Gamsen
Origin of the name Gamsen
Gamsen appears in 1233 as «Gamosun», then as «gamsun» in 1301 and «gamsul» in 1354. The name is said to be linked to the Latin «campus» (field) or to «Gams», a sheep pasture. Latin texts call the wall «murus de Gambson», and a deed of 1389 speaks of the «barreria de Gamson».[3][4][5]
Founding of Gamsen
Gamsen is part of the municipality of Brig-Glis, at the start of the Simplon route, near Brig. Villages followed one another here from the Bronze Age to the 3rd century AD, making it the reference site for native settlement in the western Alps. The inhabitants formed a farming and herding society: they grew millet, barley and pulses, gathered fruit and berries, and kept mainly goats and sheep. In the Middle Ages, Glis, Holz and Gamsen formed a third of the «Gumper» (compra) of Brig, in the Brig Zenden.[1][2][3]
History of Gamsen
around 1400-1100 BC. In the Bronze Age the sequence of Gamsen villages begins, lasting until the 3rd century AD.[1]
600-450 BC. The Early Iron Age is one of the two best documented periods of the site. Several hundred buildings of wood, daub and dry stone stand on terraces linked by earth paths.[1]
1st-3rd centuries. Under Roman rule the inhabitants go on living in similar huts and doing the same work, unlike in Lower Valais.[1]
4th-11th centuries. The site is reoccupied from time to time, as burials and plaster kilns show.[1]
14th century. At the start of the century a wall bars the Rhône valley at Gamsen, probably against Savoyard raids (around 1352-1355 according to the most common hypothesis).[2][3]
1389. Oldest known mention of the wall, in a deed by the imperial notary Johannes in Vico drawn up after a settlement between two parties divided by a murder. Until then two Brig sale deeds of 7 November 1392 were thought to be the oldest record.[3][4]
1546-1548. The chronicle of Johannes Stumpf calls the structure «Letzi» or «Landmauer».[3]
1642. Gamsen belongs to the new parish of Glis, separated from Naters.[2]
around 1731. A Valais chronicle notes that the wall is no longer maintained and is left to fall into ruin little by little.[3]
1894. The explosives factory Société suisse des explosifs is founded at Gamsen. It employs about 70 people in 1972, as in the early 2010s.[2]
1950. Gamsen asks to become an independent municipality, but the Grand Council refuses.[5]
1958. The archaeologist Louis Blondel dates the wall to the Middle Ages, after the 13th century.[3]
1972. Gamsen joins, with the former municipality of Glis and Holz, the new municipality of Brig-Glis.[2]
1988-1999. Excavation of the prehistoric and Roman site (from 1992 along the motorway route according to another source).[1][2][5]
1995. The Landmauer Foundation is created, growing out of Pro Historia Glis.[3]
1998. On 28 February a first section of the wall is restored.[3]
1999. On 31 May the wall is recognised as a monument of national importance.[3]
Historic sites in Gamsen
Landmauer (Gamsen wall). Medieval valley barrier west of Gamsen, on the Gamsa, nearly 2 km long at its height and up to 6 metres high. It is partly preserved, restored since 1998 and listed as a cultural property of national importance («Gamsenmauer, mittelalterliche Talsperre»).[2][3][6]
Remains in Gamsen
Prehistoric and Roman villages. The excavations uncovered several hundred buildings (houses, barns, granaries, stables, workshops, stores), bronze ornaments, pottery, stone objects and goods imported from the south over the Alpine passes. Other finds show contacts with the Swiss Plateau over the passes of the Bernese Alps.[1]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Gamsen » (version du 29.10.2014)
- Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, « Glis » (Bernard Truffer, version du 17.07.2013)
- Hans Steffen, « Die Mauer von Gamsen » (2010), Fondation Landmauer Gamsen
- Mauro Pfammatter, « Früheste Erwähnung der Landmauer in Gamsen entdeckt », Walliser Bote (12.04.2023), Fondation Landmauer Gamsen
- Pro Historia Glis, « Gamsen » (Dorfschaften)
- Office fédéral de la protection de la population (OFPP), Inventaire PBC, liste cantonale du Valais (objets A et B, état au 1.1.2026)
- 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 Gamsen
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