Blatten b. Naters
Origin of the name Blatten b. Naters
The village is first recorded in 1231 in the form «Platon». The origin of the name has not been explained.[1]
Founding of Blatten b. Naters
Blatten is a village in the municipality of Naters, on the Natischer Berg, at the foot of Belalp. In the Middle Ages, like Hegdorn, Geimen, Mehlbaum and Rischinen, it formed an independent community on this slope. In the 14th and 15th centuries it received a chapel dedicated to St Theodul and became the centre of the Natischer Berg. Most of the houses, barns and granaries date from the 17th and 18th centuries. Still modest in 1888, the settlement changed from 1934, when the road and the first hotel turned Blatten into a holiday resort.[1][2]
History of Blatten b. Naters
1231. First mention, in the form «Platon».[1]
15th century. The chapel of St Theodul is first recorded.[1]
17th-18th centuries. The chapel is enlarged in the Baroque period. Most of the houses, barns and granaries are built at this time.[1]
1644. A log house is built on the chapel square.[1]
1684. The chaplain's house (Kaplaneihaus) is built.[1]
1888. The Siegfried map shows a small, loose settlement grouped around the church.[1]
1934. The Naters-Blatten road and the Blattnerhof hotel open, marking the start of tourism.[1]
after 1945. Chalets are gradually built on the south slope.[1]
1953. The cable car to Belalp opens (1954 according to another source), later replaced by a newer installation.[1][4]
1978-1980. Private investors build the Tschuggen holiday village, about a hundred chalets between Blatten and Belalp (1979-1980 according to another source).[1][2]
Historic sites in Blatten b. Naters
Church of St Theodul. Chapel recorded in the 15th century and enlarged in the Baroque period, in the village centre. It is listed as a cultural property of regional importance («Blatten, Kirche St. Theodul»).[1][3]
Chapel square. Around the church stand a log house of 1644 and the chaplain's house of 1684.[1]
Old village. Houses, barns and granaries of the 17th and 18th centuries around the church.[1]
Sources
- Office fédéral de la culture, ISOS (Inventaire fédéral des sites construits à protéger en Suisse), « Blatten (Naters) », n° 4821 (2e version, 05.1996)
- Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, « Naters » (Anton Riva, version du 04.01.2017)
- Office fédéral de la protection de la population (OFPP), Inventaire PBC, liste cantonale du Valais (objets A et B, état au 1.1.2026)
- Bergbahnen.org, base de données, « Blatten-Belalp » (téléphérique de 1954)
- 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 Blatten b. Naters
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