Sankt Peter Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sankt Peter 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 Sankt Peter (Romansh: Son Peder) is in the Schanfigg sub-district of the Plessur district and the Graubünden canton. It is also known as Saint Peter (St. Peter). It is located on the northern slope of the mid-Schanfigg and is at the elevation of 1,160 m (3,810 ft). It consists of the village of St. Peter and two districts on the northern slope of Schanfigg.

Sankt Peter (as of 2006) has an area of 6.9 km² (2.7 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 61.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 30.1% - forested
 * 4.2% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 4.7% - non-productive

St. Peter-Pagig was created with the merge of St. Peter and Pagig in 2008. It had an area of 12.1 km2 (4.7 sq mi).

History
In 1137, Sankt Peter was first mentioned by the name of sancto Petro. Sankt Peter (Romansh: Son Peder) is in the Plessur district and the Graubünden canton. It is also known as Saint Peter (St. Peter).

St. Peter merged with Pagig to form the St. Peter-Pagig municipality on 1 January 2008.

St. Peter-Pagig merged into the Arosa municipality on 1 January 2013. Other municipalities merged include:
 * Arosa
 * Calfreisen
 * Castiel
 * Langwies
 * Lüen
 * Molinis
 * Peist

The population history of St. Peter is: 1808 - 197 inhabitants 1850 - 108 inhabitants 1900 - 115 inhabitants 1950 - 161 inhabitants 2000 - 154 inhabitants 2007 - 168 inhabitants 2014 - 214 inhabitants for St. Peter-Pagig

In the late Middle Ages, St. Peter was first referred as a village. In 831, The village church (Schanfigg valley church) was first mentioned. The church was part of the Pfäfers Abbey. In 1530, the Reformation was introduced and adopted.

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 family history center near you.

Reformed
Sankt Peter became a Reformed parish in 1530. The parish included the villages of Molinis and Pagig. Church records begin in 1686. The following volumes are available on FamilySearch:
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1686-1751
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1751-1827
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1821-1873

The following volume is only available on microfilm at the Graubünden State Archives:
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1837-1919 (includes Molinis and Pagig)

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

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