Fürgangen
Origin of the name Fürgangen
The hamlet appears in 1293 as « Wrgangen » and « Wurgangen ». Today Fürgangen also names the station and the cable car station on the valley floor. The meaning of the name has not been established.[8][9][10]
Founding of Fürgangen
Fürgangen is a hamlet in the municipality of Bellwald, on the floor of the Goms valley at 1'200 m. With the village of Bellwald and the hamlets of Ried, Eggen and Bodmen, it makes up the municipality. In the Middle Ages it was under the Counts of Blandrate and formed a small court district, the « free court » of Fürgangen, merged at an unknown date with the Zenden court of Goms. Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn trains stop here and the cable car to Bellwald starts here. In recent years it has regained importance as a place of permanent residence.[1][2][9][10]
History of Fürgangen
1293. Earliest records of the hamlet, as « Wrgangen » and « Wurgangen ».[9][10]
1384. The hamlets of the municipality of Bellwald unite under a communal statute (Bauernzunft).[1]
1444. Paul Bogner of Niederernen buys the lordship rights and styles himself judge of Fürgangen.[9][10]
after 1595. The jurisdiction reportedly passed to the Schiner family.[9][10]
1610-1620. Only two children from Fürgangen are baptised in ten years, but the godparents very often come from the hamlet.[9]
1887. On 12 July a fire destroys most of the hamlet: 18 roofs, including two houses, and one death. The municipality pays for wine, brandy and bread for the firefighters.[9][10]
1888. The inn burns down too, with its stable and barn.[9][10]
1915. The railway opens, with a station at Fürgangen.[1]
1956. A cable car links Fürgangen with Bellwald.[1][2]
1963. Until then part of the parish of Ernen, Fürgangen joins the parish of Bellwald.[1][9][10]
2015. The Goms Bridge suspension footbridge opens, 280 m long, between Fürgangen station and Mühlebach, 92 m above the Rhône.[5][6]
Historic sites in Fürgangen
Fürgangen chapel. The hamlet's chapel, at Fürgangenweg 18, dedicated to Our Lady (to the Trinity according to another source), listed as a cultural property of regional importance. Two 17th-century crucifixes are fixed to the cross beam and the altar keeps a Baroque fabric antependium.[2][3][4]
Goms Bridge. Footbridge 280 m long and 1.40 m wide, open all year between Fürgangen station and Mühlebach.[5]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Bellwald » (Philipp Kalbermatter, version du 11.06.2004, traduit de l'allemand)
- Stiftung UNESCO-Welterbe Schweizer Alpen Jungfrau-Aletsch, « Bellwald » (texte de Klaus Anderegg), 1re édition, 2011
- Office fédéral de la protection de la population (PBC), « Révision Inventaire PBC 2021 : liste cantonale Canton du VS » (état au 1.1.2026)
- Bellwald Tourismus, « Churches & chapels »
- Bellwald Tourismus, « Hängebrücke Goms Bridge »
- Hängebrücken Aletsch-Goms, « Goms Bridge »
- Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
- geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Fürgangen)
- Commune de Bellwald, « Geschichte » (version anglaise de la page histoire)
- Bellwald Tourismus, « The hamlets »
Other villages near Fürgangen
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