Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Chur / Cuira, 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 municipality of Chur is also the capital and largest town in the Graubünden canton. Chur is located at a height of 1,949 ft (594 m) above sea level, on the right bank of the torrent Plessur, just as it leaves the valley Schanfigg, and about a mile above its junction with the Rhine. It is almost entirely surrounded by the Alps, overshadowed by the Mittenberg (northeast) and Pizoggel (southwest), hills that guard the entrance to the deep-cut valley Schanfigg.

Chur (as of 2004/09) has an area of 54.33 km² (20.98 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 17.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 52.1% - forested
 * 26.5% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 3.9% - non-productive

History
Chur and Maladers merged into the Chur municipality on 1 January 2020 and on 1 January 2021, Haldenstein also merged.

The population history of Chur is: 1780 - 2,331 inhabitants 1860 - 6,990 inhabitants 1880 - 8,753 inhabitants 1888 - 9,259 inhabitants 1900 - 11,532 inhabitants 1910 - 14,639 inhabitants 1930 - 15,574 inhabitants 1950 - 19,382 inhabitants 1970 - 31,193 inhabitants 1990 - 32,868 inhabitants 2000 - 32,989 inhabitants 2010 - 36,690 inhabitants 2020 - 36,336 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 44.6% were Roman Catholic
 * 37.0% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.05% were Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
 * 1.79% were Eastern Orthodox Church
 * 1.61% were another Christian church
 * 0.04% were Jewish
 * 2.78% were Muslim

The Reformation was introduced in Chur in 1525-1526.

Church Records
Chur was the seat of the first Catholic bishopric north of the Alps, established in the fourth century. There had been disputes between the diocese and the citizens of the town as early as the 1300s. but after the Reformation, a majority of Chur's population is Reformed. Original church records are held in the local municipal archive or civil registration office. Microfilm copies are available at the Graubünden State Archives.

Chur Catholic

 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1695-1875; converts 1719-1869

Reformed
The parishes of St. Martin and St. Regula are both ancient. It was in the main parish, St. Martin, that the Reformation was first preached in 1523; by 1525 both parishes were Reformed. A French protestant congregation was established in 1657; a Freiprediger church had a pastor by 1617. The surrounding villages of Masans, Passugg, and Araschgen belonged to either St. Martin or St. Regula parish in Chur.

St. Martin
 * Baptisms 1575-1596
 * Baptisms 1610-1727
 * Baptisms 1728-1777
 * Burials 1645-1777
 * Marriages 1652-1777
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1777-1817
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1818-1827
 * Baptisms 1828-1836
 * Marriages 1828-1836
 * Burials 1828-1836

St. Regula
 * Baptisms 1574-1590
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1623-1676
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1679-1777
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1776-1823; confirmations 1805-1823
 * Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, burials 1824-1837
 * Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, burials 1837-1852
 * Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, burials 1852-1876
 * Baptisms 1852-1876 (citizens and permanent residents)

Combined records
 * Alphabetical index of church registers 1574-1777
 * Baptisms 1800-1828
 * Marriages, burials 1800-1828
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1827-1837
 * Baptisms 1837-1875 (citizens and permanent residents)
 * Baptisms 1844-1858 (citizens and permanent residents)
 * Baptisms 1858-1876 (citizens and permanent residents)
 * Baptisms 1837-1865 (non-citizen residents)
 * Baptisms 1865-1875 (non-citizen residents)
 * Marriages 1837-1868
 * Marriages 1869-1875
 * Burials 1837-1866
 * Burials 1865-1875
 * Confirmations, marriages, burials 1845-1859
 * Confirmations, marriages, burials 1858-1879
 * Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, burials 1859-1866

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Chur:
 * 1835: Chur
 * 1835: Chur Hof
 * 1838: Chur
 * 1838: Chur Hof
 * 1848: Chur
 * 1848: Chur Hof
 * 1850: Chur
 * 1850: Chur Hof
 * 1850, form C: Chur
 * 1850, form C: Chur Hof

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 Chur prior to 1875:

Related sources
The town's website (in Romansh and German) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Graubünden

Societies
Rätische Vereinigung für Familienforschung (RVFF)

Società Genealogica della Svizzera italiana (SGSI)