in the ninth and tenth centuries. Currently, modern roads do not exist through these passes, but there is a migratory example from the Middle Ages that shows the passes are good enough for a basic level of communication and trade. The Walsers who settled in Vals traveled through these passes, and presumably came into contact with the Romansh in the valley from the beginning.
The Glogn River is incised rather deeply in some parts of the valley. Roads lead up both sides of the valley with communities set into the terraces and hillsides on either side. The road on the right bank follows along near the valley bottom and directly links a few communities, but just as many settlements are high above on the exposed valley sides. The left bank consists of a string of Catholic Romansh communities with a slight favorable southerly exposure. Vella is the seat of the cirquit government, and it is the largest of the 13 Romansh communes. The road links this line of communities as it winds along the contours of the valley side and slowly gains elevation, and this pathway continues on into the Greina on its way further South.
The last commune is Vrin, and here in the main settlement is where the pavement ends and the postauto turns around. Vrin stands out on paper as the most Romansh place, and considering the population is in the hundreds not teens, I was drawn to visit here more than once. I found it a pleasant place, the school kids greeted me in Romansh and were not phased with my taking photos. Vrin is the last place literally that one would go looking for modern architecture. Strange as it may seem, a local firm is at the forefront of new wood design. The old center of Vrin is a collection of farmhouses creating an irregular shaped public space in between. From there a passage leads to the church, and the church is richly decorated like most Catholic churches in Surselva. To my surprise, the church has a bone-room, and it is symbolically constructed with human skulls and bones (Figure 56).
Engiadina
The Engiadina is the second major Romansh region. In many ways, the Engiadina is probably better known than Surselva, and to some degree, Swiss associate Romansh culture exclusively with Engiadina. The popular exposure of the Engiadina results from a combination of tourist promotion and landscape uniqueness. At the core of both of these factors is St. Moritz. St. Moritz held the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948, which promoted both name recognition and visual imagery of the landscape. For St. Moritz and the upper Engadine, it was a crowning event of their high-end resort development and international reputation. Yet in those early years, average Swiss were probably unable to experience such tourism.
The impact of the Engiadinesa landscape on Switzerland results from other socio-political factors. At the forefront is the democratic affirmation of Romansh as the fourth national language. Visual media such as picture books and postcards as well as radio accompanies the process. During this crucial time-period, landscape images were used to portray the Romansh, and they became the image of the "Fourth Switzerland." Basically, I argue that the vernacular culture of the Engiadina was appropriated as icons in a national discourse on what it means to be Swiss. Stereotypical landscapes and images of culture become references to Switzerland's pluri-lingualism. Thereafter, particular landscape styles and elements (Engadinerhaus) and culture rituals (Chalandamarz) are emblematic of the Romansh (Figure 57).
Figure 57 – Quarta Svizra
For the Romansh in the Engiadina, the spotlight on their vernacular culture was a positive development. They preserved their buildings, maintained some traditions, and they prospered from tourism. Nevertheless, tourism deeply impacted the valley in other ways such as how to make better lives and achieve the good life. Within the valley, there are strong distinctions between individual communities and even more apparent differences between the upper and lower halves of the valley. After giving an overview, I split my discussion into different themes: tourism and development in the Engiadin' ota and cultural preservation in the Engiadina bassa.
Val Engiadina: The Engiadina is part of a larger region known as the Sudbünden that includes the Engadine valley and the three adjacent southern valleys. This Sudbünden (Grischun meridiunal) has become a media region in the last couple of years. As part of deregulation, a private group obtained a radio license to serve the area, but "Radio Piz" as it is known broadcasts mostly in German from St. Moritz. In addition, a tourism information book, Eviva, unites the different valleys in a literary fashion. The two Italian speaking valleys of Bregaglia (Bergell) and Poschiavo (Puschlav) have had close relations with the Engiadina, and Romansh words and landscape styles diffused there. Bregaglia and Engiadin' ota are still in the same judicial district named Maloja, and the Maloja district is unique because it contains all three cantonal languages. Val Müstair is Romansh and it is usually discussed with the Engiadina bassa because they share the same written idiom.
Val Engiadina is a well defined physical valley and drainage basin, and the En (Inn) eventually drains into the Danube River (Figures 39 and 58). In general, the Engiadinesa settlements are much higher in altitude than their counterparts in Surselva. The Val Engiadina begins in Maloja at the 1815 meter high pass and drops to about 1000 meters as the En flows into Austria (Figure 59). Locals say the En begins at Lake Lunghin just north of Maloja, but the majority of water flowing into the upper En originates from the Bernina group, which is also the major source area for glaciers. During glacial periods, some of the ice flows over the Maloja pass creating ice falls and leveling off the divide. There are a few examples of where cultural and political boundaries do not coincide. Most notably, the Val di Livigno, which flows into the En, was settled by Italian speakers from Poschiavo but eventually ended up in Italy (Bormio/Sondrio).
Figure 59 – Val Engiadina
Top photo, Malojapass & Lunghin in background
Bottom photo, Glacial lakes of uppermost Engiadina
The settlement pattern in Val Engiadina is linear as it follows the river up and down the valley. Most settlements are on the left bank of the En where the current road network still uses. A host of subtle ecological conditions exist such as water access from a side valley, a sunny southern exposure, and direct links to other communities. Some distinct differences exist between the upper and lower parts of the Val Engiadina. The upper valley is actually a very wide plain that is a natural wetland, while the lower valley is more canyon like with fluvial outwashes and alluvial deposits inside the channel. For the rest of this section, I focus on the Engiadin' ota, which has the strongest tourist impact of any Romansh region.
Oberengadin: There are eleven independent communes in the Engiadin' ota, and they are united in a single cirquit (Kreis). Since German has become the absolute majority language, it is common for official names like Kreis Oberengadin to follow suit. The language situation is very complex and somewhat cosmopolitan with multiple local, visitor, and worker combinations. Romansh speakers are increasingly isolated as their population becomes dwarfed by the massive growth in the region (Figures 60 and 61). A positive aspect is that the Kreis is in excellent financial condition and has the wherewithal to do or try most anything. They can promote themselves in sophisticated ways, experiment with unique and exclusive tourism events, and they can focus their attention and assets on cultural issues. For example, Samedan has experimented with an innovative bilingual school curriculum that they tout as a way of preserving Romansh.
One of the most creative programs is the founding of the Academia Engiadina, which is a combination facility in more than one respect. First, the educational goals include a research unit on tourism and glaciers, a university preparatory school, and a trade school to train hospitality workers. Second, the operation is multifaceted because it does not fit the Swiss model of higher education; there are both public and private aspects with an implicit expectation of beneficial research synergies. Finally, the school is also meant to keep local children in the valley and hopefully become part of the local economy.
Despite the higher elevations, the upper Val Engiadina is relatively flat. In fact, the valley bottom would be a natural floodplain, but the En and Flaz Rivers are in channels. Historically, settlements avoided the valley floor, and agricultural production was less important than it is today. Between Schlarigna (Celerina) and S-chanf, a series of terraces exist on the southerly facing (adret) side of the river. Most of the settlements are on that side as was the main pathway that traversed the valley. Except for Puntraschigna (Pontresina), which is along a side valley, the other ten communes are practically in a line with each commune having a share of the main valley, an adjacent wooded area, and some alps up a side valley or high above the treeline. Since the rivers are channelized, the valley bottom is prime grass growing land and some areas can be mechanically harvested. Of course, the same land has development potential for house construction, road building, and recreation.
Historically, the Engiadin' ota was split into two jurisdictions: the upper one at Samedan, and the other one in Zuoz. In the upper jurisdiction, there is a triangle between St. Moritz, Samedan, and Puntraschigna that encapsulates the big scale tourism. Nevertheless, I often divide the Engiadin' ota into three sub-regions when I sort out my slides and notes. I define the uppermost Engiadina as the area between St. Moritz and Maloja, which includes the communes of Silvaplauna and Segl (Sils i.E.). It has the spectacular scenery of a string of glacial lakes and the big money ski resort facilities. One of the distinct landscape elements is the traditional slate roofs that are more common in the Italian speaking valleys. The central area includes the four communes of Samedan, Schlarigna, Bever, and Puntraschigna. The "Champagne" plain near Samedan where the Flaz and En come together was the prime agricultural area. Much of the regional infrastructure such as the airport, train depot, and even the golf course occupies this open area. The La Plaiv is the lower part of the upper Engadine and it includes the communes of La Punt / Chamues-ch, Madulain, Zuoz, and S-chanf. Here the valley is still relatively wide and some of the side valleys support numerous alps. The four communities try to strike a balance between traditional land uses and development, but construction activities are prominent in the landscape. In the next section, I select two very different places to illuminate some of the contrasts and controversies of the Engiadin' ota.
Saint Maurice: Sankt Moritz or San Murezzan (depending on the language) is the one Romansh place likely to be known outside of Switzerland even though they may not know it was Romansh. St. Moritz is the love-to-hate place for many. I have heard people from all over Switzerland say something derogatory, a common Swiss-German expression is "stink Moritz." For many, St. Moritz represents a snobby tourism of wealthy travelers, and it does not represent down-to-Earth real Bündners. Locals say St. Moritz is chaotic, has too many automobiles, and is overrun with foreigners. Every near-bye place can draw some distinction with St. Moritz in its own self-promotion. The La Plaiv communities openly advertise themselves as "The Other Engiadine." Still, St. Moritz is the driving engine of development, and the other communities work with St. Moritz's sophisticated approach to tourism and promotion (Figure 62).
Figure 62 – St. Moritz / San Murezzan
St. Moritz Dorf in Winter
St. Moritz Bad 
Chasa Veglia
Race track on the frozen lake
St. Moritz may have always been a special place, a fact implied in their promotions. The mythical past rests on a mineral spring that may have had a pilgrimage function. An astonishing archaeological find occurred in the spring, when it was being tapped for an early resort hotel. There were numerous bronze medallions and sacred like figures inside a wooden structure that supported the walls around the spring to form a prehistoric (holy) water well. The myth of St. Moritz being inhabited for 2500 years results and is widespread.
The reality is a harsh climate and location, and St. Moritz could support a population of only around a hundred, which is overlooked because of changes in the last two hundred years. St. Moritz developed in phases and incorporated different landscape trends. The first big change begins in the nineteenth century when local families began to promote and capitalize on emerging travel and tourism opportunities. The population of SM in 1850 was 228, and by 1900 it was 1603 (Bundesamt für Statistik, 1997). During the later half of the nineteenth century, a transition in accommodation occurred between small hospices and rooms in existing structures towards large scale operations in specially designed buildings. Margadant and Maier (1993) document the architectural styles: Grand Hotel, Engadiner, etc. St. Moritz as a place completely outgrew its historic village center, and today it has a sprawl quality. Both World Wars nearly derailed growth and popularity of St. Moritz, but the town could bounce back with the help of the Olympics. The current development has upset the sense of place with inappropriately located modern buildings.
Another interesting element is how locals stayed in control through tight controls on the land use decisions, and most financial benefits remained in the hands of the original residents (Burgergemeinde). Some locals eventually contributed to the design and construction of alpine hotels, and in some instances the Engiadinesa style diffused to other budding tourist places like Klosters. On the other hand, the labor relations and work force dynamics has not been engaged by researchers, so it is difficult to assess this historically. One of the important early sources for hotel workers was other Romansh speaking areas, which changed the relationship between Romansh. Many of the early guest workers were from Catholic Surselva and Surses. (A Romansh film maker has documented with interviews those early laborers experiences, "Foreign bread has seven crusts"). Today, primary sources of guest workers are Italy and Iberia, and they bring with them labor and linguistic issues.
Madulain Madulain is the smallest community in the Engiadin' ota (Figure 63). Two hundred years ago, it had roughly the same population as St. Moritz that hovered around a hundred people. The development path was completely different, and the pressing goal was to maintain a base population that a self governing community needs. At times, the introduction of new families meant a change in the language balance. Madulain was one of the first communities to drop below fifty percent Romansh, but then it recovered for a few decades. Now, German speakers are the plurality with Romansh in second and nearly a third of the population claiming another language (Bündesamt für Statistik, 1995). Currently, the children go to school in Zuoz, where the standard Romansh curriculum where Romansh is the language of instruction between first and sixth grades and German thereafter.
Figure 63 – Madulain
Top photo, Madulain and Val d' Es-cha
new construction 
blick above
blick from valley bottom 
Chasa Arduser
renovated farmhouse
Madulain is following an alternative model of tourism development that seeks to isolate the impact on landscape and community by segregating new construction. At the same time, they allow the conversion of old buildings within the old center on an ad-hoc basis. They advertise in their tourism brochures family friendly and quaint atmosphere of the village, which is more of a consequence of inaction than as an act of preservation. Currently, four families are still active farmers. They all have relatively new barns and facilities, but the best land for grass harvest is being squeezed out of production as tourist infrastructure takes priority.
Ladinity
The comparison between the upper and lower parts of the Engadine valley rests not only on ecology and tourism development but cultural preservation. Engiadina bassa and Val Müstair remain solidly Romansh, and they deserve to be compared with Surselva as an alternative model of Romansh core (Figure 64). While the population of this Ladin bastion is less than Surselva, it has initiated some of the most militant preservation rhetoric. In 1996, a broad collection of communes held a referendum that forces their own administrative entities to use Romansh (Ladin) with each other and in official business. Meanwhile, the region is quite open to new ideas and ways to supplement their economies, and it not only watches and works with the Engiadin' ota and Prattigau but also across the border at Tyrol.
Ladin is an interesting label because it implies more than language. For some time, Ladin has a connotation of ethnicity and is synonomous with Engiadinesa. For example, the regional newspaper translates its name Engadiner Post into Posta ladina. The Swiss-Romansh in southern Grischun have gone by Ladin, which is identical to the Rhaeto-Romance speakers in the Dolomites. This led to some classification errors by early ethnologists and linguists who called the Engiadiners "Western Ladin" and the Dolomiters "Eastern Ladin." Some scholars still advocate for a common name like "Ladino" instead of Rhaeto-Romance. I think the label is better understood as a result of intense Austrian interaction, which is more obvious with the Dolomites being in Südtirol. Ladin is an external label that was internally adopted.
In Switzerland, Ladin usually refers to the two idioms of Vallader and Putér, and in particular the official, written standard. Ladin script in a newspaper is not an equal mixture and is mostly Vallader words and spellings. Nevertheless, a Vallader dominated Ladin works well enough for both the Engiadin' ota (Putér) and Val Müstair. In Val Müstair, they have an addition label, Jauer, that refers to both the spoken variation and as an ethnic term for residents of the valley.
Val Engiadina is an example of environmental ignorance. The upper half of the valley with its tourism success is becoming overdeveloped, and the lower half is fighting for enough growth to keep its communities in sound condition. The popular perception is completely at odds with the demographic data. Informants often think the lower Engadine was always the less populous region. This is completely opposite to the situation a couple of centuries ago. Sent and Scuol were the largest communities in the whole valley, and the Engiadin' ota was comparatively under-populated because the more difficult agricultural conditions.
During my first trip to the Engiadina bassa, I admit I fell into this perception. The physical geography contributes to this experience as the river becomes incised in certain stretches and forests reach the valley bottom. Looking at the travel map, I thought I was going to the frontier. Looking out the window, the valley becomes narrower and more rugged. Settlements and transportation routes cling to the terraces along the left bank of the En. The railroad ends in Scuol and one has to take a postauto to visit those Romansh places between Scuol and the Austrian border. But to my surprise, this is no frontier. It is a core area of traditional activities and displays a sense of cultural confidence. The Romansh communities are quite large even though they are concerned with population decline.
Ardez to Zernez: A new tourist brochure appeared immediately after the new "Vereina" railroad tunnel opened. The string of communities between Ardez and Zernez, (including Guarda, Lavin, and Susch) were trying to capitalize on their new found accessibility and played on their names being in alphabetical order. For many visitors, it is an in-between region with quaint Romansh villages, but no major attractions.
• Lingua engiadinesa, and the Svizra Naziunal Parc: Zernez is the compass point center of the Ladin world. Zernez is a crossroads kind of place: it is close to the Vallader- Putér idiom border, it is roughly half-way between Maloja and Martina, and in Zernez starts the road to the Il Fuorn pass that links Val Müstair. I have stayed in Zernez a few times because it has more affordable facilities associated with budget travelers and backpackers. Zernez was destroyed by fire, and was quickly rebuilt. Therefore, not too many buildings exist that really impress on the Engiadinesa styles. I happened to be there on August first (National day) and saw the community holding a series of events. In the morning, the church group raised money through a flee market, and in the afternoon, they held fireworks and bon fires.
The border between upper and lower Engadines has traditionally followed the border between Zernez and S-chanf. Therefore, the linguistic border between Vallader and Putér is shown the same way. While the linguistic variations are actually gradual, the border here is concrete in the landscape. Both Zernez and S-chanf has satellite settlements that are literally next to each other (Brail and Cinuos-chel), and they use a creek as the delineation line between their fields.
Zernez is already a statistically German speaking political community. The prospects are for more German language influences because Zernez is home of the national park headquarters. While the park is a great tourism opportunity for Zernez, the park employees reflect the Swiss academic and environmental communities. Importantly, they also bring a specialized language that follows their training at University. The history of the Naziunal Parc begins in 1914 as the first one in Europe—a fact the Swiss are proud of. In recent decades, ecologists wanted to create a real wildlife zone, but the acquisition of additional land is extremely difficult because it conflicts with communal rights. The proposal to expand the park has become one of the most controversial issues in the Engiadina bassa. Lavin whose communal-president is a proponent voted to set aside a small area that has no agricultural significance. In reality, Lavin only declared the area a protected zone, which works with the park enlargement. Other communities are contemplating park enlargement, but ceding authority over communal land is not likely to occur.
• Authentic Guarda and Ardez: Below Zernez and the Vereina tunnel are two settlements that stand out as authentic places. Guarda and Ardez are not necessarily older than other communities, but their built environments are the oldest. Two forms of disasters strike the actual structures in these alpine villages: avalanches and fires. Both places have not experienced either since Austrian troops marched up the valley in 1622 destroying all the villages. The buildings one see today reflect the rebuilding process of the seventeenth century, and some of the best examples of traditional housetypes and sgraffito (wall etchings) are in these two villages (Figure 65).
Figure 65 – Authentic Places
Double-house in Ardez
Ardez from above
Guarda (fountain & renovation)
Below the Tasna: The Tasna is a side valley that has come to be a border between the communities upriver and those downstream. It physically separates the communes of Ardez and Ftan and their respective cirquits creatively named Surtasna and Suottasna (above and below). Ftan is one of the three communes in Suottasna and like Sent is strongly linked to Scuol where buses and trains hub out to form the regional transportation network. Combined with Tarasp, these four communities account for the majority of tourism in the Engiadina bassa.
• Tarasp: Tarasp was the last piece of Grischun territory to be incorporated. The Austrians held on to their title over the castle up to the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1808. After the wars, it was officially turned over. The political question was which cirquit should Tarasp be in? Tarasp was Catholic and there was a history of tension with Protestant Scuol. Tarasp chose to be part of the Surtasna cirquit, which is the upper, Ardez-Zernez. Nevertheless, Tarasp ended up working closely with Scuol because it has become a tourist region that relies on Scuol. Tarasp has had a more difficult time preserving Romansh because of the marital links. A resilient pattern of Catholic-Catholic marriages has introduced non-Romansh speakers from Tyrol.
• Scuol: Scuol is the heart of Ladin culture. This is not to say Ardez and Sta. Maria are any less committed to preserving the language and culture. Scuol has a large Romansh speaking community that really promotes the political and social use of the language. Size of the community and its traditional social networks underlie its strength, but in addition, successful political careers have originated from Scuol.
One of the unique end of Winter rituals is found in Scuol, Hom d'strom. The festival is held on the first Saturday in February (Figure 66). It begins with little kids collecting hay and older kids with a few adults wrapping a pole with twisted hay. They pull the pole to an open area and stand it up. A troop of teenage boys protects the pole until the community arrives in the evening, when they burn it.
Figure 66 – Hom d' strom (Scuol)
Top photo, Twisting the hay in old plaza
Scoul
Ches' Engiadina 
Sent
Chesa Veglia
Borderlands: The last Romansh speaking area in the Engiadina consists of three communes that are part of a political curquit along the Austrian border. The two Romansh speaking communes are Ramosch and Tschlin, and curquit is known by both the Romansh and German spelling of Ramosch (Remus). The third commune is the Catholic, German speaking Samnaun, which is up a side valley that is better accessed through Austria.
This region is very much a borderland landscape with an interesting contradiction. The linguistic border is very solid, and Romansh speaking settlements remain strong communities. On the other hand, the cultural landscape of buildings and agriculture for example are transitional. Architecture styles and building materials are noticeably coming from Tyrol. The borderland goes in the other direction as well. Place-names of Romansh origins and Engiadinesa styles are seen in Nauders and Pfunds.
There are two duty free zones in and around the Engiadinesa border. Samnaun is one and Livigno is another, and both are used by locals as well as international automobilists. Samnaun is the only Swiss commune settled by Bavarian-German speakers. As an act of autonomy and/or simplification of only having one customs checkpoint in Martina, Samnaun effectively is a duty free zone. A close look at the map, shows that a sliver of Tschlin territory is in the duty free zone, and the community is profiting from a local owned operation along the Swiss road to Samnaun.
Val Müstair: Of all the Romansh speaking areas in Switzerland, the Val Müstair stands out as the most likely to have been part of a different country. The valley drains into the Etsch River and is linked to the Engiadina by the Il Fuorn pass. The valley was part of the Vinschgau, which was a disputed area between Tyrolian Dukes and the Bishop of Chur. Above the Chalavaina gorge, four Terzen or districts existed: Taufers, Müstair, Sta. Maria, and uppermost valley. Taufers became Germanized in the seventeenth century and the language border evolved into the political border. Jauers (as people in the valley call themselves) still celebrate the Chalavaina battle from 1499, when Engiadiners/Bündners marched over the pass to fight the Austrians (Figure 67).
Figure 67 – Chalavaina 500
Top photo, Songt Gion, Müstair / Chalavaina Celebrations
Sta. Maria street-scene
Tschierv farmhouse
Sta. Maria and the communities above it reformed, while Müstair
remained Catholic. Müstair is the largest commune, but it does not
exhibit a centrality of functions for the valley. The most prominent landmark
in the region is the St. Johann monastery, which is a three nave chapel
with Franciscan frescoes. Charlemagne bequethed the monastery , and the
site is on the UNESCO world heritage list. Sta. Maria becomes the religious
border and seems to be militant about it. In a local referendum, they rejected
a request to build a Catholic church, which was eventually built in Valchava.
The communities above Sta. Maria are all independent communes: Valchava,
Fuldera, Lü, and Tschierv, so that brings the number of communes to
six with a population of 1842 people (Bundesamt für Statistik, 1995).
The four communes in the upper valley have similar concerns with Engiadina
bassa communes that are concerned with viable population numbers. Because
of the small populations, there is cooperation in the form of forestry
and school districts. The cultural landscape of all five Reformed communes
is also very similar to Ardez and Guarda in overall appearance with appealing
individual buildings.
Middle Grischun
Grischun Central includes some of the more endangered Romansh speaking regions (Figure 68). Some of the communities are known only by their German names, and many lost their language plurality quite a long time ago. Romansh language signs are difficult to find in the landscape, and the language is hard to hear. Romansh survives inside the family home if both parents speak it. The reality of these communities is that most are functionally monolingual and German is the lingua-franca.
The German translation of Grischun Central is "Mittlebünden," and its central/middle location helps explain the language situation. The main pass corridors and transportation routes use these valleys, and the castle ruins are a testament that it is not only a modern function. A degree of industrial and commercial activity coincides with the modern transportation infrastructure. When school reform and postal standards came along, these places adopted German to accommodate others who had moved in and to prepare themselves for the future in a classic traditional to modern transition. Since these places are in a difficult language predicament, I do not want to forget them like some popular accounts of the Romansh (Baumer, 1981). Each region stands out for its site and situation, even though my own experience with these places varies because most are not tourist destinations and difficult to visit without a car.
Surmeir: The Surmeir region consists of the valleys above Thusis/Sils along the greater drainage basin of the Alvra (Albula) River excluding Davos. The main cluster of settlements is in the Val d' Alvra between the Schin gorge/narrows and the confluence of the Landwasser (Figure 69). The second settlement group follows the Gelgia (Julia) River, which coincides with the Julier route. From the Engiadinaise perspective, Surmeir is the Gelgia valley (Sursés and Sutsés), but the wider Romansh community uses the term in a linguistic sense. Surmiran is one of the five Romansh idioms even though there are distinct variations in the region. The Lia Rumantscha (1996) presents Surmiran as an intermediate dialect between Sursilvan and (Vallader) Ladin.
• Alvra/Albula: At the headwaters of the Alvra are the political communities of Bravougn (Bergün) and Filisur. Bravougn consists of a main village and a couple of satellite hamlets such as Latsch (Figure 70), and it resembles a pass town in Summer as traffic zooms through on the way to the Alvra pass. Both Bravougn and Filisur traditionally speak the Surmiran dialect, but they adopted the Putér writing style as it arrived during the Reformation. The upper Alvra was chosen as the best railroad approach into the Engiadina, and it has had consequences. Most dramatically, Filisur was inundated in the 1920s with railroad workers and is statistically German.
On the other hand, the hourly trains going to St. Moritz are an excellent opportunity to intercept travelers. Unfortunately, Bravougn is one of the few places where a language issue has blown into the headlines. The issue concerned which language to hold Christmas services. One argument was that more people could understand German, so such a holy service should be conducted in German. The Romansh felt it was wrong to accommodate on such an issue, and how can they keep their language when they cannot use it at Christmas.
Figure 70 – Alvra Region in Grischun Central
Top photo, Bravuogn and Latsch (Val d' Alvra)
Bottom photo, Barn and Fountain in Latsch 
Bravuogn and Val d' Alvra
Bravuogn Consum
• Sursés and Sutsés: Sursés is a north-south running valley that leads to the Julier and Sett passes in one direction and the road to Chur in the other. The regional name comes from a prominent outcrop called Crap da Sés , and the valley above it is called Sursés while the part below it is Sutsés. In general, all the traditional communities are Catholic and Romansh speaking. Furthermore, Sursés is maybe the exception to the Grischun Central pattern of losing the language. Despite a sprawling complex of ski condominiums in Savognin (Figure 45), the valley retains traditional looking villages and agricultural activities.
Bivio at the top end of the valley may be one of the most complex language situations of any small town anywhere (Kristol, 1984). Bivio (Beiva) was a Romansh place (Figure 71). Many migrants from Bregaglia (Italian Protestants) arrived, and later it absorbed German speaking migrants. It underwent a Germanization trend similar to Romansh areas. Today, the landscape includes a Catholic and Protestant church, and the school has a unique German/Italian bilingual program. Supposedly, the city council meets in Italian but publishes the minutes in German. The community below Bivio, Marmorera, sold itself to Zürich so a reservoir could be built. Knowing the town was uprooted and only partially rebuilt, it is not significant that the statistics say it has a German speaking majority. The rest of the communes remain majority Romansh. Except for Savognin, they lack strong secondary activities and their future is tied to agriculture.
Figure 71 – Sés Region in Grischun Central
Top photos, Bivio (Sursés)
Savognin
Riom 
Casti
Surava 
Bottom photos, Vaz (Val d' Alvra)
Vaz Lain
At the other end of the valley is Casti (Tiefencastel) where the Gelgia enters the Alvra. Casti is a crossroad between the railroad and the Julier road, and the postauto serves about a half dozen neighboring communities. The central market functions in Casti are very minimal except for a regional hospital. East of Casti, the near-bye communities were part of the historical Belfort jurisdiction, and the main settlements are on the Northside of the Alvra. In the Val d' Alvra, there are some unique water trench systems and the valley bottom can be mechanically farmed.
Northwest of Casti is the largest commune in the Surmeir region, Vaz (or Obervaz to German speakers), and it is an interesting community. The traditional settlements are on a south facing terrace above the Alvra (Figure 71), but the main access road traverses up to Igl Lai where it connects with the Julier road. On the meadow where they ran their cattle grew a vacation resort that goes by a German name of Lenzerheide. The resort outgrew the Romansh speaking settlements of Lain, Zorten, and Muldain down the valley. While the commune has a German speaking majority, the Romansh speakers are nicely isolated from the tourism development.
Sutselva: Sutsilvan is the most endangered of the five Romansh idioms (Figure 72). The three distinct regions by their Romansh names of Schams, Muntogna, and Tumleastga are sometimes not known to German speakers. Indeed, the German names (Schons, Heinzenberg, and Domleschg) are more common on roadsigns and topographic maps than Romansh.
• Schams: Schams is a distinct region along the Rein Posteriur. The river valley opens up above the Via mala gorge, and then it closes up into another rugged area between Schams and Rheinwald. There are twelve Romansh settlements in the valley that have consolidated into nine political communes. Without economic development, the communities are struggling to stay large enough to be viable. Like rural areas in other parts of the Alps, surplus population leaves for better opportunities. Agriculture remains the main activity and dominates the visual landscape. Andeer is a well known place for its active preservation efforts of the built environment (Figure 73). There are two more traditional Romansh communities up the Val Ferrera on the road to Avers, Ausserferrera and Innerferrera, which are also losing their Romansh pluralities. On the main trade route along the upper Rein posteriur (Hinterrhein) towards the Splügen and San Bernardino passes, are the Walser settlements of Rheinwald.
Figure 73 – Sutselva in Grischun Central
Andeer (Schams)
Muntogna / Heinzenberg
Cazis (Muntogna) 
Tumleastga / Domleschg
Vuelden 
Il Plaun (La Punt / Rhines confluence)
(Bonaduz & Trin)
• Tumleastga and Muntogna: Below the Via mala is the important pass town of Thusis near where the Alvra joins the Rein posteriur. Unfortunately, the pass trade requires this valley to be integrated in other ways, and the cohesiveness of the language has really suffered. Between Thusis and Tamins, which were both Germanized before 1800, were numerous Romansh communities on either side of the valley. On the right bank, the region is known as Tumleastga (Domleschg) and it was part of the Chadè League. On the left bank, the Muntogna (Heinzenberg) communities were part of the Grey League. Both sides of the river are/were utilized for transportation routes, the cantonal road and railroad are on the western side and the federal autobahn is on the eastern side.
The communities have undergone intense language change especially those along the valley bottom. The places more isolated above the valley floor retain higher percentages of Romansh speakers and not as heavily Germanized as those along the traffic corridors. The two regions as a whole occupy an excellent agricultural area comparable to Surselva, including an orchard growing tradition. Because of the overall population, one would expect to find a thriving idiom even if it was a statistic minority. In Muntogna, there are nine settlements including Thusis and excluding the Walser Tschappina. The total number of Romansh speakers is only 275. Comparatively, there are 258 Romansh speakers in the twelve Tumleastga communes. Unfortunately, Sutsilvan is the most endangered idiom, and places in the Il Plaun do not even identify with the idiom.
• Il Plaun: As one travels farther down river, the industrial and commercial activities become even more prominent. The railroad increases access to the Rhine valley for industry and suburban housing. The Il Plaun (Imboden) at the confluence of the two Rhines is extremely complex because places are larger and migration affects the language balance (Figure 74). Like other traditional Romansh communities, some will leave for educational and professional opportunities, but at the same time, they attract both Romansh and German speaking migrants. Rhäzüns retains a 17% Romansh, while Bonaduz has only 6% (Sprachlandschaft Graubünden. 1994). Domat is the largest traditional Romansh speaking place with over a thousand Romansh speakers, but the number reflects a lot of change. In the case of Domat and even Chur, a question arises over which idiom do the Romansh use outside of their traditional areas? Furthermore, could this diasporic group coalesce and evolve their own idiom? In this extreme circumstances, the new written language, Rumantsch Grischun, may have a ready audience.
Cuntrada Cultivada
Cultural landscape studies are part of the geographic tradition (Kniffen, 1960; Sauer, 1925), which can be applied anywhere. The cultural landscape in the traditional Romansh territory reflects a strong tendency to maintain vernacular styles. Moreover, the flourishing of specific folk cultural elements suggests either an artistic revival or a militancy against change. Some of the changes in the landscape are significant such as new buildings with different construction techniques. Change coincides with much larger processes such as mechanization of agriculture and recreational based development. Additional changes are likely to occur as environmental values and lifestyle choices become potential factors. In this section, I survey some of the ethnic markers in the landscape and some of the recent, dramatic changes in the built environment.
Ethnic Landscapes
Landscapes are "ethnic" when they are distinct from other landscapes, and one associates the landscape with a particular (ethnic) group. Ideally, the ethnic landscape has a visual quality that demarcates territory without the help of signs (Figure 75). The literal language use on written signs is both ordinary if it is communicating to those in the language group and extraordinary if it is meant for others (Figure 76). Of course, other senses like sound and smell are equally important to the experience of place (Cosgrove, 1997; Porteous, 1990), but for simplicity I focus on the visual distinctions.
Figure 75 – Sgraffito
Modern
art in Sta. Maria (Val Müstair)
Inscriptions in Sent (Engiadina bassa) and Sta. Maria
Figure 76 – Signage
Cantonal Bank in Sta. Maria (Val Müstair)
Store window in Sta. Maria (Val Müstair)
Sgraffito: Sgraffito is the Romansh term for the decorative wall etchings that are one part of the cultural landscape (Figure 75). Sgraffito is a common feature on most buildings in the Engiadina and adjacent valleys, but not so much in other Romansh regions. In terms of my ethnic-landscape criteria, sgraffito is distinct and people think of it as "Romansh," so it is ethnic. Sgraffito is a type of wall decoration that is comparable to wall paintings found in adjacent regions of Italy and Tyrol. Instead of being an external change of color, sgraffito is etched into the plaster during construction or refurbishing (Hofmann, 1994). The underneath layer is a different color from the outermost, so a different color appears when the plaster is delicately scratched away during the drying stages. Special scraping and scratching tools are part of the equipment, and a small group of professional artists is available. Special sgraffito motifs become well known by their artists or meanings such as fertility and luck symbols.
Houses: Vernacular house styles are another ethnic element, but the Engiadiner style once again dominates the popular perception (Weiss, 1959). Small windows and distinct window splays set into thick walls are common (Figure 57). The classic house is three stories tall with the animals on the bottom level. The middle level has the kitchen and living room with the heating oven (Kachelofen). The bedrooms are on the upper level with a hatch/ladder above the oven. The front door is actually a gate where a wagon can roll through to deliver the grass into the stall. Houses in Surselva are also a wood/ plaster combination, but the wood stalls are slatted for airflow and remain unplastered. The barn and stall were sometimes separate from the family house and rarely under the same roof. While the houses and landscape are distinct, the upper Rhine valley has many similarities with adjacent German speaking areas. So a question arises about how ethnic are the houses in Surselva.
Ethno-linguistic: The remaining element of ethnicity in the Romansh landscape is language. While I consider the Engiadiner styles Romansh, more than a few people associate them with the valley (ecological place) first and think of the Romansh culture second. The Romansh language is clearly ethnic and only someone unable to distinguish languages would miss the interpretation (Figure 76). Surselva as the most populous Romansh region has the most Romansh language signs, and the signs are very ordinary. Small things like store hours, street names, and a no parking sign are common. In many areas, signs in public spaces take into account the German speakers. Another class of signs represents a more militant attitude. The appearance of dual language place-names where the Romansh version has not been publicly used symbolizes a desire to fight language loss.
Major Changes
Dramatic changes to the landscape are easy to identify (Figures 77 and 78). Changing environmental values are more difficult. In the next couple of years, a few important events will or will not happen and they might signify the direction of human—environment interaction. The first is the enlargement of the national park and the second is reintroduction of carnivores. Neither event will dramatically change the aesthetic qualities of the settled areas, but it might squeeze out traditional agriculture as new demands compete for the higher elevation areas.
Figure 77 – Agricultural Changes (new Stalls)
Castrisch
Bever 
Madulain
Brail
Figure 78 – Major Landscape Changes
Samedan (Airport & Train Depot)
Chamues-ch (sprawl?) 
Suburban Housing
Regional Transportation
Agricultural: Agriculture is changing regardless of wildlife at this time. Already, the mechanization of most agricultural activities has occurred. The most dramatic visual impact is in the lower elevation areas where agricultural is more centralized. The barns are exceptionally large and highly segregated from the residential parts of town. All farmers use modern milking equipment and grass cutters. In small rural areas, there are fewer tractors and a few older men still use the scathe around steep, rocky slopes.
The most significant change to small settlements is the relocation and improvement of animal stalls (Figure 77). Wintering of animals in the family house is almost completely phased out. Farmers with support and approval of their communities built new multipurpose structures on the edge of town. These new buildings incorporate enough space for the animals, the winter feed, and the farm equipment. Some farm families have also built new houses along side their new barns, while many more quit farming all together.
Tourism: Tourism is the other activity that has dramatically changed the landscape (Bernard, 1978; White, 1974). Paralleling tourism is the travel infrastructure of highways and car parking (Figure 78). In addition, the tourists are being accommodated in special buildings and converted structures. Some families converted their old farmhouse stalls into apartments and tourist accommodation. Individual houses are the most frequent type of new structures, and overnight capacity is higher than the number of locals (Graubünden Ferien, 1999). A whole host of other impacts is visible including more roads, parking spaces, and recreational facilities.
Tourism is an important avenue of economic development, and many more decisions concerning the landscape are being filtered through--What is good for tourism? Of course, most people say a quality of life for the hosts is an equally important aspect of a long-term tourist economy. Switzerland has many tourist regions, and many tourist places emphasize their alpine qualities. In the next chapter, I discuss cultural preservation that has to deal with this emerging tourist business.