Canton Valais/Wallis (VS) |
 |
| General Information DEUTSCH / ENGLISH / FRANÇAIS / ITALIANO |
|
Located in the south of Switzerland, the canton Valais
occupies the totality of the high valley of the Rhone between
Gothard in the east and Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) in the west. It
is bordered by France in south-west, by Italy in south-east, the
cantons of Uri and Ticino in the east, the canton of Bern in
north and the canton of Vaud in the North-East. Its highest
summmit, the Monte Rose (Dufourspitz), is 4,638 m. (15,268 ft.)
high. The canton covers 5,231 Km² (2020 sq. mi.)
The capital of the canton is Sion.
is taken
from this Switzerland map.
Information
about the Canton Valais, , includes basic statistics:
surface, population, capital.
Statistique
Suisse - Canton du Valais (information from the Statistical
Office of the Canton Valais: in French)..
Conquered by the Romans aroun 57 AD, Valais was part of the
Kingdom of Burgundy within the framework of the Abbey of
St-Maurice, which was a significant place of christianity. It was
bequeathed in 999 by last king of Burgundy to the Bishops of Sion
who entered in competition with the counts of Savoy.
In the XVII century (1600's), Valais resisted the Reformation.
Occupied by the French in 1798, the canton was estblished as an
independent state in 1802, then attached to the French Empire
from 1810 to 1815 under the name of "Department of the
Simplon" (Département du Simplon) before entering the Swiss
Confederation.
Association Valaisanne
d’Etudes Généalogiques (AVEG)
Walliser Vereinigung für Familienforschung (WVFF)
The AVEG has more than 300 members, all of which love genealogy.
Société d’Histoire du Valais Romand
Historical Society of Valais Romand (French-speaking)
Founded in 1915, now with 1000 members, the SHVR duty is to
promote historical and archaeological research in Valais to
clarify the past of the canton and to share it with the public.
It encourages the efforts of public and private organizations to
save and conserve the findings of ancestral history and
inheritance. It endeavours to create a flavor of the regional
history for the the public and maintains relationships with
associations that have similar goals.
To achieve its goals, the SHVR publishes an annual review, Annals
for canton Valais, and organizes also visits, meetings and
conferences in order to make it possible to researchers to expose
the fruit of their work.
Contact:
M. Jean-Henry Papilloud
Président de la SHVR
c/o Archives de l'Etat du Valais
Rue des Vergers 7
1950 SION
Tel. 027 722 91 92
Fax 027 723 11 05
jhenry.papilloud@mediatheque.ch
Société d’Histoire du Haut-Valais
Geschichtsforschender Verein Oberwallis (GVO):
Historical Society of Upper Valais:
Founded in 1888, the GVO has as a sphere of activity in Valais
history. Though the GVO is German-speaking is is still part of
the SHVR (French-speaking). The GVO organizes excursions, days of
studies and publishes the annual review "Blätter aus der
Walliser Geschichte."
Adresse:
Geschichtsforschender Verein Oberwallis
Postfach 246
Stockalperschloss
3900 BRIG
Tel. 027 923 04 07
Fax 027 923 04 08
E-mail fga@rhone.ch
Public relations:
Joseph Guntern
Président GVO
Av. Petit-Chasseur 21
1950 SION
Tel. 027 322 78 80
Gabriel Imboden
Secrétaire GVO
Postfach 246
Stockalperschloss
3900 BRIG
Tel. 027 923 04 07
Fax 027 923.04 08
E-mail fga@rhone.ch
Institut Universitaire de Recherches sur l'Histoire de
l'Arc Alpin
Forschungsinstitut zur Geschichte des Alpenraums
University Institute on Alpine History
In the German-speaking part Valais, the institute of Brig was
created to research the economic, social and legal history of the
alpine populations through the exploration of the documeents and
files of the Stockalper family. It is an astonishing collection
of 15,625 documents covering nine centuries, including more than
1,000 parchments and 82 books of accounts. The files commence in
XVII century (1600's) and are of an exceptional historical
interest, with fourteen folio volumes of accounts books,
invaluable source of information on the everyday life of the
time. Ten volumes of documents were already published.
Address:
Institut Universitaire de Recherches sur l'Histoire de l'Arc
Alpin
Stockalperschloss
CP 246
3900 Brig
Tél.: 027 923 04 07
Fax: 027 923 04 08
e-mail: fga@rhone.ch
(Source: documentation from canton Valais published by the
cantonal library of Valais)
Le Walserinstitut
Walser Institute
In Brig also, the Walser Institute collects, develops, and
shares the documentation concerning Walser. People of this family
would have, in XII and XIII centuries (1100-1200's), left the
upper Valais to colonize specific high valleys of the Alps, of
the Savoy in Vorarlberg. Documentation currently includes works
(approx. 1000), periodicals (45 titles), sound recordings
(approx. 100), posters, postcards, slides, photographs,
video-cassettes (4), newspaper cuttings, documentary and various
catalogue files (authors, matters and place names).
Address:
Walserinstitut
Schlossstrasse 30
CP 572
3900 Brig
(Source: documentation from canton Valais published by the
cantonal library of Valais)
Centre Régional d'Etudes des Populations Alpines (CREPA)
Regional center of Studies of Alpine Populations (CREPA)
In the French-speaking part of the canton, the CREPA (found in
the village of Sembrancher) conserves and develops the cultural
inheritance of the communities of the basin of Dranses (Bagnes,
Borough-Saint-Pierre, Liddes, Orsières, Sembrancher and
Vollèges) and of Sort (Finhaut, Salvan, Trient and Vernayaz).
The CREPA offers a space for meetings and reflexions around the
problems of the alpine populations in their context, both past
and present.
The Center also wishes to create a document center from the
documents of private archives.
Genealogical research was undertaken in the community of Bagnes
in 1975. It was extended to the communities of Finhaut (1991),
Liddes (1993), Orsières (1993), Salvan (1991), Sembrancher
(1994) and Vernayaz (1991).
It consists of the examination of the all of the church registers
since their beginning (end of XVI - beginning XVII centuries
1500-1600's) and with the systematic constitution of the family
trees of all the families.
Each community has its own director
Address:
CREPA
Case Postale 16
1933 Sembrancher
Tél.: 027 785 22 20
Fax: 027 785 22 20
(Source: documentation from canton Valais published by the
cantonal library of Valais)
Association Valaisanne d’Etudes Généalogiques
(AVEG)
Walliser Vereinigung für Familienforschung (WVFF)
c/o Elisabeth Darbellay-Gabioud
Route de Somlaproz
1937 Orsières VS
You are further invited to discuss your questions with other researchers interested in canton Valais on the "Genealogieforum Valais" (dialogue in German or French). The archive is open to visitors to read; in order to be able to respond or start a new thread, however, registration (free of charge) is required. When posting, please, keep in mind that only topics related to Valais should be placed here; for topics related to other regions, please, change to the corresponding canton or to the forum for Switzerland in general (dialogue in German or French).
Archives du canton du Valais:
Rue des Vergers 7
1950 Sion
Tel.: 027 606 47 00
e-mail. archives@vs.admin.ch
Archives de l'Abbaye de St-Maurice
1890 Saint-Maurice
e-mail. archives@stmaurice.ch
http://www.aasm.ch
Cantonal library for Valais, 4 locations
MEDIATHEQUE VALAIS
(MV) - Bibliothèque cantonale, siège central, Sion
Rue des Vergers 9
1950 Sion
Tél.: 027 606 45 50
Fax: 027 606 45 54
e-mail. biblio.cantonale@bcvs.vsnet.ch
MEDIATHEQUE VALAIS - Image
et son, Martigny
Av. du Grand-Saint-Bernard 4
1920 Martigny
Tel.: 027 722 91 92
Fax: 027 723 11 05
e-mail: image.son@imageson.vsnet.ch
MEDIATEKWALLIS - Brig, Kantons und
Stadtbibliothek
Schlossstr.30
3900 Brig-Glis
Tel.: 027 923 05 51
Fax: 027 924 36 13
e-mail :biblio.brig@bcvb.vsnet.ch
MEDIATHEQUE VALAIS - St-Maurice
Place Sainte-Marie
1890 Saint-Maurice
Tél.: 024 486 11 80
Fax: 024 486 11 84
1. Official pages of the canton : http://www.vs.ch
2. Official of the tourist bureau and similar pages :http://www.ValaisInfo.ch or http://www.valaistourism.ch
3. Private pages of the Canton : http://www.bcvs.vsnet.ch/linksvs.htm
2. Sources
The parochial registers of the canton Valais
Kantonsauswahl | Canton selection | sélection des Cantons | selezione del Cantoni
Topic Selection | Themenauswahl | Choix de Thèmes | Argomento