Alvaschein ( Romansh: Alvaschagn) is a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls and Surava merged to form the new municipality of Albula/Alvra.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013

Coat of arms

Description: divided between black and silver (white); a broken silver key on the black ground, and a black carpenter's axe on the silver ground. The key and axe are references to the church patrons: St. Peter in Mistail and St. Joseph in Alvaschein.

Geography

Before the merger, Alvaschein had a total area of . Of this area, 31.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 58.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The municipality is located in the Alvaschein sub-district of the Albula District. It is located along the route to the Julier and Albula Passes on a terrace which is north-east of the Albula river and the Stausee Solis reservoir.

Neighboring municipalities

Alvaschein borders on Brienz/Brinzauls, Lantsch/Lenz, Stierva, Tiefencastel, and

Vaz/Obervaz Vaz/Obervaz is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Albula Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The municipality of Vaz/Obervaz includes the following villages: Lain, Muldain, Zorten, Lenzerhe ...

Population

Population growth

The population was relatively stable in the second half of the 19th century (lowest value: 137; highest value: 156). The all-time high came in 1900, when the population reached 276. However, many of these were laborers working on the Abula train line. For the same reason (construction) the population was above average in 1970. Between 1900 and 1930 the population rose slightly, remained stable for two decades, and then fell in the 1980s. Since then the population has oscillated about 150. Alvaschein had a population (as of 2013) of 142.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 15 January 2015 , 4.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -17.1%.

Languages

The original majority language was Romansh; today only a minority still speak it. Most of the population () speaks German (53.2%), with Romansh being second most common (40.3%) and Italian being third ( 3.2%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 24-Sep-2009

Religion

At the time of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the population of Alvaschein belonged to those municipalities in the canton that remained true to the "old teachings." Today (as of 2000) 73.38% are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 14.94% are

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, 1.95% are Orthodox Christians; 2.6% are

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 1.95% are

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 4.55% did not respond.

Origin-nationality

Of the 149 inhabitants at the end of 2004, 144 (96.64%) were Swiss citizens. At the time of the last census 92.86% were Swiss citizens, of whom eight were dual citizens. The few immigrants come from no less than eight foreign countries, including, most prominently,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

Politics

The current Municipal President is Hans Peter Salzburger. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 39.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (29.4%), the FDP (17.8%) and the SPS (13.6%).

Education

In Alvaschein about 56.1% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

'').

Economy

In 2000/2001 there were 17 work places in Alvaschein, at which 50 people earned their income. By economic sector (# of work places/ # of employees): Agriculture and Forestry (7/17), Industry and Trade (3/20), services (7/13). Alvaschein has an unemployment rate of 0.35%. , there were 14 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 6 businesses involved in this sector. 14 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 2 businesses in this sector. 21 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

, with 8 businesses in this sector.

History

The first mention of the municipality came in 1154, on the occasion of the construction of nunnery named Alvasinis. It became subordinate to the Princes-Bishop of Chur in 1282. In 1367 it belonged to the municipality of Gotteshausband. The inhabitants finally bought their freedom from the Princes-Bishop in 1732. Nearly the whole community was destroyed in a fire in 1745. It has been the seat of the district of the same name since 1851.

Attractions

The biggest attraction is the Carolingian-era church of St. Peter Mistail, which is a monument of cultural and historical meaning to Europe and is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 24-Sep-2009 The village church is named St. Joseph and was erected between 1653 and 1657.

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvaschein Albula/Alvra Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden Former municipalities of Graubünden