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Villages / Valais / Westlich Raron district / Weissenried

Weissenried

Canton of Valais · District: Westlich Raron · No recent published figure for the locality (44 inhabitants in 1888). The municipality of Blatten has 291 inhabitants (31.12.2025, provisional FSO figure)
Part of the municipality of Blatten
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Weissenried

The nearby meadows bear the dialect form « Wiissried » on the map. The meaning of the name has not been explained.[8]

Founding of Weissenried

Weissenried is a hamlet in the municipality of Blatten, at 1'706 metres, on a sunny terrace between two avalanche tracks. It was first a politically independent community of mountain farmers, before joining the burgher community of Blatten.[1][2]

History of Weissenried

15th-18th century. The houses are built, as the dates they bear show. Barns and stables follow from the 18th to the early 20th century.[1]

mid-18th century. Weissenried joins the burgher community of Blatten together with the lower hamlet of Ried.[1]

1787. The chapel is built. Its entrance front bears the date under the ridge.[1][6]

1884. The Siegfried map already shows the buildings the hamlet has kept.[1]

1950s. The old church path from Blatten becomes a road for vehicles.[1]

1996. Only three or four houses are still lived in all year. Many are renovated or turned into holiday homes, and many barns are falling into disrepair.[1]

2025. On 28 May the debris of the Blatten landslide stops a few metres short of the hamlet. The dust cloud and the pressure wave cover every facade with dirt, and some are damaged.[4][5][6]

2025. In June the mayor announces the first works to open up Weissenried and Eisten for building. Part of the people of Blatten might settle there.[5]

2025. On 11 October more than 70 volunteers gathered by the Blatten Foundation clean chalets, barns, the chapel and the fountain with brushes and spatulas, avoiding pressure washers because of the historic buildings.[6]

Population of Weissenried

Sources and references: [3][7]

Population of Weissenried
188844 (9 houses, 11 households)

Historic sites in Weissenried

Chapel. Plastered gabled building with a small bell turret and an octagonal spire. An elongated square lies in front of the entrance.[1]

The hamlet. About a dozen houses typical of the region and more than forty barns and stables form an ensemble listed in the federal inventory of heritage sites of national importance.[1][6]

Sources

  1. Inventaire fédéral des sites construits à protéger en Suisse (ISOS), « Weissenried » (3e version, septembre 1996)
  2. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (version allemande originale), « Blatten (VS) » (Werner Bellwald, version du 02.06.2004)
  3. F. G. Stebler, « Am Lötschberg. Land und Volk von Lötschen », Monographien aus den Schweizeralpen, Zurich, Albert Müller, 1907 (RERO DOC)
  4. SRF, « Die Naturkatastrophe in Blatten: eine Chronologie » (4.6.2025)
  5. SWI swissinfo.ch, « Blatten: Wie weiter nach dem Gletscherabbruch? » (17.6.2025)
  6. SRF, « Bergsturz in Blatten: Freiwillige reinigen benachbartes Weissenried » (11.10.2025)
  7. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, chiffres provisoires au 31.12.2025, via citypopulation.de
  8. geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Weissenried)

Other villages near Weissenried

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