Chur

History

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 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), 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 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 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 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 was the chief town of the League and one of the places the League's assemblies met regularly. A burgomaster (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.

Geography and climate

Topography

Chur has an area (as of the 2004/09 survey) of 54.33 km2 (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 the agricultural land has decreased by 87 ha (210 acres).

Chur is situated at a height of 594 m (1,949 ft) 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 Pizokel (southwest), hills that guard 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 eastern suburbs of Chur spread up the lower slopes of an enormous, heavily wooded convex landform, one of 16 'alpine megafans' in the Alps. It was probably created by the catastrophic collapse of the mountain crest around the time of deglaciation of the Rhine trough. Another collapse further north along the same crest created the Igis-Zizers megafan. This pair of megafans is global consequential in scale, and as part of the Alpenrhein cluster of 11 anomalously large debris fans they attest to an episode of major landscape dislocation.

Climate

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 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 was February with an average of 47 mm (1.9 in) of precipitation over 6.6 days.

Politics

Coat of arms

Blazon: Argent, a city gate gules with three merlons, within which a capricorn rampant sable, langued and viriled of the second.

Government

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 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 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 proportional representation. The mayor is elected as such by public election by means of a system of majoritarian representation, 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 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.

Parliament

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 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 the 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 the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) lost all their 3 seats due to Dissolution and merged with former CVP.

Elections

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 the voter turnout was 45.4%.

International relations

Chur is twinned with:

Demographics

Population

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 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 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 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 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%.

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following chart:

^a Language adds up to over 100% due to counting all languages, not just first language.

Religion

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 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 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.

Education

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 a Fachhochschule). The town is home to the Cantonal School of Graubünden.

Economy

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 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 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.

Crime

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 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.

Transportation

Chur is 120 kilometres (75 miles) by rail from Zürich and 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 Engadin (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 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 Chur Altstadt railway station. Other stations are Chur West, Chur Wiesental, and Haldenstein.

There is also a postbus station situated above the railway station.

The nearest airport is Zurich Airport, located 130 km (81 mi) north west of Chur.

Chur is linked by a motorway—the A13.

Culture and tourism

Main sights

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, 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 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.

Media

The Romansh-speaking Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR), part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, has its headquarters in Chur. Two local newspapers are published in Chur: Die Südostschweiz (in German) and La Quotidiana (in Romansh).

Gallery

The first church on the cathedral site was built in the first half of the 5th century. The Romanesque crypt was probably built under Bishop Tello (758–773). 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 was probably built in the 8th century, though the first record of it appears in 821 when the relics of St. Luzius were removed from the church. It may have been the site of a Carolingian scribes' school during the early Middle Ages. In 1149 it became the church of the Premonstratensian monastery.

The town is home to the Giger Bar designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, the Old Town, the art gallery, and the natural history museum.

Sport

Chur is a hockeytown and its team, EHC Chur, currently plays in the Swiss League, the second tier of the Swiss ice hockey league system. They play their home games in the 6,500-seat Hallenstadion.

The American football team Calanda Broncos (formally the Landquart Broncos) moved to Chur in 2009, playing their home games at Ringstrasse Stadium. The Broncos currently play in the Nationalliga A and are the most successful Swiss American football team with the record for most Swiss Bowl wins (eight wins) as well as winning the EFAF Cup in 2010 and the Eurobowl in 2012. As of 2017 they finished first in the league, hosting Swiss Bowl XXXII in Ringstrasse Stadium where they defeated the Basel Gladiators 42–6 on 8 July.

The local football team are FC Chur 97 who play in the sixth division of Swiss football. They play home games at Ringstrasse.

List of notable people

Early times

George Blaurock (c. 1492 – 1529), Grisonian Catholic pater and leading personality of the Radical Reformation, one of the founders of Anabaptism

Johannes Fabricius Montanus (1527–1577), German theologian and poet

Jörg Jenatsch (1596–1639), Grisonian politician during the Thirty Years' War, assassinated in Chur.

Soloman Sprecher von Bernegg (1697–1758), Habsburg field marshal in the Seven Years' War

18th century

Jerome, 2nd Count de Salis (1709–1794), a Fellow of the Royal Society and sometime British Resident in the Grisons.

Jeremiah Theus (1716–1746), Swiss-American painter, primarily of portraits.

Angelica Kauffman, RA (1741–1801), Austrian Neoclassical painter, successful career in London and Rome.

Richard La Nicca (1794–1883 in Chur), a Swiss engineer, planned and implemented the Jura water correction project in the Swiss Jura

19th century

Alexander Moritzi (1806–1850), a Swiss naturalist and early proponent of evolution

Gottfried Ludwig Theobald (1810–1869 in Chur), a German-Swiss geologist and cartographer, taught in Chur 1854–1869.

Johann Baptista von Tscharner (1815–1879), born and died in Chur, lawyer and politician

Philip Schaff (1819–1893), Protestant theologian and church historian, lived and taught in the United States

Johann Coaz (1822–1918), a forester, topographer and mountaineer from Graubünden

Simeon Bavier (1825–1896), a politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council 1878–1883

Eduard Killias (1829–1891), a Swiss physician, naturalist and balneologist

Carl Hilty (1833–1909), a philosopher, writer and worked as a lawyer in Chur for 20 years

Adolfo Kind (1848–1907), a chemical engineer and one of the fathers of skiing in Italy

Clara Ragaz (1874–1957), feminist, pacifist and supporter of the temperance movement

Jakob Buchli (1876–1945), engineer in the field of locomotive design

Alfred Heuß (1877–1934), German musicologist

Josias Braun-Blanquet (1884–1980), a phytosociologist and botanist

Rosa Gutknecht (1885–1959), a German-born Swiss theologian and cleric, in 1918 she was one of the first two women to graduate in theology and be ordained as pastors

20th century

Robert Platow (1900–1982 in Chur), German journalist, founder and publisher of the Platow Brief

Heinrich Willi (1900–1971), pediatrician who co-discovered Prader–Willi syndrome

Andreas Walser (1908–1930), a Swiss painter in Paris

Gustav Guanella (1909–1982), a Swiss inventor, developed high-frequency electronics

Meinrad Schütter (1910–2006), a Swiss composer

Rudolf Olgiati (1910–1995), local architect, of the New Objectivity movement

H. R. Giger (1940–2014), visual artist, painter and Oscar winner

Peter Zumthor (born 1943), an uncompromising and minimalist Swiss architect, works in Chur

Alex P. Schmid (born 1943), a Swiss-born Dutch scholar in terrorism studies and former Officer-in-Charge of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations

Mario Illien (born 1946), engineer, specialising in motorsport engine design

Robert Indermaur (born 1947), a Swiss painter and sculptor

Rut Plouda (born 1948), a Swiss poet and novelist

Hans Danuser (born 1953), a Swiss artist and photographer

Corin Curschellas (born 1956), a Swiss singer-songwriter, vocalist, free improvisation, actress and voice actress

Sport

Rico Bianchi (born 1930), a Swiss rower, competed in the 1952 and 1960 Summer Olympics

Yvonne Rüegg (born 1938), a Swiss former alpine skier, gold medallist in giant slalom at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Renato Tosio (born 1964), former ice hockey goaltender of EHC Chur

Mario Frick (born 1974), a Swiss-born Liechtensteiner retired professional footballer was the manager for FC Vaduz between 2018 and 2021; 664 team games and 125 for his national team

Giorgio Rocca (born 1975), an Italian former alpine skier

Thierry Paterlini (born 1975), a Swiss professional ice hockey defenceman

Binia Feltscher (born 1978), Swiss curler, silver medallist at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Nino Schurter (born 1986), mountain biker and Olympic gold medallist, lives in Chur

Nino Niederreiter (born 1992), second highest NHL-drafted Swiss-born hockey player

Livia Peng (born 2002), football goalkeeper for the Switzerland national team

Notes and references

Literature

"Chur (municipality)" in Romansh, German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 18 November 2015.

A. Eichhorn, Episcopatus Curiensis (St Blasien, 1797)

W. von Juvalt, Forschungen fiber die Feudalzeit im Curischen Raetien, two parts (Zürich, 1871)

C. Kind, Die Reformation in den Bistumern Chur und Como (Coire, 1858)

Conradin von Moor, Geschichte von Curraetien (2 vols., Coire, 1870–1874)

P. C. you Planta, Des alte Raetien (Berlin, 1872); Idem, Die Curraetischen Herrschaften in der Feudalzeit (Bern, 188i); Idem, Verfassungsgeschichte der Stadt Cur im Mittelalter (Coire, 1879); Idem, Geschichte von Graubünden (Bern, 1892).

Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). "Coire" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 654.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Chur". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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