Bondo Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Bondo / Bundth / Buond Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
The former municipality of Bondo (Romansh: Buond / German: Bundth) is in the Bergell sub-district of the Maloja district and the Graubünden canton. It is located near the Swiss-Italian border in the Bregaglia Valley, south of the river Mera. The Bondo municipality includes the hamlets of Promontogno and Castelmur.

Bondo (as of 2006) has an area of 28.2 km² (10.9 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 2.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 37.6% - forested
 * 0.6% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 59.3% - non-productive

History
In 1380, Bondo was first mentioned by the name of Bondo. Bondo (Romansh: Buond / German: Bundth) is in the Maloja district and the Graubünden canton.

Bondo merged into the Bregaglia municipality on 1 January 2010. Other municipalities merged include:
 * Castasegna
 * Soglio
 * Stampa
 * Vicosoprano

The population history of Bondo is: 1803 - 235 inhabitants 1850 - 230 inhabitants 1900 - 304 inhabitants 1950 - 239 inhabitants 1960 - 254 inhabitants 2000 - 181 inhabitants 2008 - 204 inhabitants

In 988, the Notre-Dame de Castelmur church was first mentioned. It was rebuilt in the 19th century. In 1250, the Saint-Martin de Bondo church was consecrated. It was restored in the 17th century. In 1552, the Protestant Reformation reached the village of Bondo.

Church Records
Original church records are held in the local municipal archive or civil registration office. Microfilm copies are available at the Graubünden State Archives.

Digital images of church records are available on FamilySearch. These records have a restriction for use only at a FamilySearch center near you.

Reformed
Bondo was an ancient parish, which converted to the Reformed faith in 1552. Church records begin in 1663. The following volumes are available on FamilySearch:
 * Baptisms, marriages 1663-1822
 * Marriages, burials 1709-1866
 * Baptisms 1822-1860
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1837-1875

Census
(See here for information regarding Graubünden census records.)

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Bondo:
 * 1809 (with Soglio)
 * 1835
 * 1838
 * 1848
 * 1850
 * 1850, form C

Civil Registration
Civil registration began in 1876.

Duplicate civil registration registers are located at the Graubünden State Archives. The following records are available:
 * Both A and B registers are available through 1916-1917 and are open without restriction.
 * Family registers are available from at latest 1860 through 1910; these records are viewable but require permission to access. For more information, contact the State Archive.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Bondo prior to 1875:

Related sources
The town's website (in Italian) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Graubünden

Societies
Rätische Vereinigung für Familienforschung (RVFF)

Società Genealogica della Svizzera italiana (SGSI)