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Davos

Davos, town (1990 pop. 10,957), Grisons canton, E Switzerland, on the Landwasser River. A famous winter sports center, it originally became prominent in the 19th cent. as a health resort. Since 1971 (except for 2002-3), Davos has hosted the annual conference of what is now the World Economic Forum; the conference draws national leaders and business executives from around the world. There are several museums, including one devoted to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

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Davos

Commune (pop., 2000: 11,417), eastern Switzerland. It consists of two villages, Davos-Platz and Davos-Dorf, located in a valley of the Alps. First inhabited by Romansh-speaking people, it was settled in the 13th century by German speakers. It became the capital of the League of Ten Jurisdictions (or Courts) in 1436 and was ruled by Austria from 1477 to 1649. After the 1860s it became a fashionable health resort, and in the 20th century it developed into a centre for skiing and other winter sports. In the 1990s Davos became famous for hosting the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of international politicians and financiers who represented a transnational elite.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Davos

Davos (Romansh: Tavau, Italian: Tavate) is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.

It is located on the Landwasser River.

Davos is famous as the host to the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF), an annual meeting of global political and business elites, which is often referred to as simply Davos. It is also known as a winter sports area, including serving as the site of the annual Spengler Cup ice hockey tournament, which is hosted by the HC Davos local hockey team.

History

The current settlement of the Davos area started back in High Middle Ages with the immigration of Rhaeto-Romans. Then from about 1280 the barons of Vaz allowed (German speaking) Walser colonists to settle down and conceded them extensive self-administration rights Davos became the largest Walser settlement area in eastern Switzerland Natives therefore still speak. In the "natural ice" era of winter sports, Davos, and the Davos Eisstadion was a mecca for speed skating. Many international championships were held here, and many world records were set, beginning with Peder Østlund who set four records in 1898. A dialect that may seem a typical for Graubünden, rather showing similarities with (German) idioms of western parts of Switzerland is spoken, such as in Bernese Oberland and the Upper Valais 1436, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions was founded in Davos from the middle of the 18th century, Davos became a popular destination for the rich and ailing because the microclimate in the high valley was deemed excellent by doctors and recommended for lung disease patients. For example Robert Louis Stevenson (who suffered from tuberculosis wintered in Davos) in 1880 at the recommendation of his Edinburgh doctor, Dr. George Balfour. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899. Davos is also the setting of Thomas Mann's novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain), which takes place at a sanatorium.

Subsequently, Davos did became a famous ski resort, especially with tourists from the United Kingdom and Holland. After a high peak in the 1970s and 1980s, the two-part city finally re-established itself as a leading, and less high-profile, tourist attraction.

The six main ski areas are:

Pronunciation

English-speaking broadcast journalists covering the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, along with many speakers at the meeting itself, commonly mispronounce the town's name by emphasizing the first syllable and shortening the o to make the word rhyme with "moss", i.e., DAH-voss ([ˈdaː·vɔs]). The correct pronunciation is dah-VOHS ([daː·'vos]).