Sankt Moritz Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sankt Moritz / San Murezzan 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 municipality of Sankt Moritz (German: Sankt Moritz, Romansh: San Murezzan) is in the Maloja Region and the Graubünden canton. Sankt Moritz is located on the southern slopes of the Albula Alps below the Piz Nair (3,056 m or 10,026 ft) overlooking the flat and wide glaciated valley of the Upper Engadine and eponymous lake: Lake St. Moritz. It is Upper Engadine's major town and was the site of the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948. It includes the settlements of St. Moritz-Dorf, Bad, Champfèr, and the village section of Suvretta.

Sankt Moritz (as of 2004/09) has an area of 28.69 km2 (11.08 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 26.3% - agricultural purposes
 * 20.0% - forested
 * 9.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 44.8% - non-productive

History
In 1137–39, Sankt Moritz was first mentioned by the name of ad sanctum Mauricium. It was also mentioned in 1296 as sancti Mauricii Before 2017, the municipality Sankt Moritz (German: Sankt Moritz, Romansh: San Murezzan) was in the Oberengadin sub-district of the Maloja district and the Graubünden canton. After 2017, it was part of the Maloja Region.

The population history of Sankt Moritz is: 1803 - 183 inhabitants 1850 - 228 inhabitants 1900 - 1,603 inhabitants 1910 - 3,197 inhabitants 1950 - 2,558 inhabitants 1960 - 3,751 inhabitants 1970 - 5,699 inhabitants 1980 - 5,900 inhabitants 1990 - 5,426 inhabitants 2000 - 5,589 inhabitants 2020 - 4,945 inhabitants

St. Maurice was one of the three main churches in the Upper Engadine along with St. Lucius in Zuoz and St. Peter in Samedan. In 1577, the parish was one of the last in the Engadine to undergo the Reformation; it acquired a reformed church (in Dorf) in 1787. The Catholic churches of Saint-Maurice (parish) and Saint-Charles-Borromée (in Bad) date from 1867 and 1889, the English church from 1871, and the French church from 1877.

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
Sankt Moritz was one of the last parishes to become Reformed, in 1577. Church records begin in 1662. The following volumes are available on FamilySearch:
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1662-1793
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1794-1853
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1837-1875

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Sankt Moritz:
 * 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 Sankt Moritz 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)