Morissen Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Morissen / Murissen 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 Morissen (Romansh: Murissen) was in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The former municipality is situated in the Lugnez sub-district of the Surselva district on the southern foot of the Piz Mundaun and above the Lugnezerstrasse.

Morissen (as of 2006) has an area of 5.7 km² (2.2 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 86.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 6.2% - forested
 * 3.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 3.3% - non-productive

History
In 1210, Morissen was first mentioned by the name of Mureizens.

Morissen merged into the Lumnezia municipality on 1 January 2013. Other municipalities merged include:
 * Cumbel
 * Degen
 * Lumbrein
 * Suraua
 * Vignogn
 * Vella
 * Vrin

The population history of Morissen is: 1850 - 250 inhabitants 1900 - 163 inhabitants 1950 - 297 inhabitants 2000 - 211 inhabitants 2011 - 223 inhabitants

The church attested in 1345 (dedicated to Saints Jacques and Christophe, then to Saints Jacques and Philippe after the renovation of 1867-1868) was until 1907, a subsidiary of Saint-Vincent in Pleif near Vella (chapellenie in 1702, cure in 1806).

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
Morissen belonged to the parish of Vella until 1907, but it had its own curate priest from 1806. Church records begin in 1806. See Vella for earlier records. The following volume is available on FamilySearch:
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1806-1868

The following volume is only available on microfilm at the Graubünden State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1862-1876; marriages 1863-1880; burials 1861-1875; confirmations 1844-1884

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

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