Graubünden

"Grisons" redirects here. For the animal, see Galictis.

Kanton Graubünden
Chantun Grischun
Cantone dei Grigioni

Canton of Switzerland

Coat of arms

Map of Switzerland, location of Graubünden highlighted

Location in Switzerland

Map of Graubünden

Coordinates: 46°45′N 9°30′E / 46.750°N 9.500°ECoordinates: 46°45′N 9°30′E / 46.750°N 9.500°E

Capital

Chur

Subdivisions

180 municipalities, 11 districts

Government

• Executive

Regierungsrat, Regenza, Governo (5)

• Legislative

Grosser Rat, Cussegl Grond, Gran Consiglio (120)

Area^[1]

• Total

7,105.44 km² (2,743.43 sq mi)

Population (12/2013)^[2]

• Total

194,959

• Density

27/km² (71/sq mi)

ISO 3166 code

CH-GR

Highest point

4,049 m (13,284 ft) - Piz Bernina

Lowest point

260 m (853 ft) - border to Ticino at San Vittore

Joined

1803

Languages

German, Romansh, Italian

Website

GR.ch

The Canton of Graubünden or Grisons (German: Graubünden, [ɡraʊˈbʏndən]; Italian: Grigioni [ɡriˈdʒoːni]; Romansh: Grischun [ɡʁiˈʒun]; see also other names) is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The name Graubünden translates as the "Grey Leagues," referring to the canton's origin in three local alliances, the League of God's House, the Grey League, and the League of Ten Jurisdictions. Graubünden is also home to three of Switzerland's ethnic groups and the subsequent languages of Swiss German, Italian and Romansh are all native to the state. It is the only officially trilingual canton and the only canton where the Romansh language has official status.

Geography

The Upper Engadin valley near St Moritz

Graubünden is by far Switzerland's largest canton at 7,105.2 square kilometres (2,743.3 sq mi).^[3] Only about a third of this is commonly regarded as productive land of which forests cover about a fifth of the total area.^[3] The canton is entirely mountainous, comprising the highlands of the Rhine and Inn river valleys. In its southeastern part lies the only official Swiss National Park. In its northern part the mountains were formed as part of the thrust fault that was declared a geologic UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, in 2008. Another Biosphere Reserve is the Biosfera Val Müstair adjacent to the Swiss National Park whereas Ela Nature Park is one of the regionally supported parks.

There are many significant elevations in the Grison Alps, including the Tödi at 3,614 metres (11,857 ft) and the highest peak Piz Bernina at 4,049 metres (13,284 ft). Many of the mountain ranges feature extensive glaciers, such as at the Adula, the Albula, the Silvretta, the Bernina, the Bregaglia and the Rätikon ranges. The mountain ranges in the central area are very deep, some of which are considered the deepest valleys in Europe. These valleys were originally settled by the Raetians (Rhaeti).

Chur, capital of Graubünden seen to the west and the Rhine valley towards its source.

Graubünden borders on the cantons of St. Gallen to the northwest, Glarus, Uri to the west, and Ticino to the southwest. It also shares international borders with Italy (South Tyrol and Lombardy), Austria (Tyrol and Vorarlberg) and Liechtenstein. The capital city is Chur. The world-famous resorts of St. Moritz and Davos-Klosters are located in the canton, completed by the larger all year round tourism destinations of Arosa, Flims, Lenzerheide, Scuol-Sammnaun and more.^[4]

The inhabitants of Grisons are called Bündner or (rarely) Grisonians.

History

Further information: Three Leagues and Bündner Wirren

Map of the Three Leagues and surrounding lands

Most of the lands of the canton were once part of a Roman province called Raetia which was established in 15 BC. The current capital of Graubünden, Chur, was known as Curia in Roman times. The area later was part of the lands of the diocese at Chur.

In 1367 the League of God's House (Cadi, Gottes Haus, Ca' di Dio) was founded to resist the rising power of the Bishop of Chur. This was followed by the establishment of the Grey League (Grauer Bund), sometimes called Oberbund, in 1395 in the Upper Rhine valley. The name Grey League is derived from the homespun grey clothes worn by the people and was used exclusively after 16 March 1424.^[5] The name of this league later gave its name to the canton of Graubünden. A third league was established in 1436 by the people of ten bailiwicks in the former Toggenburg countship, as the dynasty of Toggenburg had become extinct. The league was called League of the Ten Jurisdictions (Zehngerichtebund).

The first step towards the canton of Graubünden was when the league of the Ten Jurisdictions allied with the League of God's House in 1450. In 1471 the two leagues allied with the Grey League. In 1497 and 1498 the Leagues^[6] allied with the Old Swiss Confederacy after the Habsburgs acquired the possessions of the extinct Toggenburg dynasty in 1496,^[7] siding with the Confederacy in the Swabian War three years later. The Habsburgs were defeated at Calven Gorge and Dornach, helping the Swiss Confederation and the allied leagues of the canton of Grisons to be recognised. However the Three Leagues remained a loose association until the Bundesbrief of 23 September 1524.^[8]

The last traces of the Bishop of Chur's jurisdiction were abolished in 1526. The Musso war of 1520 drove the Three Leagues closer to the Swiss Confederacy.

Jörg Jenatsch was a major and divisive figure during the Bündner Wirren (1618–1639).

Between 1618 and 1639 it became a battleground between competing factions during the Bündner Wirren. The Protestant party was supported by France and Venice, while the Catholic party was supported by the Habsburgs in Spain and Austria. Each side sought to gain control of the Graubünden to gain control over the important alpine passes. In 1618, the young radical Jörg Jenatsch became a member of the court of 'clerical overseers' and a leader of the anti-Habsburg faction. He supervised the torture to death of the arch-priest Nicola Rusca of Sondrio. In response, Giacomo Robustelli of the pro-Catholic Planta family, raised an army of rebels in the Valtellina. On the evening of 18/19 July 1620, a force of Valtellina rebels supported by Austrian and Italian troops marched into Tirano and began killing Protestants. When they finished in Tirano, they marched to Teglio, Sondrio and further down the valley killing every Protestant that they found. Between 500^[9] and 600^[10] people were killed on that night and in the following four days. The attack drove nearly all the Protestants out of the valley, prevented further Protestant incursions and took the Valtellina out of the Three Leagues.

In response, in February 1621, Jenatsch led a force of anti-Habsburg troops to attack Rietberg Castle, the home of a leader of the pro-Catholic faction, Pompeius Planta.^[11] They surprised Planta and according to legend he was killed by Jörg Jenatsch with an axe.^[12] The murder of Planta encouraged the Protestant faction and they assembled a poorly led and disorganized army to retake the Valtellina and other subject lands. However, the army fell apart before they could attack a single Catholic town.^[11] This Protestant invasion provided the Spanish and Austrians an excuse to invade the Leagues. By the end of October, Spain and Austria had occupied all of Graubünden. The resulting peace treaty of January 1622, forced Graubünden to cede the Müstair, the Lower Engadine and Prättigau valleys.^[9] The treaty also forbade the Protestant religion in these valleys. In response, in 1622, the Prättigau valley rebelled against the Austrians and drove them out of the valley. The Austrians invaded the valley twice more, attempting to reimpose the Catholic faith, in 1623–24 and 1629–31.^[13]

In 1623 the Leagues entered into an alliance with France, Savoy and Venice. Jürg Jenatsch and Ulysses von Salis used French money to hire an 8,000-man mercenary army and drive out the Austrians. The peace treaty of Monzon (5 March 1626) between France and Spain, confirmed the political and religious independence of the Valtellina. In 1627 the French withdrew from the Valtellina valley, which was then occupied by Papal troops. Starting in 1631 the League, under the French Duke Henri de Rohan, started to expel the Spaniards. However, Richelieu still did not want to hand the valley over to its residents. When it became clear that the French intended to remain permanently in the Leagues, but would not force the Valtellina to convert to Protestantism, Jürg Jenatsch (now a mercenary leader) converted in 1635 to the Catholic faith. In 1637, he rebelled and allied with Austria and Spain. His rebellion along with the rebellion of 31 other League officers forced the French to withdraw without a fight.^[9]^[13] On 24 January 1639, Jürg Jenatsch was killed during Carnival by an unknown attacker who was dressed as a bear. The attacker may have been a son of Pompeius Planta^[9] or an assassin hired by the local aristocracy.^[13] According to legend he was killed by the same axe that he used on Pompeius Planta.^[12] On 3 September 1639 the Leagues agreed with Spain to bring the Valtellina back under League sovereignty, but with the promise to respect the free exercise of the Catholic faith. Treaties with Austria in 1649 and 1652, brought the Müstair and Lower Engadine valleys back under the authority of the Three Leagues.^[9]

In 1798, the lands of the canton of Graubünden became part of the Helvetic Republic as the Canton of Raetia except Valtellina, which was separated in 1797 for joining to the Cisalpine Republic. It was later part of Empire of Austria in 1814 before joining to Kingdom of Italy in 1859. With the Act of Mediation the "perpetual ally" of Switzerland became a canton in 1803. The constitution of the canton dates from 1892. In the following century, there have been about 30 changes made to the constitution.^[14]

The arms of the three original leagues are were combined into the modern cantonal coat of arms in 1933.

Government

Grand Council building in Chur

The Grand Council (German: Grosser Rat; Italian: Gran Consiglio, Romansh: Cussegl Grond), the legislature of the canton, sits in Chur, the cantonal capital. Its 120 members, elected in 39 districts using a majority system, are in office for four years. The next district elections are scheduled for 2014.^[15] The cantonal government, exercising executive authority, is made up of five members, elected by the parliament for a term of four years and limited to two terms. The current President of Government is Hansjörg Trachsel.^[16]

The constitution of Graubünden, last revised on 14 September 2003, states in its preamble that the canton's purpose is to "safeguard freedom, peace, and human dignity, ensure democracy and the Rechtsstaat, promote prosperity and social justice and preserving a sane environment for the future generations, with the intention of promoting trilingualism and cultural variety and conserving them as part of our historical heritage".^[17]

The constitution allows for the enfranchisement of foreign residents at a municipal level, at discretion of the local governments. In 2009, the municipality of Bregaglia became the first in the canton to make use of this provision, granting voting rights to foreigners.^[18]

Political subdivisions

Districts

Districts of Graubünden

Graubünden is divided into 11 districts:

Albula with capital Tiefencastel
Bernina with capital Poschiavo
Hinterrhein with capital Thusis
Imboden with capital Domat/Ems
Inn with capital Scuol
Landquart with capital Igis
Maloja with capital Samedan
Moesa with capital Roveredo
Plessur with capital Chur
Prättigau/Davos with capital Davos
Surselva with capital Ilanz

Municipalities

There are 190 municipalities in the canton (as of January 2009).^[19]

Demographics

The population of the canton (as of 31 December 2013) is 194,959.^[2] As of 2007, the population included 28,008 foreigners, or about 14.84% of the total population.^[20] The main religions are Catholicism and Protestantism. Both are well represented in the canton, with Roman Catholics forming a slight plurality (47% Catholic to 41% Protestant).^[21] There is a linguistic element to the religions, for the canton's German-speakers have been predominantly Protestant, whereas the Italian and Romansh speakers (and their descendants who may no longer speak those languages) are largely Roman Catholic.

Languages

Economy

Night view of the Palace Hotel in St. Moritz

View of Tarasp Lake in lower Engadin

Agriculture is still essential to keep remote valleys inhabited and is therefore supported by subsidies by the authorities both national and regional. Eight percent of the population work in agriculture and forestry, where 50 per cent of the production is certified as organic. Agriculture includes forests and mountain pasturage in summer, particularly of cows, sheep and goats. There is wine production in the Rhine Valley north to the capital Chur. 24 per cent of the workforce are employed in industry whereas 68 per cent work in the service industry where tourism reaches a remarkable 14 per cent of the GDP. Tourism is concentrated around the towns of Davos/Arosa, Flims and St. Moritz/Pontresina. There are, however, a great number of other tourist resorts in the canton, divided by the official tourist board for winter sports for example into categories "Top - Large - Small and beautiful" -yet still not including all of them...^[23]

The Chur area is also an industrial centre. In the southern valleys of Mesolcina and Poschiavo there is corn (maize) and chestnut farming.

Transport

Glacier Express pulled by a Ge 4/4 III between Reichenau-Tamins and Bonaduz

Transport has always been an important issue in the area; cart tracks from the Roman era were found on Julierpass and Septimerpass was rebuilt for cart use in 1387 and, although it later became unimportant, it is still in its 1800 form (for hikers only). Corniche paths were necessary for long stretches, and gorges such as the Viamala gave construction problems for any kind of transport. The first real roads of 4 yards width were built across the Alps from around 1816, one of which is still in a very good historical condition^[24] as this connection across Splügen Pass lost its importance after the opening of rail tunnels crossing the alps. The last valley to be connected to the road system in the state of Graubünden was Avers, whose remote hamlet of Juf was only reached in 1897. Eventually, the inhabitants of Graubünden gave up their resistance against individual motor traffic in 1926,^[25] and the 1967 opened San Bernardino road tunnel, built to host tourism traffic, is used also by heavy goods vehicles nowadays although not really suitable for them for its ascent gradients. Most other passes have lost their importance for goods transport nowadays. Huge efforts ensure public transport to (nearly) every settlement by an integrated timetable of postbuses and the Rhaetian Railway, the largest narrow-gauge railway network in Switzerland, in which the cantonal government is the largest shareholder. Even Juf, inhabited by some 30 people only but holding an European record, is reached 5 times a day by public transport. The Swiss Federal Railways extend only a few kilometres into the canton, to the capital, Chur, where passengers transfer to the Rhaetian Railway. "Rhaetia" is the Latin name for the area. The Albula Line became a UNESCO world heritage as did the Bernina Railway, the highest and only railway to cross the alps without the use of a tunnel at the pass. In winter some of the road passes are closed ^[26] whereas several high mountain passes such as the Julier, Bernina and Lukmanier are kept open all winter (subject to restrictions). Being the highest elevated state in Switzerland, Graubünden hosts huge alpine areas that are not accessible by any means of transport but have to be walked to.^[27]

Culture

The canton is known as a region with a high density of medieval castles (and ruins) for example in the Domleschg area. Close by lies the church of Zillis, where 1130/40 a famous romanesque illustrated ceiling was added which is now treated as national heritage. Three World Heritage Sites are located in the canton: the Benedictine Convent of Saint John, the Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona and the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula and Bernina Landscapes.

The Graubünden are known for a dried-beef delicacy called Bündnerfleisch and for a nut and honey pie known as Bündner Nusstorte. Another specialty, predominantly made in the western part of Grison, are Capuns,^[28] hearty dumplings with pieces of meat wrapped in chard leaves.

The Raetia national football team, a member of the NF-Board, represents the region at international level, and competed in the 2012 VIVA World Cup.