Säntis
| Säntis | |
|---|---|
 Top of Säntis | |
| Elevation | 2,502 m (8,209 ft) |
| Prominence | 2,021 m (6,631 ft)(#13 in the Alps) |
| Listing |
Canton high point Ultra |
| Location | |
  Säntis | |
| Location | Appenzell Ausserrhoden/Appenzell Innerrhoden/St. Gallen, Switzerland |
| Range | Appenzell Alps |
| Coordinates | 47°14′57.73″N 9°20′35.92″E / 47.2493694°N 9.3433111°ECoordinates: 47°14′57.73″N 9°20′35.92″E / 47.2493694°N 9.3433111°E |
At 2,502.9 metres above sea level, Säntis is the highest mountain in the Alpstein massif of northeastern Switzerland. The mountain is a highly visible landmark thanks to its exposed northerly position within the Alpstein massif. As a consequence, houses called Säntisblick (English: Säntis view) can be found in regions as far away as the Black Forest in Germany. The panorama from the summit is spectacular. Six countries can be seen if the weather allows: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France, and Italy.[1]
Geography
Säntis is located in the Alpstein region, nearly 10 km (as the crow flies) southwest of the town of Appenzell. Three cantons meet on Säntis: Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, and St. Gallen, the mountain being split between the municipalities of Hundwil, Schwende and Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann. Even though its summit is at only 2502 metres above sea level, the mountain ranks number 12th in the Alps and 29th in Europe in topographic prominence at 2021 metres. Peaks with high prominence often have impressive summit views, even if their elevations are relatively modest, Säntis being a prime example.
Climate
The exposed position of Säntis results in weather conditions normally observed in the high Alps. For example in April 1999, just beneath the summit on the northern snowfield of the mountain, a snow height of 816 cm (321 in) was recorded. The daily mean temperature is −1.9 °C (28.6 °F) with a precipitation of 2,701 mm (106.3 in) per year.
| Climate data for Säntis (1981-2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −4.1 (24.6) |
−5.0 (23) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
2.8 (37) |
6.0 (42.8) |
8.8 (47.8) |
8.9 (48) |
6.0 (42.8) |
3.7 (38.7) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
1.4 (34.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.9 (19.6) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−6.3 (20.7) |
−3.9 (25) |
0.7 (33.3) |
3.6 (38.5) |
6.1 (43) |
6.1 (43) |
3.4 (38.1) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−3.9 (25) |
−6.2 (20.8) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −9.6 (14.7) |
−10.2 (13.6) |
−8.8 (16.2) |
−6.2 (20.8) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
1.3 (34.3) |
3.7 (38.7) |
3.9 (39) |
1.1 (34) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
−6.3 (20.7) |
−8.8 (16.2) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 255 (10.04) |
222 (8.74) |
268 (10.55) |
204 (8.03) |
204 (8.03) |
233 (9.17) |
285 (11.22) |
276 (10.87) |
223 (8.78) |
176 (6.93) |
227 (8.94) |
265 (10.43) |
2,837 (111.69) |
| Snowfall cm (inches) | 147.8 (58.19) |
154 (60.6) |
164.3 (64.69) |
116.8 (45.98) |
61.5 (24.21) |
43.8 (17.24) |
18 (7.1) |
16.6 (6.54) |
43 (16.9) |
60.5 (23.82) |
131.3 (51.69) |
156.8 (61.73) |
1,114.4 (438.74) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 12.7 | 11.9 | 15.7 | 14.1 | 15.2 | 16.3 | 16.3 | 16.0 | 13.2 | 11.1 | 12.8 | 14.5 | 169.8 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 1.0 cm) | 14.8 | 13.5 | 16.9 | 14.8 | 9.6 | 6.4 | 2.6 | 2 | 5.7 | 8.4 | 12.9 | 15.8 | 123.4 |
| % humidity | 71.8 | 71.3 | 75.8 | 80.6 | 81.9 | 82.9 | 81.0 | 79.6 | 74.3 | 66.0 | 69.6 | 68.2 | 75.2 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 135 | 138 | 149 | 151 | 167 | 155 | 176 | 169 | 161 | 169 | 125 | 115 | 1,809 |
| Source: MeteoSwiss [2] | |||||||||||||
History
The name Säntis dates back to the 9th century. It is an abbreviation of the Romansh language for Sambatinus (English: the one born on Saturday), which was thought to be the name of a nearby area. The name was later used to refer to the summit. In the German language it was called Semptis or Sämptis. The mountain later gave its name to a canton of the Helvetic Republic (1798 - 1803).
Weather station
The International Meteorological Congress of Rome in 1879 declared it as a necessity to build weather stations on adequate and accessible summits. Therefore, the Swiss built a weather station on Säntis. The position of the northern ridge proved to be ideal for such an endeavour. The weather station was commissioned in autumn of 1882.[3]
Säntismurder
The so-called Säntismord (English: Säntismurder) happened in the winter of 1922. It refers to a crime in which the weather station keeper and his wife were murdered. The murder was only discovered because of missing weather reports on 21 February. As a result of the missing reports, a search party was sent to Säntis, where they discovered the bodies. The prime suspect was shoemaker Gregor Anton Kreuzpointer, who committed suicide three weeks after the murder. The truth about this double murder hence remains unclear to this day.[4][5]
Economy
Transmission tower
Tourism
Today, the summit is easily accessible by aerial tramway from Schwägalp. It had been a popular destination for tourists since the mid 19th century. However, even though many ideas to make the summit more easily accessible existed since those days, it took almost another century for them to materialize. Many approaches, using various types of railways starting from several nearby towns, were tried, but ultimately failed. One project planned to access Säntis from Wasserauen or Unterwasser by rack-and-pinion railway. While the lower section of this project between Appenzell and Wasserauen was built and is still part of today's active railway network, the rest of it was halted due to a lack of funding. Finally, local businessman Dr. Carl Meyer of Herisau came forward with the idea to construct an aerial tramway from the base of the mountain, at Schwägalp, and build a mountain road from the nearby town of Urnäsch for easier access to its lower terminal. On September 22nd, 1933, his project was ultimately selected for construction and Meyer was awarded with the necessary licences by the federal government. Finally, on July 1st, 1935, the aerial tramway started operations. The original cabins were replaced by larger ones in 1960. The entire aerial tramway installation was replaced between 1968 and 1976. In 2000, new cabins were commissioned. The aerial tramway Luftseilbahn Schwägalp-Säntis is one of the most frequented tramways in Switzerland. It has a total length of 2307 meters. The altitude gain between the terminals is 1123 meters. The journey takes roughly 8 minutes. The first tramway was constructed from 1933 to 1935.
Miscellaneous
In honour of the Swiss National Day, which is celebrated 1 August each year, the world's largest Swiss flag was to be seen on Säntis from 31 July – 2 August 2009. The square national flag was 120 meters each side and weighted 1.2 tons. The flag ripped on 2 August 2009 due to strong winds in the area.[6][7]
See also
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Säntis. |
References
- ↑ Albert Heim: Säntis-Panorama.
- ↑ "Climate Norm Value Tables". Climate diagrams and normals from Swiss measuring stations. Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss). Retrieved 23 January 2013. The weather station elevation is 2502 meters above sea level.
- ↑ Gottlieb Lüthi und Carl Egloff: Das Säntis-Gebiet. Illustrierter Touristenführer, Fehr'sche Buchhandlung St. Gallen (1904) S. 102-103
- ↑ Werner Kamber: Bergdrama im Wetterhäuschen. Vor 80 Jahren: Doppelmord am Säntis Die Alpen 12/2002
- ↑ Gottlieb Lüthi, Carl Egloff und Karl Kleine: Das Säntis-Gebiet. Illustrierter Führer, Fehr'sche Buchhandlung St. Gallen (1946) 6. Auflage S. 111
- ↑ Bericht auf www.tagblatt.ch vom 31. Juli 2009 (abgefragt am 3. August 2009)
- ↑ 20 Minuten, Printausgabe vom 3. August 2009
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