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136-522: Domat/Ems is first mentioned in 765 as colonia de Amede . Ems is the German name for the municipality, Domat is the Romansh name and since 1943 the official name has been the combination of both. Domat/Ems has an area, as of 2006, of 24.2 km (9.3 sq mi). Of this area, 27.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 53.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 12.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and

272-473: A Fachhochschule ). Domat/Ems has an unemployment rate of 1.55%. As of 2005, there were 108 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 1,782 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 55 businesses in this sector. 895 people are employed in the tertiary sector , with 150 businesses in this sector. From the 2000 census, 4,061 or 63.7% are Roman Catholic , while 1,285 or 20.2% belonged to

408-461: A Fachhochschule ). The town is home to the Cantonal School of Graubünden . As of  2014 , there were a total of 32,448 people employed in the municipality. Of these, 108 people worked in 26 businesses in the primary economic sector . A majority (68.5%) of the primary sector employees worked in very small businesses (less than ten employees). The remainder worked in 2 small businesses with

544-591: A "Protestant language". With the Act of Mediation , the Grisons became a canton of Switzerland in 1803. The constitution of the canton dates from 1892. When the Grisons became part of Switzerland in 1803, it had a population of roughly 73,000, of whom around 36,600 were Romansh speakers—many of them monolingual—living mostly within the Romansh-speaking valleys. The language border with German, which had mostly been stable since

680-565: A "regularly spoken" language. In 2010, Switzerland switched to a yearly system of assessment that uses a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys. In 2019, there were 40,074 Swiss residents who primarily spoke Romansh; in 2017, 28,698 inhabitants of the canton of the Grisons (14.7% of the population) used it as their main language. Romansh is divided into five different regional dialect groups ( Sursilvan , Vallader , Putèr , Surmiran , and Sutsilvan ), each with its own standardized written language. In addition,

816-481: A "test-tube baby" or "castrated language". They argued that it was an artificial and infertile creation which lacked a heart and soul, in contrast to the traditional dialects. On the other side, proponents called on the Romansh people to nurture the "new-born" to allow it to grow, with Romansh writer Ursicin Derungs calling Rumantsch Grischun a " lungatg virginal " "virgin language" that now had to be seduced and turned into

952-609: A 7th-8th Century church, on the east side of the Tuma Casti tower. The Fravi apartment building was built between 2005 and 2016 according to plans by Raphael Zuber and civil engineer Patrick Gartmann . Contributors were Takaaki Murakami and David Gianinazzi. Photographed by Javier Miguel Verme. It was shown at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2016. The municipality has four railway stations: Domat/Ems , Ems Werk , Reichenau-Tamins , and Felsberg . The last two are located at

1088-597: A blossoming woman. The opposition to Rumantsch Grischun also became clear in the Swiss census of 1990, in which certain municipalities refused to distribute questionnaires in Rumantsch Grischun, requesting the German version instead. Following a survey on the opinion of the Romansh population on the issue, the government of the Grisons decided in 1996 that Rumantsch Grischun would be used when addressing all Romansh speakers, but

1224-407: A canton in 1803, Chur was chosen as its capital. Chur's cemetery is in the centre of town, and in the middle of the cemetery is a 13-tonne (13,000 kg) stone monument that dwarfs the nearby gravestones . The huge monolithic block of granite was erected in 1938 and for decades was largely ignored by passers-by until in 2023 a controversy arose after a Swiss historian discovered that it

1360-514: A civil partnership, 1,948 widows and widowers, 3,423 divorced residents and 2 people who did not answer the question. In 2014 there were 16,970 private households in Chur with an average household size of 2.00 persons. Of the 3,792 inhabited buildings in the municipality in 2000, about 37.8% were single-family homes and 39.7% were multiple-family buildings. About 20.5% of the buildings dated from before 1919 and 8.8% were built between 1991 and 2000. In 2013

1496-546: A collection of church songs in the Vallader dialect. These early works are generally well written and show that the authors had a large amount of Romansh vocabulary at their disposal, contrary to what one might expect of the first pieces of writing in a language. Because of this, the linguist Ricarda Liver assumes that these written works built on an earlier, pre-literature tradition of using Romansh in administrative and legal situations, of which no evidence survives. In their prefaces,

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1632-470: A continuous speech area, this continuum has now been ruptured by the spread of German, so that Romansh is now geographically divided into at least two non-adjacent parts. Aside from these five major dialects, two additional varieties are often distinguished. One is the dialect of the Val Müstair , which is closely related to Vallader but often separately referred to as Jauer (Romansh: jauer ; derived from

1768-600: A definite guideline, the Normas ortograficas per igl rumantsch da Surmeir , was not published until 1939. In the meantime, the norms of Pallioppi had come under criticism in the Engadine due to the strong influence of Italian in them. This led to an orthographic reform which was concluded by 1928, when the Pitschna introducziun a la nouva ortografia ladina ufficiala by Cristoffel Bardola was published. A separate written variety for Sutsilvan

1904-539: A department. In the mandate period 2021–2024 ( Legislatur ) the City Council is presided by Stadtpräsident Urs Marti . Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the Municipal Council (parliament) are carried by the City Council. The regular election of the City Council by any inhabitant valid to vote is held every four years. Any resident of Chur allowed to vote can be elected as

2040-595: A few villages around Thusis and the village of Samnaun . In the case of Samnaun, the inhabitants adopted the Bavarian dialect of neighboring Tyrol, making Samnaun the only municipality of Switzerland where a Bavarian dialect is spoken. The Vinschgau in South Tyrol was still Romansh-speaking in the 17th century, after which it became entirely German-speaking because of the Counter-Reformation denunciation of Romansh as

2176-470: A language as equally acceptable as possible to speakers of the different dialects, by choosing those forms which were found in a majority of the three strongest varieties: Sursilvan, Vallader, and Surmiran (Puter has more speakers than Surmiran but is spoken by a lower percentage of the population in its area). The elaboration of the new standard was endorsed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out by

2312-433: A language of instruction. Opponents argued that Romansh culture and identity was transmitted through the regional varieties and not through Rumantsch Grischun and that Rumantsch Grischun would serve to weaken rather than strengthen Romansh, possibly leading to a switch to German-language schools and a swift Germanization of Romansh areas. The cantonal government refused to debate the issue again however, instead deciding on

2448-467: A member of the City Council. The current mandate period is from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2024. The delegates are elected by means of a system of Proporz . The mayor is elected as such by public election by means of a system of Majorz , while the heads of the other departments are assigned by the collegiate. As of 2020 , Chur's City Council is made up of one representative of the FDP ( FDP.The Liberals , who

2584-561: A pan-regional variety called Rumantsch Grischun was introduced in 1982, which is controversial among Romansh speakers. Romansh is a Romance language descending from Vulgar Latin , the spoken language of the Roman Empire . Among the Romance languages, Romansh stands out because of its peripheral location. This has resulted in several archaic features. Another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long language contact with German , which

2720-401: A plan to Germanize the Romansh areas of Grisons, many German-speaking groups wished that the entire canton would become German-speaking. They were careful however, to avoid any drastic measures to that extent, in order not to antagonize the influential Romansh minority. The decline of Romansh over the 20th century can be seen through the results of the Swiss censuses. The decline in percentages

2856-671: A separate " Rhaeto-Romance " subgroup within Gallo-Romance is an unresolved issue, known as the Questione Ladina . Some linguists posit that these languages are descended from a common language, which was fractured geographically through the spread of German and Italian. The Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli first made the claim in 1873. The other position holds that any similarities between these three languages can be explained through their relative geographic isolation, which shielded them from certain linguistic changes. By contrast,

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2992-595: A small number of pre-Latin words have survived in Romansh, mainly concerning animals, plants, and geological features unique to the Alps , such as camutsch " chamois " and grava " scree ". It is unknown how rapidly the Celtic and Raetic inhabitants were Romanized following the conquest of Raetia. Some linguists assume that the area was rapidly Romanized following the Roman conquest, whereas others think that this process did not end until

3128-479: A small number of words from these languages. Romansh has also been strongly influenced by German in vocabulary and morphosyntax . The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced in other areas by Alemannic and Bavarian dialects. The earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from the 10th or 11th century, although major works did not appear until the 16th century, when several regional written varieties began to develop. During

3264-428: A team of young Romansh linguists under the guidance of Georges Darms and Anna-Alice Dazzi-Gross. The Lia Rumantscha then began introducing Rumantsch Grischun to the public, announcing that it would be chiefly introduced into domains where only German was being used, such as official forms and documents, billboards, and commercials. In 1984, the assembly of delegates of the head organization Lia Rumantscha decided to use

3400-467: A three-step plan in December 2004 to introduce Rumantsch Grischun as the language of schooling, allowing the municipalities to choose when they would make the switch. The decision not to publish any new teaching materials in the regional varieties was not overturned at this point, however, raising the question of what would happen in those municipalities that refused to introduce Rumantsch Grischun at all, since

3536-623: A total of 34 employees. The secondary sector employed 3,645 workers in 345 separate businesses. A minority (21.2%) of the secondary sector employees worked in very small businesses. There were 75 small businesses with a total of 1,731 employees and 12 mid sized businesses with a total of 1,141 employees. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 28,695 jobs in 3,375 businesses. In 2014 a total of 16,854 employees worked in 3,306 small companies (less than 50 employees). There were 65 mid-sized businesses with 9,093 employees and 4 large businesses which employed 2,748 people (for an average size of 687). In 2014

3672-503: A total of 7.7% of the population received social assistance. In 2015 local hotels had a total of 152,629 overnight stays, of which 47.8% were international visitors. There were two cinemas in the municipality in 2015, with a total of 4 screens and 736 seats. In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the Swiss Criminal Code (running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Chur

3808-630: A transition zone between them. The Engadinese varieties Putèr and Vallader are often referred to as one specific variety known as Ladin (Ladin, Sursilvan, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun : ladin ; Sutsilvan: ladegn ), which is not to be confused with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains also known as Ladin . Sutsilvan and Surmiran are sometimes grouped together as Central Romansh (rm. Grischun central ), and then grouped together with Sursilvan as "Rhenish Romansh" (in German, "Rheinischromanisch"). One feature that separates

3944-684: A tribunal of its own but never had the title of Free Imperial City . In 1497–98, concerned about Habsburg expansion and with the Bishop of Chur quarrelling with Austria, the Three Leagues formed an alliance with the Swiss Confederation. In 1499 the Swabian War broke out between the Three Leagues and Austria and quickly expanded to include the Confederation. During the war troops from Chur fought under

4080-463: Is mür or mir in Romansh. The main features distinguishing Romansh from the Gallo-Italic languages to the south, and placing it closer to Ladin , Friulian and Franco-Provencal , are: Another defining feature of the Romansh language is the use of unstressed vowels. All unstressed vowels except /a/ disappeared. Whether or not Romansh, Friulan , and Ladin should compose

4216-533: Is a Gallo-Romance and/or Rhaeto-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grisons (Graubünden). Romansh has been recognized as a national language of Switzerland since 1938, and as an official language in correspondence with Romansh-speaking citizens since 1996, along with German , French , and Italian . It also has official status in the canton of the Grisons alongside German and Italian and

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4352-647: Is a marker erected at the intersection of the Three Leagues ( League of God's House , the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League ) which would found the modern canton of Graubünden . The stone is at an altitude of 2,160 m (7,090 ft) on the border between the municipalities of Domat/Ems, Scheid village (now part of Tomils municipality) and Malix . The original stone dates from 1722, and today

4488-575: Is also the mayor), one of the SP ( Social Democratic Party ), and one new member of The Centre (former CVP/PDC and BDP/PBD) , giving the right parties a new majority of two out of three seats. The last regular election was held on 27 September 2020. The Gemeinderat of Chur for the mandate period of 2021–2024 The Municipal Council ( Gemeinderat ) holds legislative power . It is made up of only 21 members, with elections held every four years. The Municipal Council decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by

4624-842: Is in the Rätian Museum in Chur . In 1742, Nicolin Sererhard mentions three stones. The Sektion Rhätia (Rhätian Section) of the Swiss Alpine club built this 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) tall stone marker in 1915. In 1970 a chair lift was added to mountain, making it easier to reach the marker. The Baselgia S. Gion Baptista/Church of St. John the Baptist and the Chaplutta S. Peder/Church of St. Peter are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance . The parish church of S. Gion Baptista/St. John

4760-401: Is it, when one can learn the languages of both without effort? In response however, the editor of the newspaper added that: According to the testimony of experienced and vigilant language teachers, while the one who is born Romansh can easily learn to understand these languages and make himself understood in them, he has great difficulties in learning them properly, since precisely because of

4896-503: Is linked by a motorway—the A13 . Chur is home to many buildings or other sites that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance . There are two archeological sites in Chur, the old city which is a medieval city and Welschdörfli a prehistoric settlement and Roman Vicus . There are four archives or libraries; the bishop's palace (library and archive), the Cantonal Library,

5032-512: Is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh. Romansh belongs to the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, which includes languages such as French , Occitan , and Lombard . The main feature placing Romansh within the Gallo-Romance languages is the fronting of Latin / u / to [ y ] or [ i ] , as seen in Latin muru(m) "wall", which

5168-476: Is only partially due to the Germanization of Romansh areas, since the Romansh-speaking valleys always had a lower overall population growth than other parts of the canton. Starting in the mid-19th century however, a revival movement began, often called the "Rhaeto-Romansh renaissance". This movement involved an increased cultural activity, as well as the foundation of several organizations dedicated to protecting

5304-541: Is the meeting-point of the routes from Italy over many alpine passes ( Lukmanier Pass , Splugen Pass , and San Bernardino Pass ), as well as from the Engadine ( Albula Pass , Julier Pass ), so that it is the centre of an active trade (particularly in wine from the Valtelline ), though it also has a few local factories. The city's main railway station is where the Swiss Federal Railways system link with that of

5440-578: Is used as the medium of instruction in schools in Romansh-speaking areas. It is sometimes grouped by linguists with Ladin and Friulian as the Rhaeto-Romance languages , though this is disputed. Romansh is one of the descendant languages of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire , which by the 5th century AD replaced the Celtic and Raetic languages previously spoken in the area. Romansh retains

5576-556: The Swiss Reformed Church . Of the rest of the population, there are 167 individuals (or about 2.62% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 54 individuals (or about 0.85% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 305 (or about 4.79% of the population) who are Islamic . There are 78 individuals (or about 1.22% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on

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5712-619: The 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 33.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (28.7%), the SPS (22.7%) and the FDP (12.4%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Domat/Ems about 68.9% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or

5848-823: The Alte Kaserne at Zeughaus 3 (the Old Armory), the Confederation Paper Mill, the Main Post Office, the new Town Hall, headquarters of the Rhätische Bahn and several old patrician houses. With the 2021 merger of Haldenstein into Chur, the Ruins of Haldenstein fortress and Haldenstein Castle became part of Chur. The first church on the cathedral site was built in the first half of the 5th century. The Romanesque crypt

5984-462: The Bronze and Iron Ages have also been found in the eastern sector of the centre of the current city. These include Bronze Age Urnfield and Laugen-Melaun settlements from 1300 to 800 BC and Iron Age settlements from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. The Roman Empire conquered the area that then came to be known as the Roman province of Raetia in 15 BC . Under emperor Diocletian (late 3rd century AD),

6120-574: The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland , there are 589 individuals (or about 1.79% of the population) who belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church , and there are 532 individuals (or about 1.61% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 13 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who are Jewish , and 917 (or about 2.78% of the population) who are Muslim . There are 424 individuals (or about 1.29% of

6256-790: The Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) lost all their 3 seats due to Dissolution and merged with former CVP. In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP/UDC with 26.43% of the vote followed almost equally by the SP/PS (25.96%), then the CVP/PDC (13.74%), the FDP/PLR (12.06%), the BDP/PBD (11.97), and the GLP/PVL (9.71). In the federal election, a total of 11,102 votes were cast, and

6392-687: The Empire alone. After the invasion of the Ostrogoths it may have been renamed Theodoricopolis ; in the 6th century it was conquered by the Franks . The city suffered several invasions, by the Magyars in 925–926, when the cathedral was destroyed, and by the Saracens (940 and 954), but afterwards it flourished thanks to its location where the roads from several major Alpine transit routes come together and continue down

6528-647: The Rathaus (Town Hall). The last regular election of the Municipal Council was held on 27 September 2020 for the mandate period ( German : Legislatur ) from January 2021 to December 2024. Currently the Municipal Council consist of 6 (-, no change) members of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS) , 4 (-) Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) , 4 (+1) The Liberals (FDP/PLR) , 3 (+1) The Centre (former CVP/PDC and BDP/PBD) , 3 (+2) Green Liberal Party (GLP/PVL) , 2 (-) Freie Liste & Grüne (Free List & Greens), while

6664-630: The Rhaetian Railway (RhB). While the SBB lines serve most of Switzerland, most of Graubünden's internal rail traffic is served by RhB lines. One of the RhB lines (to Arosa) uses on-street running through streets in the centre of Chur and Sand in order to reach the station—see Chur Stadtbahn . There are three other railway stations in Chur: There is also a postbus station situated above the railway station. Chur

6800-514: The Romonsch fusionau of Gion Antoni Bühler in 1867 and the Interrumantsch by Leza Uffer in 1958. Neither was able to gain much support, and their creators were largely the only ones actively using them. In the meantime, the Romansh movement sought to promote the different regional varieties while promoting a gradual convergence of the five varieties, called the " avischinaziun ". In 1982, however,

6936-439: The Swiss canton of the Grisons and lies in the Grisonian Rhine Valley , where the Rhine turns towards the north, in the northern part of the canton. The city, on the right bank of the Rhine, is reputedly the oldest town in Switzerland. The official language of Chur is German , but the main spoken language is the local variant of Alemannic , known as Grisonian German . Romansh and Italian are significantly spoken in

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7072-407: The voter turnout was 45.4%. Chur is twinned with: Chur has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 36,336. In 2008 17.8% of the population were foreign nationals and by 2014 that number was 19.2%. Over the last 4 years (2010–2014) the population has changed at a rate of 2.34%. The birth rate in the municipality in 2014 was 9.2 and the death rate was 10.0 per thousand residents. Most of

7208-456: The 12th century; and by the 15th century, the Rhine Valley of St. Gallen and the areas around the Walensee were entirely German-speaking. This language shift was a long, drawn-out process, with larger, central towns adopting German first, while the more peripheral areas around them remained Romansh-speaking longer. The shift to German was caused in particular by the influence of the local German-speaking élites and by German-speaking immigrants from

7344-415: The 13th century the town had some 1,300 inhabitants and was surrounded by a line of walls. In the 14th century at least six fires damaged or destroyed the monasteries of St Luzi and St Nicolai and St Martin's church and twice destroyed much of the town. The Gotteshausbund (League of the House of God) was formed in 1367 in Chur to resist the rising power of the Bishopric of Chur and the House of Habsburg. Chur

7480-442: The 14th century. In rare cases, these Walser settlements were eventually assimilated by their Romansh-speaking neighbors; for instance, Oberhalbstein , Medel , and Tujetsch in the Surselva region. The Germanization of Chur had particularly long-term consequences. Even though the city had long before ceased to be a cultural center of Romansh, the spoken language of the capital of the Diocese of Chur continued to be Romansh until

7616-399: The 15th century. After a fire in 1465 which virtually destroyed the city, many German-speaking artisans who had been called in to help repair the damage settled there, causing German to become the majority language. In a chronicle written in 1571–72, Durich Chiampell mentions that Romansh was still spoken in Chur roughly a hundred years before, but had since then rapidly given way to German and

7752-413: The 16th century, now began moving again as more and more villages shifted to German. One cause was the admission of Grisons as a Swiss canton, which brought Romansh-speakers into more frequent contact with German-speakers. Another factor was the increased power of the central government of the Grisons, which had always used German as its administrative language. In addition, many Romansh-speakers migrated to

7888-441: The 1830s and 1840s. Initially, these were merely translations of the German editions, but by the end of the 19th century teaching materials were introduced which took the local Romansh culture into consideration. Additionally, Romansh was introduced as a subject in teacher's college in 1860 and was recognized as an official language by the canton in 1880. Around the same time, grammar and spelling guidelines began to be developed for

8024-411: The 1940s with the aim of reintroducing Romansh to children. Although the Scoletas had some success – of the ten villages where Scoletas were established, the children began speaking Romansh amongst themselves in four, with the children in four others acquiring at least some knowledge of Romansh – the program ultimately failed to preserve the language in the valley. A key factor was the disinterest of

8160-408: The 19th century the area where the language was spoken declined due to the industrialization of Switzerland, but the Romansh speakers had a literary revival and started a language movement dedicated to halting the decline of their language . In the 2000 Swiss census, 35,095 people (of whom 27,038 live in the canton of the Grisons ) indicated Romansh as the language of "best command", and 61,815 as

8296-432: The 4th or 5th century, when more thoroughly Romanized Celts from farther north fled south to avoid invasions by Germanic tribes . The process was certainly complete and the pre-Roman languages extinct by the 5th–6th century, when Raetia became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom . Around 537 AD, the Ostrogoths handed over the province of Raetia Prima to the Frankish Empire , which continued to have local rulers administering

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8432-402: The Baptist was built on the Tuma Turera tower. This large guard tower was integrated into the church from the initial construction. In the early 16th Century it was rebuilt in a late gothic style and the extensive wood carvings of the polyptych altars were added at that time. The Chaplutta S. Pieder/St. Peter was built around 800 in a Carolingian style. It was built on the foundation of

8568-414: The Bishop's Vogt Heinrich Ammann in the Lower Engadin , in Prättigau and near Balzers . Troops from Chur also took part in the 1512 invasion of the Valtellina and the Second Musso War in 1530–31. In 1523 Johannes (Dorfmann) Comander was appointed parish priest of St Martin's Church and began preaching the new faith of the Protestant Reformation . It spread rapidly and by 1525 the bishop had fled

8704-480: The Cantonal Archive of Graubünden and the city archive of Chur. There are also four museums on the list; the Bündner Kunstmuseum (Art Museum), Bündner Naturmuseum (Natural History Museum), the Dommuseum and the Rätisches Museum in the Haus Buol. Three churches are included in the list; The cathedral of the Assumption , the Catholic Church of St. Luzi and the Reformed church of St. Martin. There are 15 other buildings that are also heritage sites; these include

8840-457: The Central Romansh varieties do not share many unique features, but rather connect Sursilvan and Ladin through a succession of numerous small differences from one village to the next. The dialects of Romansh are not always mutually comprehensible. Speakers of Sursilvan and Ladin, in particular, are usually unable to understand each other initially. Because speakers usually identify themselves primarily with their regional dialect, many do not take

8976-436: The City Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of Proporz . The sessions of the Municipal Council are public. Unlike members of the City Council, members of the Municipal Council are not politicians by profession, and they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Chur allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the Municipal Council. The parliament holds its meetings in

9112-615: The Gallo-Italic varieties of Northern Italy were more open to linguistic influences from the South . Linguists who take this position often point out that the similarities between the languages are comparatively few. This position was first introduced by the Italian dialectologist Carlo Battisti . This linguistic dispute became politically relevant for the Italian irredentist movement . Italian nationalists interpreted Battisti's hypothesis as implying that Romansh, Friulan, and Ladin were not separate Romance languages but rather Italian dialects . They used this hypothesis as an argument to claim

9248-501: The German-speaking north, especially as the ruling élite now comprised almost entirely speakers of German. At the time, Romansh was spoken over a much wider area, stretching north into the present-day cantons of Glarus and St. Gallen , to the Walensee in the northwest, and Rüthi and the Alpine Rhine Valley in the northeast. In the east, parts of modern-day Vorarlberg were Romansh-speaking, as were parts of Tyrol . The northern areas, called Lower Raetia, became German-speaking by

9384-585: The Grisons then took steps to strengthen the role of Rumantsch Grischun as an official language. Since the cantonal constitution explicitly named Sursilvan and Engadinese as the languages of ballots, a referendum was launched to amend the relevant article. In the referendum, which took place on June 10, 2001, 65% voted in favor of naming Rumantsch Grischun the only official Romansh variety of the Canton. Opponents of Rumantsch Grischun such as Renata Coray and Matthias Grünert argue, however, that if only those municipalities with at least 30% Romansh speakers were considered,

9520-416: The Protestants with its cultural center around Ilanz , and a Catholic variety with the Disentis Abbey as its center. The Engadine dialect was also written in two varieties: Putèr in the Upper Valley and Vallader in the Lower Valley. The Sutsilvan areas either used the Protestant variety of Sursilvan, or simply used German as their main written language. The Surmiran region began developing its own variety in

9656-451: The Rhenish varieties as in détg "said" or fatg "did", while developing into /t/ in Ladin ( dit and fat ). A feature separating Sursilvan from Central Romansh, however, involves the extent of palatalization of Latin /k/ in front of /a/, which is rare in Sursilvan but common in the other varieties: Sursilvan casa , Sutsilvan tgea , Surmiran tgesa , Putèr chesa , and Vallader chasa "house". Overall however,

9792-503: The Rhenish varieties from Ladin is the retention of the rounded front vowels / y / and / ø / (written ü and ö ) in Ladin, which have been unrounded in the other dialects, as in Ladin mür , Sursilvan mir , Surmiran meir "wall" or Ladin chaschöl to Rhenish caschiel "cheese". Another is the development of Latin -CT-, which has developed into /tɕ/ in

9928-638: The Rhine. The routes had already been used under the Romans but acquired greater importance under the Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire . Emperor Otto I granted the town the right to collect tolls in 952 and appointed his vassal Hartpert as bishop of Chur in 958, giving the bishopric further privileges. In 1170 the bishop became a prince-bishop and kept total control over the road between Chur and Chiavenna . In

10064-564: The Romansh language. In 1863, the first of several attempts was made to found an association for all Romansh regions, which eventually led to the foundation of the Società Retorumantscha in 1885. In 1919, the Lia Rumantscha was founded to serve as an umbrella organization for the various regional language societies. Additionally, the role of Romansh in schooling was strengthened, with the first Romansh school books being published in

10200-466: The adult population, 4,770 people or 14.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 5,517 or 16.7% are 30 to 39, 4,616 or 14.0% are 40 to 49 and 4,254 or 12.9% are 50 to 59. 3,090 people or 9.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 2,314 or 7.0% are 70 to 79, there are 1,307 or 4.0% who are 80 to 89, 233 or 0.7% who are 90 to 99 and 5 who are 100 or more. In 2015 there were 15,557 single residents, 13,722 people who were married or in

10336-465: The agricultural land has decreased by 87 ha (210 acres). Chur is situated at a height of 1,949 ft (594 m) above sea level , on the right bank of the torrent Plessur just as it issues from the valley Schanfigg and about a mile above its junction with the Rhine, almost entirely surrounded by the Alps , overshadowed by the Mittenberg (northeast) and Pizoggel (southwest), hills that guard

10472-538: The agricultural sector, which had been a traditional domain of Romansh, became less important. All this meant that knowledge of German became more and more of a necessity for Romansh speakers and that German became more and more a part of daily life. For the most part, German was seen not as a threat but rather as an important asset for communicating outside one's home region. The common people frequently demanded better access to learning German. When public schools began to appear, many municipalities decided to adopt German as

10608-481: The authors themselves often mention the novelty of writing Romansh, and discuss an apparently common prejudice that Romansh was a language that could not be written. The first writing in the Sursilvan and Sutsilvan dialects appears in the 17th century. As in the Engadine, these early works usually focused on religious themes, in particular the struggles between Protestants and Counter-Reformers. Daniel Bonifaci produced

10744-477: The bishop’s power waning as he came increasingly under the influence of the nearby Habsburg County of Tyrol , the citizens sent a delegation to Emperor Frederick III . The Emperor reconfirmed the historic rights of Chur and also granted them extensive new rights which freed the city from the bishop's power. In 1465 the citizens wrote a constitution that granted all governmental power to Chur's guilds. All government positions were restricted to guild members, allowing

10880-637: The borders of Reichenau and Felsberg respectively, serving these municipalities. All four are located on the Landquart–Thusis line ; Reichenau-Tamins is the junction of that line with the Reichenau-Tamins–Disentis/Mustér line . Between them there is regular service to Disentis/Mustér , Scuol-Tarasp , Chur , and St. Moritz . Romansh language Romansh ( / r oʊ ˈ m æ n ʃ , r oʊ ˈ m ɑː n ʃ / roh- MA(H)NSH ; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch )

11016-437: The census), 222 (or about 3.48% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 200 individuals (or about 3.14% of the population) did not answer the question. The historical population is given in the following table: Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (73.3%), with Romansh being second most common (11.0%) and Italian being third ( 7.4%). The Dreibündenstein ( Romanish : Term bel )

11152-539: The city and Protestant services were taking place in the churches of St Martin and St Regula. The Ilanz articles of 1524 and 1526 allowed each resident of the Three Leagues to choose their religion and sharply reduced the political and secular power of the Bishop of Chur and all monasteries in League territory. By 1527 all of Chur except the bishop's estates had adopted the Reformation. On 1 January 1529 Abbot Theodore Schlegel

11288-557: The city as a result of the trilingual identity of the canton. On 1 January 2020 the former municipality of Maladers merged into Chur and on 1 January 2021 Haldenstein also merged. Archaeological evidence of settlement at the site, in the Eastern Alps , goes back as far as the Pfyn culture (3900-3500 BC), making Chur one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland. Remains and objects from

11424-517: The city. Two years later, on 21 October 1576, another 53 houses were burned. Two years after the 1576 fire, the perpetrator, Hauptmann Stör, was executed. After the Napoleonic Wars the Three Leagues became the canton of Graubünden in 1803. The guild constitution of the city of Chur lasted until 1839 and in 1874 the Burgergemeinde was replaced by an Einwohnergemeinde . When Graubünden became

11560-406: The day, whilst winter means are around freezing, with daytime temperatures being about 5 °C (41 °F). Between 1981 and 2010 Chur had an average of 104.6 days of rain per year and on average received 849 mm (33.4 in) of precipitation . The wettest month was August, with an average of 112 mm (4.4 in) of precipitation over an average of 11.2 days. The driest month of the year

11696-444: The dialect shares many features with the neighboring Putèr dialect of Romansh. As these varieties form a continuum with small transitions from each village to the next, there is no straightforward internal grouping of the Romansh dialects. The Romansh language area can be described best as consisting of two widely divergent varieties, Sursilvan in the west and the dialects of the Engadine in the east, with Sutsilvan and Surmiran forming

11832-451: The early 18th century, with a catechism being published in 1703, though either the Catholic variety of Sursilvan or Putèr was more commonly used there until the 20th century. In the 16th century, the language border between Romansh and German largely stabilized, and it remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century. During this period, only isolated areas became German-speaking, mainly

11968-404: The effort to attempt to understand unfamiliar dialects, and prefer to speak Swiss German with speakers of other varieties. A common Romansh identity is not widespread outside intellectual circles, even though this has been changing among the younger generation. Romansh originates from the spoken Latin brought to the region by Roman soldiers, merchants, and officials following the conquest of

12104-465: The elite had been German-speaking for centuries, so that German was associated with power and education, even though most people did not speak it, whereas Romansh was associated with peasant life. In the Engadine and the Surselva by contrast, the elite was itself Romansh-speaking, so that Romansh there was "not only the language spoken to children and cows, but also that of the village notable, the priest, and

12240-662: The entrance to the deep-cut valley Schanfigg. The altitude in the city area varies from 600 meters (2,000 ft) above sea level to 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) above sea level and the Churer Hausberg Brambrüesch (accessible from the Old Town ) is 2,174 meters (7,133 ft) above sea level . The water of Chur's spring is exported and sold as Passugger mineral water. Chur has an oceanic climate in spite of its inland position. Summers are warm and sometimes hot, normally averaging around 25 °C (77 °F) during

12376-507: The exception of Präz , where the Scoleta remained open until 1979. In other areas, such as the Engadine and the Surselva, where the pressure of German was equally strong, Romansh was maintained much better and remained a commonly spoken language. According to the linguist Mathias Kundert, one important factor was the different social prestige of Romansh. In the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys,

12512-560: The existing settlement of Curia Raetorum (later Chur) was made the capital of the newly established province of Raetia prima . In the 4th century Chur became the seat of the first Christian bishopric north of the Alps. Despite a legend assigning its foundation to an alleged British king, St Lucius, the first known bishop is one Asinio in AD 451. The bishop soon acquired great temporal powers, especially after 831 when his dominions were made dependent on

12648-502: The first surviving work in this category, the catechism Curt mussameint dels principals punctgs della Christianevla Religiun , published in 1601 in the Sutsilvan dialect. A second edition, published in 1615, is closer to Sursilvan, however, and writings in Sutsilvan do not appear again until the 20th century. In 1611, Igl Vêr Sulaz da pievel giuvan ("The true joys of young people"), a series of religious instructions for Protestant youths,

12784-456: The guilds to regulate all aspects of life in Chur. Since guild membership had become the only route to political power, local patricians and nobles quickly became guild members, often joining the winemakers guild. The Chur-led League of the House of God allied with the Grey League and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions in 1471 to form the Three Leagues . In 1489 Chur obtained the right to have

12920-446: The language much more than Italian has. Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects , which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, each of which has developed a standardized form. These regional standards are referred to as idioms in Romansh to distinguish them from the local vernaculars, which are referred to as dialects . These dialects form a dialect continuum without clear-cut divisions. Historically

13056-476: The language of schooling is decided by the municipalities themselves in the Grisons. The teachers of the Engadine in particular were outraged over the decision, but those in the Surmeir were mostly satisfied. Few opinions were heard from the Surselva, which was interpreted either as support or resignation, depending on the viewpoint of the observer. Chur Chur is the capital and largest town of

13192-469: The language was maintained to a much greater extent. In the Central Grisons, by contrast, German had been a central part of schooling since the beginning, and virtually all schools switched entirely to German as the language of instruction by 1900, with children in many schools being punished for speaking Romansh well into the 1930s. Early attempts to create a unified written language for Romansh include

13328-486: The larger cities, which were German-speaking, while speakers of German settled in Romansh villages. Moreover, economic changes meant that the Romansh-speaking villages, which had mostly been self-sufficient, engaged in more frequent commerce with German-speaking regions. Also, improvements in the infrastructure made travel and contact with other regions much easier than it had been. Finally, the rise of tourism made knowledge of German an economic necessity in many areas, while

13464-567: The logical result of which would be to abolish the regional varieties as languages of instruction. The cantonal parliament passed the measure in August 2003, even advancing the deadline to 2005. The decision was met by strong opposition, in particular in the Engadine, where teachers collected over 4,300 signatures opposing the measure, followed by a second petition signed by around 180 Romansh writers and cultural figures, including many who were supportive of Rumantsch Grischun but opposed its introduction as

13600-451: The medium of instruction, as in the case of Ilanz, where German became the language of schooling in 1833, when the town was still largely Romansh-speaking. Some people even welcomed the disappearance of Romansh, in particular among progressives. In their eyes, Romansh was an obstacle to the economic and intellectual development of the Romansh people. For instance, the priest Heinrich Bansi from Ardez wrote in 1797: "The biggest obstacle to

13736-456: The modern-day Grisons area by the Romans in 15 BCE. Before that, the inhabitants spoke Celtic and Raetic languages, with Raetic apparently being spoken mainly in the Lower Engadine valley . Traces of these languages survive mainly in toponyms , including village names such as Tschlin , Scuol , Savognin , Glion , Breil/Brigels , Brienz/Brinzauls , Purtenza , and Trun . Additionally,

13872-401: The moral and economical improvement of these regions is the language of the people, Ladin [...] The German language could certainly be introduced with ease into the Engadine, as soon as one could convince the people of the immense advantages of it". Others however, saw Romansh as an economic asset, since it gave the Romansh an advantage when learning other Romance languages. In 1807, for example,

14008-423: The new standard language when addressing all Romansh-speaking areas of the Grisons. From the very start, Rumansh Grischun has been implemented only on the basis of a decision of the particular institutions. In 1986, the federal administration began to use Rumantsch Grischun for single texts. The same year, however, several influential figures began to criticize the introduction of Rumantsch Grischun. Donat Cadruvi, at

14144-587: The north, with the lower and rural classes retaining Romansh longer. In addition, beginning around 1270, the German-speaking Walser began settling in sparsely populated or uninhabited areas within the Romansh-speaking heartland. The Walser sometimes expanded into Romansh-speaking areas from their original settlements, which then often became German-speaking, such as Davos , Schanfigg , the Prättigau , Schams , and Valendas , which became German-speaking by

14280-460: The parents, whose main motivation for sending their children to the Scoletas appears to have been that they were looked after for a few hours and given a meal every day, rather than an interest in preserving Romansh. The other factor was that after entering primary school, the children received a few hours a week of Romansh instruction at best. As a result, the last Scoletas were closed in the 1960s with

14416-587: The personal pronoun jau "I", i.e. "the jau -sayers"). Less commonly distinguished is the dialect of Tujetsch and the Val Medel , which is markedly different from Sursilvan and is referred to as Tuatschin . Additionally, the standardized variety Rumantsch Grischun , intended for pan-regional use, was introduced in 1982. The dialect of the Val Bregaglia is usually considered a variety of Lombard , and speakers use Italian as their written language, even though

14552-408: The population (as of 2000 ) speak German (81.0%), with Italian being second most common (6.4%) and Romansh being third (5.3%). As of 2000 the gender distribution of the population was 47.9% male and 52.1% female. The age distribution as of 2000 in Chur is; 3,087 children or 9.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 1,602 or 4.9% are 10 to 14 and 2,194 teenagers or 6.7% are 15 to 19. Of

14688-400: The population are between 20 and 29 years old. 977 people or 15.3% are 30 to 39, 1,005 people or 15.8% are 40 to 49, and 888 people or 13.9% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 599 people or 9.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 376 people or 5.9% are 70 to 79, there are 180 people or 2.8% who are 80 to 89, and there are 27 people or 0.4% who are 90 to 99. In

14824-431: The population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 1,998 (or about 6.06% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 1,589 individuals (or about 4.82% of the population) did not answer the question. In Chur about 70.3% of the population (between age 25 and 64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or

14960-417: The priest Mattli Conrad wrote an article listing the advantages and disadvantages of Romansh: The Romansh language is an immense advantage in learning so much more rapidly the languages derived from Latin of France, Italy, Spain etc, as can be seen with the Romansh youth, which travels to these countries and learns their language with ease. [...] We live in between an Italian and a German people. How practical

15096-417: The proponents of Rumantsch Grischun to Nazi thugs raiding a Romansh village and desecrating, destroying, and burning the Romansh cultural heritage. The proponents responded by labeling the opponents as a small group of archconservative and narrow-minded Sursilvans and CVP politicians among other things. The debate was characterized by a heavy use of metaphors, with opponents describing Rumantsch Grischun as

15232-489: The rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 7.71. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2015 , was 0.6%. The historical population is given in the following chart: From the 2000 census , 14,713 or 44.6% are Roman Catholic , while 12,199 or 37.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 15 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belong to

15368-572: The referendum would have been rejected by 51%, with an even larger margin if only those with at least 50% Romansh speakers were considered. They thus interpret the results as the Romansh minority having been overruled by the German-speaking majority of the canton. A major change in policy came in 2003, when the cantonal government proposed a number of spending cuts, including a proposal according to which new Romansh teaching materials would not be published except in Rumantsch Grischun from 2006 onwards,

15504-511: The regional varieties could continue to be used when addressing a single region or municipality. In schools, Rumantsch Grischun was not to replace the regional dialects but only be taught passively. The compromise was largely accepted by both sides. A further recommendation in 1999, known as the "Haltinger concept", also proposed that the regional varieties should remain the basis of the Romansh schools, with Rumantsch Grischun being introduced in middle school and secondary school. The government of

15640-564: The regional written dialects. One of the earliest was the Ortografia et ortoëpia del idiom romauntsch d'Engiadin'ota by Zaccaria Pallioppi , published in 1857. For Sursilvan, a first attempt to standardize the written language was the Ortografia gienerala, speculativa ramontscha by Baseli Carigiet, published in 1858, followed by a Sursilvan-German dictionary in 1882, and the Normas ortografias by Giachen Caspar Muoth in 1888. Neither of these guidelines managed to gather much support however. At

15776-615: The remainder (6.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Rhäzüns sub-district, of the Imboden district, after 2017 it was part of the Imboden Region. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine river. Until 1943 Domat/Ems was known as Ems. Domat/Ems has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 8,161. As of 2008, 18.5% of the population

15912-503: The same time, the Canton published school books in its own variety. Sursilvan was then definitely standardized through the works of Gion Cahannes , who published Grammatica Romontscha per Surselva e Sutselva in 1924, followed by Entruidament devart nossa ortografia in 1927. The Surmiran dialect had its own norms established in 1903, when the Canton agreed to finance the school book Codesch da lectura per las scolas primaras de Surmeir , though

16048-408: The similarity, he mixes them so easily with his own bastardized language. [...] in any case, the conveniences named should hold no weight against all the disadvantages that come from such an isolated and uneducated language. According to Mathias Kundert, this quote is a good example of the attitude of many German-speakers towards Romansh at the time. According to Mathias Kundert, while there was never

16184-505: The so-called Duchy of Chur . However, after the death of the last Victorid ruler, Bishop Tello , around 765 AD, Charlemagne assigned a Germanic duke to administer the region. Additionally, the Diocese of Chur was transferred by the (pre- Schism ) Roman Catholic Church from the Archdiocese of Milan to the Diocese of Mainz in 843 AD. The combined effect was a cultural reorientation towards

16320-460: The teacher." Additionally, Romansh schools had been common for several years before German had become a necessity, so that Romansh was firmly established as a medium of education. Likewise, in the Upper Engadine, where factors such as increased mobility and immigration by German speakers were even stronger, Romansh was more firmly established as a language of education and administration, so that

16456-472: The territories for Italy where these languages were spoken. From a sociolinguistic perspective, however, this question is largely irrelevant. The speakers of Romansh have always identified as speaking a language distinct from both Italian and other Romance varieties. Furthermore, unlike Friulian, Ladin, or Lombard , Romansh is located north of the German-Italian linguistic border, and German has influenced

16592-467: The then secretary of the Lia Rumantscha, a sociolinguist named Bernard Cathomas  [ de ] , launched a project for designing a pan-regional variety. The linguist Heinrich Schmid presented to the Lia Rumantscha the same year the rules and directives for this standard language under the name Rumantsch Grischun (Rumantsch Grischun: rumantsch grischun ). Schmid's approach consisted of creating

16728-499: The time the president of the cantonal government, claimed that the Lia Rumantscha was trying to force the issue. Romansh writer Theo Candinas also called for a public debate on the issue, calling Rumantsch Grischun a "plague" and "death blow" to Romansh and its introduction a "Romansh Kristallnacht", thus launching a highly emotional and bitter debate which would continue for several years. The following year, Candinas published another article titled Rubadurs Garmadis in which he compared

16864-556: The titles survive for many of them. Another early writer, Giachem Bifrun , who also wrote in Putèr, penned the first printed book in Romansh, a catechism published in 1552. In 1560 he published a translation of the New Testament : L'g Nuof Sainc Testamaint da nos Signer Jesu Christ . Two years later, in 1562, another writer from the Engadine, Durich Chiampel , published the Cudesch da Psalms ,

17000-473: The turn of the century, the inner Heinzenberg and Cazis became German-speaking, followed by Rothenbrunnen , Rodels , Almens , and Pratval , splitting the Romansh area into two geographically non-connected parts. In the 1920s and 1930s the rest of the villages in the valley became mainly German-speaking, sealing the split. In order to halt the decline of Romansh, the Lia Rumantscha began establishing Romansh day care schools, called Scoletas , beginning in

17136-561: The various Romansh-speaking regions would still have developed their own separate written standards. Instead, several regional written varieties of Romansh began appearing during the 16th century. Gian Travers wrote the first surviving work in Romansh, the Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs , in the Putèr dialect. This epic poem, written in 1527, describes the first Musso war , in which Travers himself had taken part. Travers also translated numerous biblical plays into Romansh, though only

17272-428: Was 68.6 per thousand residents, only slightly higher than the national average of 64.6 per thousand. During the same period the rate of drug crimes was 15.7 per thousand residents, which is about one and a half times the national rate. The rate of violations of immigration, visa and work-permit laws was 2.4 per thousand residents, or about half the national rate. Chur is 120 kilometres (75 miles) by rail from Zürich, and

17408-502: Was February with an average of 47 mm (1.9 in) of precipitation over 6.6 days. Blazon: Argent, a city gate gules with three merlons , within which a capricorn rampant sable, langued and viriled of the second. The City Council ( Stadtrat ) constitutes the executive government of the City of Chur and operates as a collegiate authority . It is composed of only three councilors ( German : Stadtrat/ Stadträtin ), each presiding over

17544-462: Was developed in 1944 by Giuseppe Gangale . Around 1880, the entire Romansh-speaking area still formed a continuous geographical unit. But by the end of the century, the so-called "Central-Grisons language bridge" began to disappear. From Thusis , which had become German-speaking in the 16th/17th century, the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys were gradually Germanized over the next decades. Around

17680-483: Was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.2%. As of 2000, the gender distribution of the population was 49.4% male and 50.6% female. The age distribution, as of 2000, in Domat/Ems is; 675 people or 10.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 394 people or 6.2% are 10 to 14, and 432 people or 6.8% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 819 people or 12.9% of

17816-525: Was now not much appreciated by the inhabitants of the city. Many linguists regard the loss of Chur to German as a crucial event. According to Sylvia Osswald, for example, it occurred precisely at a time when the introduction of the printing press could have led to the adoption of the Romansh dialect of the capital as a common written language for all Romansh speakers. Other linguists such as Jachen Curdin Arquint remain skeptical of this view, however, and assume that

17952-483: Was originally built as propaganda for the Nazi regime. Chur has an area (as of the 2004/09 survey) of 54.33 km (20.98 sq mi). About 17.6% is used for agricultural purposes and 52.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 26.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 3.9% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85–2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by 86 ha (210 acres) and

18088-523: Was probably built under Bishop Tello (758–73). It contains remarkable paintings by Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein . The current building was built between 1154 and 1270. In 1272 it was dedicated to Saint Mary of the Assumption. The round arch window along the center axis is the largest medieval window in Graubünden. The late- Gothic high altar was completed in 1492 by Jakob Russ. The Church of St. Luzi

18224-418: Was publicly beheaded. Bishop Thomas Planta, a friend of St Charles Borromeo, tried, but without success, to suppress Protestantism. He died, probably poisoned, on 5 May 1565. During the 16th century the German language started to prevail over Romansh . In 1479 about 300 houses and stalls burned in another fire. Nearly a century later, on 23 July 1574, a fire destroyed 174 houses and 114 stalls, or about half

18360-625: Was published by Steffan Gabriel . Four years later, in 1615, a Catholic catechism, Curt Mussament , was published in response, written by Gion Antoni Calvenzano . The first translation of the New Testament into Sursilvan was published in 1648 by the son of Steffan Gabriel, Luci Gabriel . The first complete translation of the Bible, the Bibla da Cuera , was published between 1717 and 1719. The Sursilvan dialect thus had two separate written varieties, one used by

18496-457: Was the chief town of the League and one of the places the League’s assemblies met regularly. A burgmeister (mayor) of Chur is first mentioned in 1413. The bishop's residence was attacked by the inhabitants in 1418 and 1422, when a series of concessions were wrung out of him. On 27 April 1464 most of the town was destroyed in a fire, which only the bishop's estates and St Luzi monastery survived. With

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