Canton Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Canton Graubünden ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Getting Started
If you are new to Swiss research, you should watch this introductory course. Then study the articles on church records and civil registration, as almost all of your research will be in those two record groups.
 * Introduction to Swiss Research
 * Switzerland Civil Registration
 * Switzerland Church Records

History


Graubünden is the only trilingual canton of Switzerland; German, Romansh, and Italian are all official languages. The German name Graubünden translates as the "Grey Leagues", referring to the canton's origin in three local alliances, the Three Leagues. The canton is called Grischun in Romansh, Grigioni in Italian, and Grisons in French; the area is known as Rhaetia in Latin. The Romansh language is also used by a small part of the population and some church records of this canton will also be in the Romansh language. There are many dialects used in this canton.

The area of Graubünden was comprised of several different leagues. The first of these, the Gotteshausbund (League of God's House) was formed in 1367 to resist the power of the Bishopric of Chur and the Habsburgs. In 1471, the league allied with the Grauer Bund (Grey League) and the Zehngerichtenbund (League of the Ten Jurisdictions) to form the Freistaat der Drei Bünde (Three Leagues) which was the foundation of what would become the Canton of Graubünden. After 1499, the league separated itself from the Holy Roman Empire, and between 1524-1526 the alliance was strengthened through the Ilanz Articles. Among other things, these articles required the priests live in the parishes they served, and provided the parishes the right to choose their own priests. By the 17th century, the Three Leagues was the only territory in Europe where all decisions were made communally by referendum. This government structure remained in force until the 1798 French invasion, when the Three Leagues was absorbed into the Helvetic Republic. In 1803, the French reorganized the area as the Canton of Graubünden as part of the newly-restored Swiss Confederacy.

For more information, see the Wikipedia article about Canton Graubünden and the Three Leagues.

Parishes in Canton Graubünden
Because there are three official languages in Graubünden (German, Italian, and Romansh), most localities have different names depending on the language. The following parish/municipality list is organized alphabetically by the most used language in the locality. German names have no mark; Italian names are indicated by an asterisk*; Romansh names are indicated in italics.



Census Records
Graubünden conducted four censuses between 1835 and 1850.

Census Records Online
These records have a restriction for use only at a family history center near you.

Records can be accessed online. Links to the records for each census are listed under the parish and municipality FamilySearch Wiki pages. These pages can be accessed by using the parish/municipality list above.


 * Inventory of census records in the Graubünden State Archive

1835 Census
The 1835 census includes given name, surname, age, religion, and occupation. Depending on which table, it may also include residence, place of citizenship, and how long they have been residing in the municipality.

The 1835 census was divided into four sections:
 * Table A I: citizens of both the municipality and canton who either are residing in their home municipality, are temporarily in another municipality in the canton, are established in another municipality in the canton after 1 January 1830, or reside outside the canton.
 * Table A II: citizens and permanent residents of the municipality who are not citizens of the canton, whether they live in or outside the municipality.
 * Table A III: citizens of other municipalities within Graubünden who have established themselves in the municipality before 1830 and who have continually resided in the municipality.
 * Table B: non-citizens who are in the community, regardless of whether they are from Graubünden, elsewhere in Switzerland, or another country.

The 1835 statistics can be found here and here.

1838 Census
In response to a decree dated 31 July 1837, this federally-mandated census was taken in January 1838. The census includes given name, surname, sex, and place of citizenship - whether of a place within Graubünden, of elsewhere in Switzerland, or of a foreign country.

1848 Census
The 1848 census includes given name, surname, sex, birthdate, and religion. Depending on the section, it may also include place of residence, place of citizenship, and how long they have been residing in the municipality.

The 1848 census was made up of 5 different sections:
 * Table 1: citizens and permanent residents of the municipality residing in the municipality
 * Table 2: citizens and permanent residents of the municipality permanently away from the municipality and established elsewhere (including foreign countries)
 * Table 3: citizens and permanent residents of the municipality temporarily residing elsewhere, such as servants, students, etc.
 * Table 4: non-citizens residing and established in the municipality
 * Table 5: non-citizens temporarily residing in the municipality, such as servants, students, etc.

1850 Census
This census was enumerated in March 1850. The census includes house number, given name, surname, sex, year of birth, citizenship and residence status (within either Graubünden, other Swiss cantons, or foreign countries), religion, marital status, and occupation.

The 1850 census was recorded in two separate sections.

The first section is further divided into separate forms:
 * Form A includes all residents of the municipality.
 * Form B includes all citizens living outside of Switzerland, including year of departure and foreign place of residence.

The second section consists of one form:
 * Form C includes all non-citizen permanent residents of the municipality.

Civil Registration
Civil registration began in Graubünden Canton in 1876. To understand the records available, read the Wiki article, Switzerland Civil Registration.
 * You will be able to write your request in German with the help of the German Letter Writing Guide.

Church Records
FamilySearch has microfilmed and digitized records for some parishes in Canton Graubünden. These records can be accessed from the FamilySearch Catalog (click on Places within Switzerland, Graubünden to select the parish). There may be restrictions on viewing these records.

All Graubünden church records have been microfilmed and are available onsite at the Graubünden archive. The archive has published an inventory of church parish records showing which records are available. Due to limited space, be sure to make an appointment before viewing the records at the archive.

You will be able to write your request in German with the help of the German Letter Writing Guide.

For information on the coverage and content of church records, read Switzerland Church Records.

FamilySearch Microfilmed/Digitized Records
All microfilmed parish records have been digitized. These records may have a restriction for use only at a Family History Center near you.

Instructions:
 * 1) Click on Switzerland, Graubünden FamilySearch Catalog.
 * 2) Open the list "Places within Switzerland, Graubünden". Select your town.
 * 3) A list of record categories will open up. Click on "Church records".
 * 4) A list of available records will appear. Click on the record title you are interested in searching.
 * 5) Scroll down to the list of microfilm numbers. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

Reading the Records

 * German Genealogical Word List
 * [[Media:Swiss_Genealogical_Word_List_approved.pdf|Swiss Dialect Genealogical Word List]]
 * German Paleography Seminar - Lessons on German Handwriting
 * Old German Script
 * Part 1
 * Part 2
 * Part 3 (German Church and Civil Records)

Search Strategy
This search strategy will help you determine what to write for. Limit tour requests to just one of these steps at a time. Once you have established that the parish is cooperative and perhaps more willing to do more extensive research (for a fee), you might be able to ask them for more at a time.
 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected.
 * When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.