Anzère
Origin of the name Anzère
The name referred to the plateau before the resort existed: in 1958 the municipal council already spoke of the « région d'Anzère ». Where it comes from has not yet been established.
Founding of Anzère
Anzère lies in the municipality of Ayent, in the district of Hérens, at an altitude of 1500 m. Before the 1960s the plateau was just pastureland with five small chalets (five mazots according to another source), surrounded by stone or wooden mayens. The resort project was launched at the instigation of ski instructor Pierre Gutknecht. After a first project failed in the early 1960s, the holding company Pro-Anzère, backed by the Geneva architect Jean Hentsch, had a complete holiday village built: chalets, flats, hotels and ski lifts. It is described as the first Swiss example of a holiday village created from A to Z.[1][2][3]
History of Anzère
1957. Two grocery shops open on the plateau: Chez César Morard and Au Chalet Savioz.[1]
1958. On 27 April, the municipal council of Ayent raises the possibility of studying the development of the Anzère area.[1]
1960-1961. SAREM starts operating the Moret ski lift. The first « tourist » chalets are built, followed by mains electricity and the first telephone.[1]
1962. A tarred road now links Saint-Romain with Anzère. On 30 June, the municipality, the bourgeoisie and the Société d'Études et de Financement Pro-Wildhorn SA, later Pro-Anzère SA, sign an agreement.[1]
1962. On 2 November, the Société de développement Ayent-Anzère is founded.[1]
1965 or 1969. The resort rises among the pastures from 1969 (according to another source it was really born in 1965), driven by the holding company Pro-Anzère.[2][3]
1965-1966. The Pas de Maimbré gondola and the Duez ski lift come into service.[1]
1972. Anzère gets its own postcode.[1]
1977. Pro-Anzère SA ceases operations. A curling rink and an ice rink open the same year.[1]
1992. The Anzère chapel is built.[1]
1999. New gondolas and a new restaurant at Pas de Maimbré.[1]
2011. A spa and wellness centre, Anzère Spa & Wellness, opens.[2]
2012. The Grillesses chairlift comes into service.[1]
2015. Launch of the « Anzère 2025 » project, whose direction is set in participatory workshops with the municipalities of Ayent and Arbaz.[2]
2020. A new chairlift is installed at Les Luys.[1]
Historic sites in Anzère
Pas de Maimbré. Second summit of the ski area, linked to the resort by gondola since the mid-1960s.[1][2]
Anzère chapel. The resort's chapel, built in 1992.[1]
Remains in Anzère
Mayens. Around the resort stand mayens, rudimentary alpine dwellings of stone or sun-darkened wood, remnants of the plateau's pastoral past.[1][2]
Sources
- Anzère Tourisme, « Histoire »
- Julie Müller-Pellegrini, « Anzère, un développement sur mesure », immobilier.ch, 6 septembre 2022
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Ayent » (Danielle Allet-Zwissig, version du 08.09.2009)
- Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
- geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées)
Other villages near Anzère
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