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Gantertal

Site Canton of Valais · District: Brig · Uninhabited site (municipality of Ried-Brig)
Part of the municipality of Ried-Brig
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Gantertal

The valley takes its name from the Ganter, the stream that runs through it. The origin of this name has not been established.[3]

Founding of Gantertal

The Gantertal is a side valley on the northern side of the Simplon, shared between the municipalities of Ried-Brig, Termen, Brig-Glis, Grengiols and Mörel-Filet. The pass road, opened in 1805, crosses it: it runs up the inner valley almost without gradient, then crosses the stream on the Ganter Bridge. The first bridge, with a wooden arch, was replaced by the national road structure, completed in 1980 in the territory of Ried-Brig.[1][2][4][5]

History of Gantertal

1805. On 9 October the Simplon road opens, crossing the Gantertal. The first Ganter bridge has a wooden arch. A short tunnel of about 10 metres just downstream is removed after a few years.[1]

1811. A view by Lory shows the Ganter bridge shortly after the road opened.[1]

1851. Date «1851 A.B» carved in the dry-stone walls of the road, on the north side of the valley.[1]

1862. Date «I B 1862» carved in the dry-stone walls, on the south side.[1]

after 1960. The national road (N9) largely takes over the route of the Napoleonic road.[1][2]

1976-1980. Construction of the new Ganter Bridge, from late summer 1976 to December 1980, with eight months of work a year because of the climate. It opens in 1980.[2][3]

Historic sites in Gantertal

Ganter Bridge (Ganterbrücke). Simplon road bridge designed by Christian Menn, 678 metres long and laid out in an S-curve over the valley, at about 1'450 metres. It is listed as a cultural property of regional importance.[3][4]

Walls of the Napoleonic road. In the Gantertal the dry-stone walls of the old road bear the dates 1851 and 1862.[1]

Sources

  1. Office fédéral des routes (OFROU), IVS (Inventaire des voies de communication historiques de la Suisse), « VS 1.4 Napoleonstrasse »
  2. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, « Simplonpass » (Renato Arnold, version du 19.12.2012)
  3. Brig Simplon Tourismus (brig-simplon.ch), « Ganter Bridge »
  4. Office fédéral de la protection de la population (OFPP), Inventaire PBC, liste cantonale du Valais (objets A et B, état au 1.1.2026)
  5. geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées)

Other villages near Gantertal

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