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Villages / Valais / Visp district / Lalden
Coat of arms of Lalden

Lalden

Canton of Valais · District: Visp · 773 inhabitants (31.12.2025, provisional FSO figure)
View of Lalden
Photo: Daniel Reust, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · Coat of arms: Public domain
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Lalden

Early forms « Laudona » (1218) and « Lalden » (1540). The etymology remains unexplained. In Upper Valais dialect the name is reportedly « Lalu » (not confirmed).

Founding of Lalden

Lalden developed on the right bank of the Rhône opposite Visp, to which a wooden bridge already linked it in the Middle Ages. The old village grew up around the Owlig house, and an irrigation system is mentioned there as early as the beginning of the 14th century. Long tied to Visp, whose quarter and parish it belonged to, Lalden organised itself as a municipality headed by two syndics (« Gewalthaber ») with its own statutes. The arrival of the Lonza and Teranol plants later turned it into an industrial site, while modern development occupies the plain and farming is almost limited to sheep rearing as a sideline.

History of Lalden

Middle Ages. A wooden bridge links Lalden to Visp.

1218. Recorded as « Laudona ».

1312. An irrigation system is already mentioned.

1520. The Owlig house is built. The old village grew up around it.

1540. Recorded as « Lalden »; municipal statutes.

1625 and 1629. The forests are divided between Lalden, Visp and Eyholz.

1662. A municipal hall is mentioned.

1666. The chapel of St Joseph is built.

1734. The municipal statutes are renewed.

1744. The municipal hall is rebuilt.

1798. End of Lalden's membership of the quarter of Visp, in the dizain of the same name.

1924. The bridge to Visp is rebuilt in iron.

1962-1966. The Lonza and Teranol petrochemical plants are built. Lalden becomes an industrial site.

1965. Lalden, until then attached to the parish of Visp, becomes a parish.

1974-1976. The church is built.

1976. The bridge to Visp is rebuilt in concrete.

2000. The secondary sector provides more than four jobs in five.

Population of Lalden

Sources and references: [2]

Population of Lalden
180290 inhabitants
1850139 inhabitants
1900188 inhabitants
1950443 inhabitants
2000651 inhabitants
2025773 inhabitants

Historic sites in Lalden

Owlig house. House of 1520, around which the old village grew up.

Chapel of St Joseph. Chapel built in 1666.

Parish church. Built in 1974-1976, after Lalden became a parish in 1965.

Municipal hall. Mentioned in 1662 and rebuilt in 1744.

Bridge to Visp. A wooden bridge in the Middle Ages, rebuilt in iron in 1924 and in concrete in 1976.

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Lalden » (Philipp Kalbermatter, trad. Pierre-G. Martin, version du 03.05.2007)
  2. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
  3. geo.admin.ch, recherche de lieux (coordonnées)

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