Fiesch

Fiesch is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Nearby Fiescheralp is administered by Fiesch and is accessible by the Eggishorn lift.

It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its view of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area.

History

Fiesch is first mentioned in 1203 as Vios. In 1438 it was mentioned as Viesch, seit 1905 Fiesch.

The Fiesch derailment occurred in 2010.

Geography

Fiesch has an area, as of 2011, of 11.3 square km. Of this area, 32.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 40.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 6.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 20.4% is unproductive land.

The municipality is located in a small valley and on the slopes above both sides of the Weisswasser.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, a fess wavy Argent in base Coupeaux of the same.

Twin Town

Fiesch is twinned with the town of Neufra, Germany.

Religion

From the 2000 census, 804 or 80.7% were Roman Catholic, while 60 or 6.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 80 members of an Orthodox church (or about 8.03% of the population), and there was 1 individual who belongs to another Christian church. There were 14 (or about 1.41% of the population) who were Islamic. 24 (or about 2.41% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 13 individuals (or about 1.31% of the population) did not answer the question.

Transport connections

Fiesch is served by the following transport connections:

• Furka Pass- the road through the Rhone Valley between Brig and Gletsch;
• Fiesch railway station on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (formerly the Furka Oberalp Bahn);
• The valley station of the Fiesch-Eggishorn cable car;
• Postauto buses linking Fiesch with Fieschertal and Ernen.

Lifts

From the village two cable cars bring you to Fiescheralp

The main lifts are:

Name type elevation
(ground station) elevation
(mountain station) slope length capacity
(persons/hour) construction year Fiesch- -alp 1+2 cable car 1074 2227 2940 800 1973 Fiesch- -alp 3+4 cable car 1071 2221 2937 270 1966 Fiescheralp-Eggishorn cable car 2225 2879 1836 495 1968 Heimat chairlift 1858 2301 1144 1400 2000 Talegga chairlift 2208 2727 1782 2200 2010 Flesch chairlift 2208 2630 1357 2400 1993 Trainer 1 surface lift 2206 2264 218 1200 1987 Trainer 2 surface lift 2206 2264 218 1200 1987 Laxeralp 1 surface lift 2135 2179 396 1100 1981 Laxeralp 2 surface lift 2179 2280 394 1214 1981