FRDEITEN
Villages / Valais / Leuk district / Susten

Susten

Canton of Valais · District: Leuk · No published figure for the locality. The municipality of Leuk has 4'346 inhabitants (31.12.2025, provisional FSO figure)
Part of the municipality of Leuk
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Susten

The village takes its name from a sust, a goods warehouse near the bridge over the Rhône, here called the Rotten. The building is first recorded in 1309. In French the place is called La Souste.[1][3]

Founding of Susten

Susten lies on the valley floor, mainly on the left bank of the Rhône, below the small town of Leuk. A small bridgehead settlement on the right bank also belongs to it. Located on a transit route, the place played an important role in the Middle Ages, but no building of the sust survives. The village itself came into being later. In the 19th century the road through the Pfynwald and then the railway left Leuk away from the main routes, and development shifted to the valley floor, where Susten grew up. The village is part of the municipality of Leuk.[1][2][3]

History of Susten

1310. Leuk obtains a sust on the old trade route between northern Italy and the Champagne fairs, with regulations for carters (1309 according to another source).[1][2][3]

first half of the 19th century. Opening of the road through the Pfynwald.[3]

1877. The railway reaches the valley. The focus of development moves from Leuk to the valley floor, where the village of Susten arises.[3]

1915. Iron bridge of the Leuk-Leukerbad line over the Rhône.[2][3]

1922. The Swiss Federal Railways in turn build an iron bridge over the Rhône.[3]

1928. Limestone quarrying begins. It has since been abandoned.[1][2]

1930. A third iron bridge, this time for the road, spans the Rhône.[3]

1962. Susten becomes a daughter parish of Leuk.[2]

1967. The Leuk-Leukerbad line is replaced by buses.[2][3]

2005. The station district is completely transformed: new railway bridge over the Rhône, new tunnel towards Salgesch and a new station slightly further east.[1][2]

Historic sites in Susten

Mageran or de Werra castle. Former castle, also called Perrini-von Werra, east of the village. It was converted into the St. Josef home for the elderly and is listed in category B of the cultural property protection inventory.[2][4]

Rhône bridges. Three iron bridges cross the Rhône at Susten: those of the former Leukerbad line, of the Federal Railways and of the road.[3]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Loèche (commune) » (Alois Grichting, version du 04.01.2017)
  2. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (version allemande), « Leuk (Gemeinde) » (Alois Grichting, version du 04.01.2017)
  3. Inventaire fédéral des sites construits à protéger en Suisse (ISOS), « Leuk », n° 4994 (relevé 1997)
  4. Office fédéral de la protection de la population (PBC), « Révision Inventaire PBC 2021 : liste cantonale Canton du VS » (état au 1.1.2026)
  5. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
  6. geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Susten)

Other villages near Susten

Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.

Suggest a change