Sur Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sur / Sour 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 Sur (Romansh: Sour) is in the Surses sub-district of the Albula district and the Graubünden canton. It is located in the upper part of Oberhalbstein. The Sur municipality included the village of Sur and the hamlets of Furnatsch and Tgacrest.

Sur (as of 2006) has an area of 23.2 km² (9.0 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 42.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 13.2% - forested
 * 0.5% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 43.8% - non-productive

History
Until 1850, Sur was part of the municipality of Oberhalbstein. Sur (Romansh: Sour)) is in the Albula district and the Graubünden canton.

Sur merged into the Surses municipality on 1 January 2016. Other municipalities merged include:
 * Bivio
 * Cunter
 * Marmorera
 * Mulegns
 * Riom-Parsonz
 * Salouf
 * Savognin
 * Tinizong-Rona

The population history of Sur is: 1850 - 163 inhabitants 1900 - 178 inhabitants 1950 - 227 inhabitants 1960 - 155 inhabitants 1970 - 122 inhabitants 1980 - 112 inhabitants 1990 - 87 inhabitants 2000 - 93 inhabitants 2014 - 68 inhabitants

In 1663, the baroque church of Sainte-Catherine was built. Today, this church and the villages of Marmorera and Mulegns form a parish.

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

Catholic
The church in Sur was founded during the Medieval period. Church records begin in 1683. The following volumes are only available on microfilm at the Graubünden State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1683-1837; marriages 1760-1835; burials 1759-1839; confirmations 1763-1835
 * Baptisms, burials 1838-1875; marriages 1835-1875; confirmations 1846-1871

The following volume is available on FamilySearch:
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1838-1875

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Sur:
 * 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 Sur 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)