History
Savognin is first mentioned in 1154 as Sueningin.
An important Bronze Age settlement is located on the Padnal hill to the south of town. In multiple excavations, many discoveries have been made, mostly from the period between 1800 and 1000 B.C.
At least since the time of the Romans, important travel routes have passed through the Julier and Septimer passes. Savognin came into the possession of the Bishops of Chur in the 13th century. As part of the court of Oberhalbstein, for which Savognin acted as principal town and rural area, the town became a member of the League of God's House. After its sale in 1552, the valley attained full sovereignty as part of the Free State of the Three Leagues.
The cattle industry and traffic through the passes formed the economic framework of the community since the Middle Ages. Periods of increase, for example, after Mount Crap Ses was blown up in 1777, or when the Julier Road was improved between 1820 and 1840, were always followed by periods of decrease, most recently from too much competition after the opening of the Gotthardbahn in 1882. At this stage Savognin was thrown back to being a peasants' village, and missed the next connection to the development of tourism. Jenische families were granted citizenship in the middle of the 19th century, as part of the Law for the fight against Homelessness. The ascent to foreign vacation destination began only in the 1960s, with the construction of hotels, vacation apartments and aerial ropeways (Piz Martegnas); the village was changing.
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