Chur, Canton of Grisons, Switzerland

🇨🇭 Chur is the capital and largest town of the Swiss canton of the Grisons and lies in the Grisonian Rhine Valley, where the Rhine turns towards the north, in the northern part of the canton. The city, which is located on the right bank of the Rhine, is reputedly the oldest town of Switzerland.

The official language of Chur is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of Alemannic, known as Grisonian German. Romansh and Italian are significantly spoken in the city as a result of the trilingual identity of the canton.

In 2020 the former municipality of Maladers merged into Chur and in 2021 Haldenstein also merged.

History Archaeological evidence of settlement at the site, in the Eastern Alps, goes back as far as the Pfyn culture (3900-3500 BC), making Chur one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland. Remains and objects from the Bronze and Iron Ages have also been found in the eastern sector of the current city's centre. These include Bronze Age Urnfield and Laugen-Melaun settlements from 1300 to 800 BC and Iron Age settlements from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC.

The Roman Empire conquered the area that then came to be known as the Roman province of Raetia in 15 BC. Under emperor Diocletian (late 3rd century AD), the existing settlement of Curia Raetorum (later Chur) was made the capital of the newly established province of Raetia prima.

In the 4th century, Chur became the seat of the first Christian bishopric north of the Alps. Despite a legend assigning its foundation to an alleged Briton king, St. Lucius, the first known bishop is one Asinio in AD 451. The bishop soon acquired great temporal powers, especially after his dominions were made, in 831, dependent on the Empire alone.

After the invasion of the Ostrogoths, it may have been renamed Theodoricopolis; in the 6th century it was conquered by the Franks. The city suffered several invasions, by the Magyars in 925–926, when the cathedral was destroyed, and by the Saracens (940 and 954), but afterwards it flourished thanks to its location, where the roads from several major Alpine transit routes come together and continue down the Rhine. The routes had been already used under the Romans but acquired greater importance under the Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Otto I granted the town the right to collect tolls in 952 and appointed his vassal Hartpert as bishop of Chur in 958, giving the bishopric further privileges. In 1170 the bishop became a prince-bishop and kept total control over the road between Chur and Chiavenna.

In the 13th century, the town had some 1,300 inhabitants and was surrounded by a line of walls. In the 14th century, at least six fires damaged or destroyed the monasteries of St. Luzi and St. Nicolai, St. Martin's church and twice destroyed much of the town. The Gotteshausbund (League of the House of God) was formed in 1367 in Chur to resist the rising power of the Bishopric of Chur and the House of Habsburg. Chur was the chief town of the League and one of the places the Leagues' assemblies met regularly. A burgmeister (mayor) of Chur is first mentioned in 1413, The bishop's residence was attacked by the inhabitants in 1418 and 1422, when a series of concessions were wrung out of him.

On 27 April 1464, most of the town was destroyed in a fire, which only the bishop's estates and St. Luzi monastery survived. With the bishops' power waning as he came increasingly under the influence of the nearby Habsburg County of Tyrol, the citizens sent a delegation to Emperor Frederick III. The Emperor reconfirmed the historic rights of Chur and also granted them extensive new rights which freed the city from the bishop's power. In 1465 the citizens wrote a constitution which granted all governmental power to Chur's guilds. All government positions were restricted to guild members, allowing the guilds to regulate all aspects of life in Chur. Because guild membership was the only route to political power, local patricians and nobles quickly became guild members, often joining the winemakers guild.

The Chur lead League of the House of God allied with the Grey League and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions in 1471 to form the Three Leagues. In 1489 Chur obtained the right to have a tribunal of its own, but never had the title of Free Imperial City. In 1497–98, concerned about Habsburg expansion and with the Bishop of Chur quarrelling with Austria, the Three Leagues formed an alliance with the Swiss Confederation. In 1499 the Swabian War broke out between the Three Leagues and Austria and quickly expanded to include the Confederation. During the war, troops from Chur fought under the Bishop's Vogt Heinrich Ammann in the Lower Engadin, in Prättigau and near Balzers. Troops from Chur also took part in the 1512 invasion of the Valtellina and the Second Musso War in 1530–31.

In 1523 Johannes (Dorfmann) Comander was appointed parish priest of St. Martin's Church and began preaching the new faith of the Protestant Reformation. It spread rapidly and by 1525 the bishop had fled the city and Protestant services were taking place in the churches of St. Martin and St. Regula. The Ilanz articles of 1524 and 1526 allowed each resident of the Three Leagues to choose their religion, and sharply reduced the political and secular power of the Bishop of Chur and all monasteries in League territory. By 1527 all of Chur, except the bishop's estates, had adopted the Reformation. On 1 January 1529 Abbot Theodore Schlegel was publicly beheaded. Bishop Thomas Planta, a friend of St. Charles Borromeo, tried, but without success, to suppress Protestantism. He died, probably poisoned, 5 May 1565.

During the 16th century the German language started to prevail over Romansh. In 1479 about 300 houses and stalls burned in another fire. Nearly a century later on 23 July 1574, a fire destroyed 174 houses and 114 stalls, or about half the city. Two years later on 21 October 1576, another 53 houses were burned. Two years after the 1576 fire, the perpetrator, Hauptmann Stör, was executed.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the Three Leagues became the canton of Graubünden in 1803. The guild constitution of the city of Chur lasted until 1839, while in 1874 the Burgergemeinde was replaced by an Einwohnergemeinde. When Graubünden became a canton in 1803, Chur was chosen as its capital.

Topography Chur had an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of 54.33 km2 (20.98 sq mi). Of this area, about 17.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 52.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 26.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 3.9% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85–2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by 86 ha (210 acres) and the agricultural land has decreased by 87 ha (210 acres).

Chur is situated at a height of 1,949 ft (594 m) above sea level, on the right bank of the torrent Plessur, just as it issues from the valley Schanfigg, and about a mile above its junction with the Rhine, almost entirely surrounded by the Alps, overshadowed by the Mittenberg (northeast) and Pizoggel (southwest), hills that guard the entrance to the deep-cut valley Schanfigg.

The altitude in the city area varies from 600 meters (2,000 ft) above sea level to 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) above sea level, the Churer Hausberg Brambrüesch (accessible from the Old Town) situated at 2,174 meters (7,133 ft) above sea level.

The water of Chur's spring is exported and sold as Passugger mineral water.

Economy As of  2014, there were a total of 32,448 people employed in the municipality. Of these, 108 people worked in 26 businesses in the primary economic sector. A majority (68.5%) of the primary sector employees worked in very small businesses (less than ten employees). The remainder worked in 2 small businesses with a total of 34 employees. The secondary sector employed 3,645 workers in 345 separate businesses. A minority (21.2%) of the secondary sector employees worked in very small businesses. There were 75 small businesses with a total of 1,731 employees and 12 mid sized businesses with a total of 1,141 employees. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 28,695 jobs in 3,375 businesses. In 2014 a total of 16,854 employees worked in 3,306 small companies (less than 50 employees). There were 65 mid-sized businesses with 9,093 employees and 4 large businesses which employed 2,748 people (for an average size of 687).

In 2014 a total of 7.7% of the population received social assistance.

In 2015 local hotels had a total of 152,629 overnight stays, of which 47.8% were international visitors. There were two movie theaters in the municipality, in 2015, with a total of 4 screens and 736 seats.

Transportation Chur is 120 km (75 miles) by rail from Zürich, and is the meeting-point of the routes from Italy over many alpine passes (Lukmanier Pass, Splugen Pass, and San Bernardino Pass), as well as from the Engadine (Albula Pass, Julier Pass), so that it is the centre of an active trade (particularly in wine from the Valtelline), though it also has a few local factories. The city's main railway station is where the Swiss Federal Railways system link with that of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). While the SBB lines serve most of Switzerland, most of Graubünden's internal rail traffic is served by RhB lines. One of the RhB lines (to Arosa) uses on-street running through streets in the centre of Chur and Sand in order to reach the station—see Chur Stadtbahn.

There are three other railway stations in Chur: • Chur Stadt (on the Chur-Arosa line) • Chur West • Chur Wiesental • Haldenstein There is also a postbus station situated above the railway station. Chur is linked by a motorway—the A13.

Tourist Industry Chur is home to many buildings or other sites that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. There are two archeological sites in Chur, the old city which is a medieval city and Welschdörfli a prehistoric settlement and Roman Vicus. There are four archives or libraries; the bishop's palace (library and archive), the Cantonal Library, the Cantonal Archive of Graubünden and the city archive of Chur. There are also four museums on the list; the Bündner Kunstmuseum (Art Museum), Bündner Naturmuseum (Natural History Museum), the Dommuseum and the Rätisches Museum in the Haus Buol. Three churches are included in the list; The cathedral of the Assumption, the Catholic Church of St. Luzi and the Reformed church of St. Martin. There are 15 other buildings that are also heritage sites; these include the Alte Kaserne at Zeughaus 3 (the Old Armory), the Confederation Paper Mill, the Main Post Office, the new Town Hall, headquarters of the Rhätische Bahn and several old patrician houses. With the 2021 merger of Haldenstein into Chur, the Ruins of Haldenstein fortress and Haldenstein Castle became part of Chur.