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ENGADINE (Ger. Engadin; Ital. Engadin...

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 404 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ENGADINE (Ger. Engadin; Ital. Engadina; Ladin, Engiadina) , the name of the upper or Swiss portion of the valley of the See also:Inn, which forms See also:part of the Swiss See also:canton of the See also:Grisons. Its length by See also:carriage road from the Maloja See also:plateau (5935 ft.) at its See also:south-western end to Martinsbruck (3406 ft.) at its See also:north-eastern extremity is about 59 M. It is to be noted that up to and including St See also:Moritz (6037 ft., the highest) all the villages (See also:save Sils-Baseglia) at its south-western end are higher than the Maloja plateau itself. The uppermost portion of the valley contains several lakes, which, as one descends, gradually diminish in See also:size, those of Sils, Silvaplana and St Moritz. But both the Maloja plateau and the south-western See also:half of the See also:lake of Sils belong to the See also:commune of Stampa in the Val Bregaglia, and are included in the Bregaglia administrative See also:district, so that, from a See also:political point of view, Sils is the first See also:village that is included in the Engadine. The See also:rest of the Engadine forms the districts of the Upper Engadine with eleven communes, and of the Inn (i.e. the See also:Lower Engadine), subdivided into the Ob Tasna, Remus, and tinter Tasna circles, and containing twelve communes. In 1900 the See also:total See also:population of the Engadine was 11,712, of whom 5429 were in the Upper Engadine and 6283 in the Lower Engadine. In point of See also:religion 8594 were Protestants (4923 in the Lower Engadine and 3671 in the Upper Engadine), and 3086 Romanists (1728 in the Upper Engadine and 1358 in the Lower Engadine), while there were 12 See also:Jews in the Upper Engadine and 2 in the Lower Engadine : in the Upper Engadine the See also:majority in each commune was See also:Protestant (the Romanists strongest in St Moritz), as also in the See also:case of the Lower Engadine, save Tarasp and Samnaun, where the Romanists prevail. In point of See also:language 7609 inhabitants (5010 in the Lower Engadine and 2599 in the Upper'Engadine) spoke the curious Ladin See also:dialect (a survival of a See also:primitive See also:Romance See also:tongue), and 2221 See also:German (1265 in the Upper Engadine and 956 in the Lower Engadine). The See also:capital of the Upper Engadine is Samaden (967 inhabitants), and that of the Lower Engadine, Schuls (1117 inhabitants).

In 19o8 there were no See also:

railways in the Engadine, save about 8 m. (from the mouth of the See also:tunnel past Bevers and Samaden to St Moritz village) of the railway pierced (1898–1902) beneath (5987 ft.) the Albula Pass (7595 ft.), which now affords the easiest means of See also:access from See also:Coire to St Moritz (56 m.); but many railways in and to the Engadine have been planned. The valley is reached by many passes (over which excellent carriage roads were constructed 1820-1872). The Maloja (5935 ft.) is the route from See also:Chiavenna and the Lake of See also:Como to the Upper Engadine, which is also reached from Coire by the Julier (75o4 ft.) and the Albula Passes (7595 ft.) as well as from Tirano in the See also:Valtellina by the Bernina Pass (7645 ft.). On the other See also:hand, the Lower Engadine is accessible from See also:Davos over the Fluela Pass (7838 ft.) and from Mals at the See also:head of the See also:Adige valley (or the Vintschgau) by the Ofen Pass (7071 ft.), while from Martinsbruck, the last Swiss village, a carriage road leads up to Nauders (5 m.), whence it is 27 M. by road down the Inn valley to See also:Landeck on the Arlberg railway, or 172 M. over the Reacher). Scheideck Pass (4902 ft.) to Mals in the Vintschgau. The Upper Engadine consists of a See also:long, straight, nearly level trough of 26 m., varying from a mile to half a mile in breadth, through which flows the Inn. On the south-See also:east this trough is limited by the lofty See also:glacier-clad Bernina See also:group (culminating in the Piz Bernina, 13,304 ft.) and the range rising between the Inn valley and that of Livigno to the south-east, while on the north-See also:west the boundary is the extensive Albula group (culminating in Piz Kesch, 11,228 ft.). The Lower Engadine is far more picturesque and romantic than the Upper Engadine, the Inn valley being here much narrower and the fall greater. On its north-west rises the last See also:bit of the Albula group (culminating in Piz Vadret, 10,584 ft.), and on the north the Silvretta group (culminating in Piz Linard, 11,201 ft.), while to the east and south are the ranges on either See also:side of the Ofen Pass (culminating in Piz Sesvenna, ro,568 ft.). In the Upper Engadine the villages are on the See also:floor of the valley, but in the Lower Engadine many are perched high above the See also:bed of the See also:river on terraces, and are cut off from each other by deep ravines. The Upper Engadine is far better known to See also:foreign visitors than the Lower Engadine, and is consequently much richer and more prosperous.

The See also:

mineral See also:waters of St Moritz (q.v.) were known and employed in the 16th See also:century, and long formed the See also:great attraction of the region. But about the See also:middle of the lgth century the Upper Engadine came into See also:fashion as a great " See also:air-cure," and now Maloja, Sils, Silvaplana, Campfer and St Moritz are all well known; those who See also:desire to explore the glaciers of the Bernina group mostly resort to Pontresina, on the Flatzbach, the stream descending from the Bernina Pass. Yet, owing to its great See also:elevation, the scenery of the Upper Engadine has a See also:bleak, See also:northern aspect. Pines and larches alone flourish, See also:garden vegetables are grown only in sunny spots, and there is no tillage. The Alpine See also:flora is very See also:rich and varied. But See also:snow falls even in See also:August, and the See also:climate is well described in the See also:proverb, " nine months See also:winter, and three months See also:cold See also:weather." The villages are built entirely of See also:stone (as also in the Lower Engadine), chiefly to guard against destructive fires that were formerly frequent in this narrow, See also:wind-swept valley. The See also:wealth of the inhabitants consists in their See also:hay meadows and pastures The lower pasturessupport large herds of cows, while the higher are let out (in both parts of the valley) to Bergamasque shepherds, who come thither every summer with their flocks. In the Lower Engadine the See also:chief attraction is formed by the mineral springs at Schuls below Tarasp, which are much frequented during the summer. The See also:wild See also:gorge of Finstermunz separates the last Swiss village, Martinsbruck, from the first Tirolese village, Pfunds, the gorge being passable only on See also:foot, while the carriage road makes a great detour by way of Nauders, so that the two villages named are 13 M. by road from each other. The earliest full description of the See also:country by an See also:English traveller is that by See also:Archdeacon W. See also:Coxe, in Travels in See also:Switzerland (See also:London, 1789). The Upper Engadine is not mentioned in See also:authentic documents till 1139, the See also:bishop of Coire being then the great See also:lord, and, from the 13th century, having as his bailiffs the See also:family of Planta, the See also:original seat of which was at Zuz.

The valley obtained its freedom from both in 1486 (Planta) and in 1526, when the temporal See also:

powers of the bishop were abolished. In 1367 it (as well as the bishop's vassals in the Lower Engadine) joined the newly founded See also:League of See also:God's See also:House or Gotteshausbund (see GiusoNs), one of the 3 Raetian Leagues, which lasted till 1799–1801, when the whole Engadine became part of Canton See also:Raetia of the Helvetic See also:Republic, which, in 1803, altered its name to that of Grisons or Graubunden, and then first entered the Swiss See also:Confederation. In the Upper Engadine the " See also:Referendum " existed as between the different villages composing a bailiwick (Hochgericht). The See also:history of the Lower Engadine is for long quite different. Though always comprised in the See also:diocese of Coire, it formed from the See also:early 9th century onwards (with the Vintschgau) a See also:separate See also:county, which was gradually absorbed in that which, later, took the name of the county of See also:Tirol. The limit between the Upper Engadine and the Tirolese Lower Engadine was definitively fixed in 1282 at the See also:Punt' Ota (the high See also:bridge) just above Brail, and mentioned in 1139 already. In 1363 Tirol came into the See also:possession of the Habsburgers, who were troublesome neighbours both to the Upper Engadine and to the League of God's House. Their See also:power was stemmed in 1499 at the See also:battle of the Calven gorge (above Mals), though it was only in 1652 that the Lower Engadine bought up the remaining rights of the Habsburgers. But the See also:castle of Tarasp (acquired by them in 1464) was excepted: the lordship was given by them in 1687 to the Dietrichstein family, and held by it till 18o1,' when See also:Austria ceded it to See also:France, which, in 1803, handed it over to the Swiss Confederation, by which it was incorporated in 1809 with the Canton of the Grisons. This long connexion with Tirol accounts for the fact that Tarasp is still mainly Romanist, while the lonely Swiss valley of Samnaun (above Martinsbruck) has given up its Protestantism and its Ladin speech owing to communications with Tirol being easier than with Switzerland. The bears in the See also:bear See also:pit at See also:Bern come from the forests in the lower Spol valley, above Zernez, in the Lower Engadine, on the way to the Ofen Pass. The upper Spol valley (Livigno) is See also:Italian (see VALTELLINA).

End of Article: ENGADINE (Ger. Engadin; Ital. Engadina; Ladin, Engiadina)

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