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Niederernen

Canton of Valais · District: Goms · No published figure for the locality; the municipality of Ernen has 539 inhabitants (31.12.2025, provisional FSO figure)
Part of the municipality of Ernen
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Niederernen

A deed of 1292 first mentions Niederernen. The name takes up that of the neighbouring village of Ernen, preceded by Nieder.[1][2]

Founding of Niederernen

Niederernen is a hamlet south-west of the village of Ernen, in the municipality of Ernen. Its houses are strung along the road that climbs from the Alten Bach. The route from Brig and the Albrun pass to the upper Goms valley crossed the Rhône at the bridge of Z'Brigg and ran through the hamlet's lands. Niederernen long remained an independent political municipality. Its heyday came around 1500.[1][2][5]

History of Niederernen

1292. First mention in a deed.[2]

around 1500. Heyday of the hamlet, at the time when Michael Tschampen and Martin Holzer hold the office of captain general (Landeshauptmann) of Valais.[2]

1533. Date on the house regarded as the oldest dated dwelling in Goms.[1][2]

1640. During a flood the great arch of the bridge of Z'Brigg collapses, according to a chronicle.[2]

1684. Construction of the chapel, whose high altar is the work of Johann Sigristen and Moritz Bodmer.[2]

1713. Only now is a boundary dispute with Ernen settled.[2]

1788. A fire destroys nine houses.[2]

1809. The chapel is dedicated to St Anthony of Padua.[2]

1860s. The Furka road is routed through Fiesch. This marks the beginning of the decline.[2]

1872. Insolvent, Niederernen is joined to the municipality of Ernen by a decision of the Council of State of 22 November.[1][2]

1880. Three more houses burn down.[2]

1954. Aluminium Industrie AG builds the Z'Brigg power station to supply Chippis.[2]

around 1960. The late medieval Supersaxo house at Z'Brigg is dismantled.[2]

Historic sites in Niederernen

Chapel of St Anthony. Built in 1684, with a dated soapstone portal and a carved door. The high altar shows Mary between Anthony and Sebastian. The ceiling bears a cycle of St Anthony painted in the last quarter of the 18th century by an unknown master. The chapel is listed as a cultural property of regional importance.[2][3]

House of 1533. House with a projecting upper storey and a funnel frieze. Its brackets bear coats of arms.[1][2]

Z'Brigg. Bridgehead at the Rhône crossing, to which it owes its name. It has the Wydenhaus, a log building from the second half of the 16th century, and an early 17th-century house with a former smithy.[2]

Sources

  1. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (version allemande du Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse), « Ernen » (Edwin Pfaffen, version du 04.01.2017)
  2. Landschaftspark Binntal, « Kulturwege Ernen und Niederernen » (textes de Klaus Anderegg, Roland Flückiger-Seiler, Adrian Kräuchi, Peter Clausen), 2020
  3. Office fédéral de la protection de la population (PBC), « Révision Inventaire PBC 2021 : liste cantonale Canton du VS » (état au 1.1.2026)
  4. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
  5. geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Niederernen)

Other villages near Niederernen

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