Gstaad

History

During the Middle Ages, it was part of the district of Saanen (Gessenay) belonging to the Savoyard county of Gruyère. The town core developed at the fork in the trails into the Valais and Vaud. It had an inn, a warehouse for storing trade goods and oxen to help pull wagons over the alpine passes by the 13th-14th centuries. The St. Nicholas chapel was built in the town in 1402, while the murals are from the second half of the 15th century. The town was dominated by cattle farming and agriculture until the great fire of 1898. It was then rebuilt to support the growing tourism industry. The construction of the Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line in 1905 and the construction of ski runs (the Ski Club of Saanen open in 1905, followed in 1907 by the Ski Club of Gstaad). The first ski school in Gstaad opened in 1923. The Eagle Ski Club opened in 1957, and was funded by Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick. In a short time, there were more than 1,000 hotel beds in the region. The residents, hoteliers, shopkeepers and tourist offices helped to promote Gstaad to international attention. They supported the construction of ice rinks, tennis courts, swimming pools, ski jumps, and ski and hiking areas. The first ski lifts at Funi opened in 1934-44 and were followed by a number of gondolas, ski, and chair lifts. The Gstaad Palace opened in 1913 as Gstaad's first luxury hotel. In 1942, the Saanen-Gstaad airfield was opened for military and civil aviation. Helicopter rides were added later and in 1980 balloon flights became available as well. During the World Wars and the Great Depression, the tourism industry suffered and many hotels closed. After World War II, many of the large hotels remained closed, but they were replaced with a number of smaller non-hotel accommodation…

Most-observed species

• Dusky Large Blue

  Maculinea nausithous (Bergstrasser, 1779) · Insecta
  4,460
• Great Burnet

  Sanguisorba officinalis L. · Magnoliopsida
  3,811
• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,573
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,194
• Scarce Large Blue

  Maculinea teleius (Bergstrasser, 1779) · Insecta
  3,158
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,750
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  2,302
• False Heath Fritillary

  Melitaea diamina (Lang, 1789) · Insecta
  2,224

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2026-01-12
  4 km SSW of Les Houches, France
• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.2 — 2024-05-09
  9 km SW of Evolène, Switzerland
• M 3.3 — 2022-09-25
  7 km ESE of Ar?ches-la-Frasse, France
• M 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland
• M 4.1 — 2021-10-05
  10 km SSW of Evolène, Switzerland