Schweizer Seilbahninventar

Schweizer Seilbahninventar

Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune
Coverage
Temporal	December 2010
Spatial	Switzerland
Included installations	aerial cableways, funiculars, ski lifts; notably aerial tramways, gondola lifts, chair lifts, material ropeways
Excluded installations	mobile lifts; parts of residential, military or industrial buildings; elevators; no longer existing
Methodology
Inventory categories	national importance, regional importance; recent noteworthy
Basis	Federal Act on the nature and cultural heritage
Cableway types	Swiss federal and cantonal legislation
Evaluation criteria	concept, technology, architecture, authenticity, history, location, local infrastructure
General methodology	ad hoc[i 1]
Inventory data
Data	identifiers, general description, location, summary evaluation, detailed evaluation, technical data, years of components, images
Evaluation
Mandated by	Federal Office of Culture
Evaluators	Peter Bannwart, Thomas Batschelet, Erwin Bloch, Stefan Kraus, Brigitte Müller, Rudolf Saum, Karin Zaugg
Advisory commission	FOT, EKD/CFMH, SBS, IKSS/CITT, GHK/SHAS
On-site visits	2009
Selectivity	129 of 2934 (175 evaluated in detail)
Publication
Publication date	July 2011 (13 years ago) (2011-07)
Languages	German; partially: French, Italian
Publisher	Federal Office of Culture
Forms	website,[i 2] booklet[i 3]
Website	seilbahninventar.ch
lists of aerial tramways, funiculars

Schweizer Seilbahninventar (also French: Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles, Italian: Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune, literally Swiss Inventory of Cableways) was published in 2011 by the Federal Office of Culture.^[1][2][3] Of about 3000 cableways in Switzerland, the heritage inventory assesses 67 as of national importance and 44 as of regional importance in terms of the Swiss Federal Act on the nature and cultural heritage.^[4][5] It also includes 18 noteworthy more recent systems. Installations are included for their cultural or technological significance.^{[i 1]} The inventory covers aerial cableways (aerial tramways, gondola lifts, chair lifts, material ropeways), funiculars and ski lifts. Classifications applied are those of Swiss authorities. It does not cover inclined elevators, mobile lifts and installations part of residential, military or industrial building complexes.^{[i 1]}

Project

Mandated by the Federal Office of Culture, the inventory was prepared by Karin Zaugg, Michael Gerber, Peter Bannwart, Thomas Batschelet, Erwin Bloch, Stefan Kraus, Brigitte Müller and Rudolf Saum.^{[i 4]}

They were advised by a commission from the following agencies and organisations:^{[i 4]}

• Federal Office of Transport BAV/OFT: Urs Wohlwend
• Federal Commission for Monument Preservation [de] EKD/CFMH: Bernhard Furrer
• Verband Seilbahnen Schweiz/Remontées Mécaniques Suisses SBS: Anna Amacher Hoppler and Fulvio Sartori
• Interkantonales Konkordat für Seilbahnen und Skilifte/Concordat intercantonal sur les téléphériques et les téléskis IKSS/CITT: Reto Canale
• Society for Art History in Switzerland GSK/SHAS: Nina Mekacher

At the Federal Office of Culture, Oliver Martin was in charge of the project and Reto Müller of the publication^{[i 4]}

The project started in January 2008 and most onsite inspections took place in 2009. The inventory was completed in 2010 and aimed to reflect the state at end of 2010.^{[i 1]}

From the initial list of 2934 installations, 175 were evaluated in detail and 129 included in the published list.^{[i 1]}

All installations existed in 2010, but may not have been operational in years ^{[note 1]} or have been dismantled since.^{[note 2]}

Entries

Each entry includes:^{[i 1][i 2]}

• two identifiers:
  • an alphanumeric or numeric identifier. ^{[note 3]}
  • a 5-digit identifier. ^{[note 4]}
• location
• the initials of the evaluators for the entry: on-site visit and inventorisation
• general description of the cableway
• summary evaluation
• detailed evaluation: concept, technology, architecture, authenticity, history, location, local infrastructure
• appendices:
  • technical data
  • years of components
  • other inventories/heritage registries
  • images

Each section of a cableway is generally included separately.

Cableways by type and importance^[i 2]

Type	National	Regional	Recent	Total
Aerial cableways	43	22	13	78
Funiculars	12	13	3	28
Skilifts	12	9	2	23
Total	67	44	18	129

Cableways by canton and importance^[i 2]

Canton	National	Regional	Recent	Total
Bern	18	8	2	28
Valais	10	5	5	20
Ticino	6	5	1	12
Graubünden	8	2	1	11
Nidwalden	7	2	1	10
Glarus	4	3	2	9
Schwyz	3	4	1	8
Vaud	3	2	-	5
St. Gallen	1	3	1	5
Uri	-	5	-	5
other [note 5]	7	5	4	16
Total	67	44	18	129

Funiculars

Of the 129 cableways, 28 are funiculars.

Funiculars of national importance

Twelve funiculars are considered of national importance, these are:^{[i 2]}

Operating in 2022:

• Giessbachbahn
• Handegg – Gelmersee
• Interlaken – Heimwehfluh
• Reichenbachfallbahn
• Neuveville – St-Pierre (Fribourg)
• Kehrsiten – Bürgenstock
• Stans – Kälti
• Locarno – Madonna del Sasso
• Les Avants – Sonloup

Others:

• Lugano Angioli, closed 4 October 1986 (38 years ago) (1986-10-04)
• Harissenbucht (Stansstad) – Fürigen, closed 31 October 2005 (19 years ago) (2005-10-31)
• Le Châtelard VS – Les Montuires, closed in 2022

Funiculars of regional importance

13 of regional importance consists of:^{[i 2]}

• Kriens – Sonnenberg
• Lugano Paradiso – M. San Salvatore
• Treib – Seelisberg
• Niesenbahn (2 sections)
• Monté Bré (2 sections)

The sections are included separately.

Also the following not built for commercial transport of persons:

• Handegg – Handeggfluh
• Piotta – Ritom
• Urweid – Chapf
• Lochezen
• Schiebuwaldji
• Bootstransportbahn Rupperswil-Auenstein

Recent funiculars

3 recent funiculars were included:^{[i 2]}

• Université de Neuchâtel - Gare CFF, Fun'Ambule
• Sierre - Montana-Crans
• Airside-Center - Dock-E (Skymetro)

Editions

The inventory is published online.^{[i 2]} The public version only lists the installations of importance (129). A summary booklet was published in print and as pdf.^{[i 3]} The German original was partially translated into French and Italian^{[i 2]} and prefaced by Jean-Frédéric Jauslin of the Federal Office of Culture.^{[i 3]}

The online version includes a history of cableways in Switzerland by Karin Zaugg, Seilbahnen in der Schweiz. Hintergrund.^{[i 8]}

The website was conceived to be editable.^[7] As of April 2023, year on "impressum" is 2011.^{[i 4]}

Use

The inventory is meant to guide the federal and cantonal agencies (notably Federal Office of Transport and the IKSS/CITT office) when delivering concessions for the infrastructure.^[4][5]

A review published in 2018 found that a large part of the installations had ceased operation or continued operation was endangered.^[6] A detailed overview for aerial cableways was included.^[6]

Aerial cableways in 2018^[6]

Operational status	National	Regional	Recent	Total
red (dismantled or ceased operation)	9	7		16
orange (operation unclear or endangered)	8	3		11
green (operational)	26	12	13	51
Total	43	22	13	78

The canton of Nidwalden took it in account when elaborating its 2019 strategy on cableways.^[8][9]

Further reading

• Zaugg Zogg, Karin (2013), "Das Schweizer Seilbahninventar: Erfassung und Bewertung von Seilbahnanlagen", Kulturgut in Bewegung. Über Ortsgebundenheit und Ortswechsel = Patrimoine culturel en mouvement: immobile, mobile ou déplacé, Schriftenreihe zur Kulturgüter-Erhaltung (in German and French), vol. 2, Basel: Schwabe, pp. 132–139, ISBN 978-3-7965-3196-5
• Martin, Oliver; Guetg, Marco (2012), ""Ein Inventar ist nie abgeschlossen", Im Gespräch mit Olivier Martin = "Un inventaire n'est jamais achevé", Entretien avec Olivier Martin", Heimatschutz = Patrimoine (in German and French), 107 (3 (Unsere Inventare = Nos inventaires)): 13–15
• Hurschler, Thomas (2011), "Das neue Schweizer Seilbahninventar und die Tücken seiner Umsetzung in der praktischen Denkmalpflege", Heimat Heute (in German): 25–29
• Artho, Karin (2018), "Keine Kehrtwende in Sicht, Historische Luftseilbahnen verschwinden = Pas de changement en vue, Disparition de nos installations historiques", Heimatschutz = Patrimoine (in German and French), 113 (1 (Kulturerbe in Gefahr = Patrimoine culturel en danger)): 20–24

Notes

1. exemples: see funiculars
2. notably Oberdorf–Weissenstein chairlift [de; pl; c; d]^[6] in 2013
3. Examples: 61.019 for Giessbachbahn,^{[i 5]} BE-IK-3 Urweid – Chapf,^{[i 6]} X007 Standseilbahn Lochezen.^{[i 7]}
4. Example: 40366 for Giessbachbahn ^{[i 5]}
5. The 8 cantons with 3, 2 or 1 installations: Fribourg, Lucerne, Obwalden, Zürich, Solothurn, Aargau, Neuchâtel, Appenzell Innerrhoden. There are none in another 8 cantons.

Locations in work, editions

1. Erläuterungen (in German), Explications (in French), Informazioni (in Italian)
2. Zaugg, Karin; Bannwart, Peter; Batschelet, Thomas; Bloch, Erwin; Kraus, Stefan; Müller, Brigitte; Saum, Rudolf (2011), Schweizer Seilbahninventar = Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles = Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune [Swiss Inventory of Cableways] (in German, French, and Italian), translated by Cuenat, Gilles; Pfaehler, Muriel; Bonny, Michel; Schiavon, Alessia; Nolli, Monica; Pesciallo, Renzo, Bern: Federal Office of Culture
3. Zaugg, Karin; Bannwart, Peter; Batschelet, Thomas; Bloch, Erwin; Kraus, Stefan; Müller, Brigitte; Saum, Rudolf (2011), Schweizer Seilbahninventar = Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles = Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune [Swiss Inventory of Cableways] (in German, French, and Italian), Bern: Federal Office of Culture, DNB-IDN 1046204033, archived from the original (pdf) on 29 December 2015
4. Impressum (in German), Impressum (in French), Colophon (in Italian)
5. Bannwart, Peter; Batschelet, Thomas (2011), "61.019 Giessbachbahn, Giessbach, Standseilbahn", Schweizer Seilbahninventar = Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles = Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune [Swiss Inventory of Cableways] (in German), Federal Office of Culture
6. Bannwart, Peter; Bloch, Erwin (2011), "BE-IK-3 Urweid - Chapf, Innertkirchen, Standseilbahn", Schweizer Seilbahninventar = Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles = Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune [Swiss Inventory of Cableways] (in German), Federal Office of Culture
7. Bannwart, Peter; Bloch, Erwin (2011), "X007 Lochezen, Walenstadt, Standseilbahn", Schweizer Seilbahninventar = Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles = Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune [Swiss Inventory of Cableways] (in German), Federal Office of Culture
8. Zaugg, Karin (2011), "Seilbahngeschichte: Seilbahnen in der Schweiz, Hintergrund", Schweizer Seilbahninventar (in German), Bern: Federal Office of Culture

References

1. "Inventar historischer Seilbahnen", NZZ (in German), 16 July 2011
2. Brookes, Robert (23 July 2011), Cableway inventory breaks new ground, Swissinfo.ch
3. ap/sbo (15 July 2011), Un inventaire suisse des transports à câbles (in French), RTS
4. Muster, Fabian (29 August 2011), "Die Schweiz ist ein Land der Seilbahnen", Aargauer Zeitung (in German)
5. Schweizer Seilbahninventar (in German), Federal Office of Culture, archived from the original on 2013-10-01
6. Artho, Karin (2018), "Keine Kehrtwende in Sicht, Historische Luftseilbahnen verschwinden = Pas de changement en vue, Disparition de nos installations historiques", Heimatschutz = Patrimoine (in German and French), 113 (1 (Kulturerbe in Gefahr = Patrimoine culturel en danger)): 20–24
7. Zaugg Zogg, Karin (2013), "Das Schweizer Seilbahninventar: Erfassung und Bewertung von Seilbahnanlagen", Kulturgut in Bewegung. Über Ortsgebundenheit und Ortswechsel = Patrimoine culturel en mouvement: immobile, mobile ou déplacé, Schriftenreihe zur Kulturgüter-Erhaltung (in German), vol. 2, Basel: Schwabe, pp. 132–139, ISBN 978-3-7965-3196-5
8. Lymann, Roland (19 February 2019), Seilbahnförderstrategie Kanton Nidwalden (PDF) (in German)
9. Arbeitsgruppe Seilbahnförderstrategie Phase 2 (15 October 2019), Bericht Arbeitsgruppe Seilbahnförderstrategie Phase 2 (PDF) (in German), Stans, 2019.NWVD.7