Saanen

History

The village was first mentioned in 1228 as Gissinay. In 1340 it was mentioned as Sanon. During the Middle Ages several forts were built to guard the mule trails into the Valais and Vaud. These included the Kramburg (which was first mentioned in 1331 but is now covered by later construction), the Swabia Ried tower (11th-12th century) and the Schönried tower (remains are visible as part of house number 349). During the Middle Ages it was part of the vogtei of Vanel in the county of Gruyère. In 1244, the counts became the vassals of Savoy. The counts' financial problems forced them to sell parts of the vogtei and some of the rights to the residents of Saanen in the 14th century. It took about six years before Confederation mediation was able to resolve the arguments between Saanen and Bern. The Palace Hotel opened in 1913 as Gstaad's first luxury hotel. 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 (chalets, apartment houses, residences). Most of the modern resorts and small hotels are built out of wood and retain traditional design elements.

Geography

Saanen has an area of . Of this area, or 51.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 35.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 8.3% is unproductive land. Of the built-up area, housing and buildings made up 2.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, 27.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 15.3% is pastures and 35.9% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 4.8% is unproductive vegetation and 3.5% is too rocky for vegetation. The municipality is located in the upper Saane valley. It consists of the economic center and district capital, the village of Saanen along with the villages of Gstaad, Abländschen, Bissen, Ebnit, Gruben, Grund, Kalberhöni, Saanen, Saanenmöser, Schönried, and Turbach.

Most-observed species

• Dusky Large Blue

  Maculinea nausithous (Bergstrasser, 1779) · Insecta
  4,344
• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  4,290
• Great Burnet

  Sanguisorba officinalis L. · Magnoliopsida
  3,708
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,307
• Scarce Large Blue

  Maculinea teleius (Bergstrasser, 1779) · Insecta
  2,818
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  2,610
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,500
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  2,119

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