Arosa is a municipality in the district of Plessur in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is known for being both a summer and a winter resort.

History

Arosa is first mentioned about 1330 as Araus. In 1383 it was mentioned as Orossen and in 1428 it was first mentioned as Arosa.

The first known settlements are from the 13th century. After 1300 Arosa German-speaking Walser settlers came from Davos and replaced the Romansh-speaking original inhabitants. During the following centuries, the inhabitants subsisted on alpine pasture economy. Until the year 1851 it was politically a part of the Davos municipality. Arosa was discovered as a health resort by a German doctor in 1883, and the first sanatorium was opened in 1888. From 1900 on it became by and by also a winter resort. 1938 the first ski elevators were constructed, and 1956 the Weisshorn cable car was opened and further rope and chair lifts followed.

Skiing in Switzerland received a big boost in England from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series. Doyle, an avid sportsman, was spending winter time in Davos. For entertainment, he ordered some skiing "boards" from Norway and hiked up the mountain with two local guides. They then skied down into Arosa, ending their journey with a luncheon at a local inn, the Seehof, the first Hotel in Arosa. Doyle wrote of his pioneering Davos/Arosa ski adventure in a British magazine, The Strand, in 1894, and the story attracted British skiers to Switzerland.

Erwin Schrödinger was vacationing in Arosa during Christmas of 1925-1926 when he made his breakthrough discovery of wave mechanics.

Geography

Arosa has an area, , of . Of this area, 42% is used for agricultural purposes, while 15.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (39.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

The municipality is located in the Schanfigg sub-district of the Plessur district on the south-east slope of the Weisshorn chain. Arosa is situated at the end of the Schanfigg valley at the foot of the Aroser Weisshorn (). It consists of the town of Arosa with the village sections of Innerarosa, Dorf-Obersee, Untersee and Maran-Prätschli at an elevation of .

The two lakes in the centre of Arosa are Obersee (upper lake) and Untersee.

In 1851 the Arosa separated from the municipality of Davos.

In the town is the Arosa railway station, on the Chur-Arosa railway line.

Tourism

Arosa possesses a well-known and safe skiing area and boasts over of slopes.

The main economy is tourism, for which Arosa maintains 4,287 guest beds. Arosa has an unemployment rate of 1.32%. , there were 4 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. 308 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 30 businesses in this sector. 1,202 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 185 businesses in this sector.

Demographics

Arosa has a year-round population (as of ) of . , 22.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -9.8%. The population is very seasonal. In January about 4,600 people live in Arosa, while in May it drops to about 2,500. Most of the population () speaks German (79.8%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 7.3%) and Italian being third ( 4.1%).

, the gender distribution of the population was 51.1% male and 48.9% female. The age distribution, , in Arosa is; 193 children or 7.0% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 88 teenagers or 3.2% are 10 to 14, and 124 teenagers or 4.5% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 727 people or 26.2% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 500 people or 18.0% are 30 to 39, 403 people or 14.5% are 40 to 49, and 322 people or 11.6% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 195 people or 7.0% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 137 people or 4.9% are 70 to 79, there are 65 people or 2.3% who are 80 to 89, and there are 17 people or 0.6% who are 90 to 99.

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 45% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (24.7%), the SP (17%) and the CVP (12%).

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Arosa about 70.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).

From the , 1,140 or 41.1% are Roman Catholic, while 1,150 or 41.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 109 individuals (or about 3.93% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 17 individuals (or about 0.61% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 8 individuals (or about 0.29% of the population) who are Jewish, and 14 (or about 0.51% of the population) who are Islamic. There are 23 individuals (or about 0.83% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 177 (or about 6.39% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 138 individuals (or about 4.98% of the population) did not answer the question.

The historical population is given in the following table:

year	population
1550–1750	c. 125
1850	52
1900	1,071
1930	3,466
1941	1,980
2000	2,771

Weather

Arosa has an average of 146.6 days of rain per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is August during which time Arosa receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 14.5 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 15.6, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 14.5 days.

References

External links

• Official Arosa tourism site
• Official site of Arosa municipality
• Alpine Pearls
• Livecams of Arosa

category:Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland category:Municipalities of Graubünden

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