Surava

State :

Switzerland

Canton :

Graubünden (GR)

Region :

Albula

Political community :

Albula / Alvra

Postal code :

7472

former BFS no. :

3515

Coordinates :

766 315 / 170557 coordinates: 46 ° 39 '56 " N , 9 ° 36' 44" O ; CH1903: seven hundred sixty-six thousand three hundred and fifteen / 170557

Height :

904 m above sea level M.

Area :

6.68 km²

Residents:

203 (December 31, 2014)

Population density :

30 inhabitants per km²

Website:

www.albula-alvra.ch

Surava

map

Surava is a village in the Swiss canton of Graubünden , which belongs to the municipality of Albula / Alvra , district of Alvaschein , district of Albula .

Until December 31, 2014, Surava was an independent political municipality in the Belfort district . On January 1, 2015, it merged with the former municipalities of Alvaneu , Alvaschein , Brienz / Brinzauls , Mon , Stierva and Tiefencastel to form the new municipality of Albula / Alvra.

history

Parish before the merger on January 1, 2015

Historic aerial photo of Werner Friedli from 1954

Surava is a Romanesque development settlement that emerged after the 10th century. Located on the territory of Belfort , it shared the fate of this rule. Since 1725 it has formed its own Catholic parish, previously it was part of the church in Brienz.

In 1869 the political community Surava temporarily gave up its independence and merged with the neighboring Brienz to form the municipality of Brienz-Surava . Already in 1883, after only 14 years, the merger partners separated again, and Brienz / Brinzauls and Surava existed again as independent political communities until December 31, 2014. Today, with around 200 inhabitants, Surava is almost twice as large as Brienz / Brinzauls with only 104 inhabitants.

coat of arms

Blazon : Divided by silver (white) with a blue dragon pierced by a silver lance, and red with a silver river ribbon

The arrangement of the heraldic figures makes the name of the former community clear: Above the water of the Albula, the dragon as an attribute of St. George (saint) , the local church patron . The coat of arms colors come from the coat of arms of the Vazer.

population

languages

The traditional language of the inhabitants is Surmeir , a local dialect of Romansh . In 1888, 82% of the population were still speaking Romansh. But by 1910 this had fallen to 64%. Thereafter the language situation stabilized to some extent until 1941 (59%). Since then, Romansh has steadily lost its importance. While there was still a stalemate in 1970 with 91 German speakers and 90 Romansh speakers, the German language has now gained a clear preponderance. The following table shows the development over the past decades:

Languages in Surava
languages	1980 census		1990 census		2000 census
languages	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of
German	116	60.42%	161	76.67%	196	78.40%
Romansh	66	34.38%	45	21.43%	27	10.80%
Italian	10	5.21%	2	0.95%	4th	1.60%
Residents	192	100%	210	100%	250	100%

Origin and nationality

Of the 200 inhabitants at the end of 2005, 188 (= 94%) were Swiss citizens.

economy

Due to the water power of the Mulognbach , Surava developed into a small industrial location with a rusk factory, a forge, a pottery, a match factory, a mill and a dye works. Even that was here glass wool invented and patented. Imaginative Suravners / Suravers also built the first Swiss skate rink here.

Attractions

Surava train station

Catholic church Son Gieri (St. Georg) from 1611. The coat of arms of the dragon slayer was placed above the church portal. The side altars are from 1662.
Crap Furo , the geometric center of the canton of Graubünden. This rock tower made of soft limestone 100 m high in the south of Surava points with its imposing appearance to the top of the 3,159 m high Piz Mitgel .
The station building of the Surava train station, almost original from 1903, was voted the most beautiful train station in Europe in 2004.

Skateline

Since 2002 the village has had the first skateline in Switzerland, an ice rink that leads with a slight incline from Alvaneu-Bad to Surava in the valley. The skateline is three kilometers long, between 1.50 and 2.50 meters wide and overcomes a height of 40 meters. It leads through a forest along the Albula , has a number of curves and sometimes a slight incline, which makes ice skating easy. The railway is a hiking trail in summer, which is sprayed with the water of the Albula in winter. Since the valley section in question is usually in the shade in winter, the temperature is correspondingly low. A shuttle bus leads from the finish back to the start in Alvaneu.

Personalities

Peter Surava , born as Hans Werner Hirsch, was a Swiss journalist and writer. In the early summer of 1995, Peter Hirsch-Surava was made an honorary citizen of the Surava community.

literature

Jürg Simonett: Surava. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Erwin Poeschel : The art monuments of the canton Graubünden II. The valleys of Herrschaft, Prättigau, Davos, Schanfigg, Churwalden, Albula valley (= art monuments of Switzerland. Volume 9). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 1937. DNB 811066703 .
Reto Crameri jun., Guido Casutt: Paperback about Surava. 2004.

Web links

Commons : Surava - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Skateline

[1] Skateline