Gsteig bei Gstaad

Gsteig bei Gstaad is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Gsteig was formerly known by the French name of Châtelet.

History

Gsteig is first mentioned in 1312 as Chastelet. In 1453 it was mentioned as Steig.

Geography

Gsteig bei Gstaad has an area, , of . Of this area, or 37.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 36.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 1.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 24.0% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.6%. 28.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.7% is pastures and 28.4% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 9.2% is unproductive vegetation, 14.6% is too rocky for vegetation.

The municipality lies in an upper valley of the river Saane in the Bernese Oberland and consists of the villages of Gsteig and Feutersoey, plus a number of outlying farms. The route to the Col du Pillon, an alpine pass, runs through both villages.

The reservoir Arnensee is located in the municipality.

Demographics

Gsteig has a population (as of ) of . , 10.3% of...
Read More