Brienz/Brinzauls () is an abandoned village and 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 Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

of Graubünden (Grisons) 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 Alvaschein ( Romansh: Alvaschagn) is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinz ...

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

Stierva Stierva is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls and Surava merged to ...

Tiefencastel Tiefencastel () is a village and a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls a ...

Alvaneu Alvaneu ('' Romansh: Alvagni'') is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls and ...

, Brienz/Brinzauls and

Surava Surava is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Albula (district), Albula in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Switz ...

merged to form the new municipality of

Albula/Alvra Albula/Alvra is a municipality in the Albula Region in the canton of Graubünden (Grisons) in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015, the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls, and Surava merged ...

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013 The majority of the village's former population speaks

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

, with a significant Romansh-speaking minority.

History

Brienz/Brinzauls is first mentioned around 840 as ''Brienzola''. By the 12th century, the village was an economic center for the

Bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Diocese of Chur in Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

'' of Belfort. Between 1869 and 1883, Brienz/Brinzauls and

were united into a single political municipality. In 1874, a fire damaged or destroyed much of the village. The village church was first mentioned in 840. In 1519, St. Calixtus became the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of this church. In 1526, it separated from the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Lantsch/Lenz Lantsch/Lenz (, Romansh language, Romansh: ''Lantsch'') is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Albula Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Graubünden, Grisons in Switzerland. The majority of its population is Germa ...

to become a parish. In 1725, Surava separated from Brienz/Brinzauls to form its own parish. In 1870–73, the

Landwasser The Landwasser is a river in canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. Its origin was Lake Davos before this was turned into a reservoir for a power station. Nowadays it is prolonged by the creek Flüelabach at its source and changes its name near ...

strasse was built which helped connect the village to the rest of the country. Beginning in the 1960s, the number of local farmers began to drop, however agriculture still remains important. In 1990, about 43% of all jobs in the municipality were in agriculture. In 1860, the entire population spoke Romansh. By 1990, it had dropped to only 58%.

Glacier melt and landslide concerns

On 9 May 2023, residents were ordered to evacuate the village due to a determination by geologists that of rock from the mountain above was expected to collapse into the valley that includes the village. At that time, the population of the village was less than 100 residents. The entire village sits upon a layer of saturated soft-rock permeated by glacial melt from the mountains above. The growth of and consequential increase in pressure on the water deposit below has led the 150-meter thick layer above to slide southwards at a rate of roughly 1.5 meters annually. This had frequently caused damage to and the destruction of infrastructure in the region. Areas at higher elevations on the mountain to the north are moving at a far faster rate of 3 to 10 meters per year. Landslides and falling rocks are thus a frequent hazard for residents and the Albula rail line, which services the village; it is estimated that nearly 10 billion cubic meters of rock are moving in its direction. A researcher at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

attributed the impending collapse–expected in May 2023 to occur within a week to 24 days–to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

that is driving

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

melt in the Alps. Simon Löw, emeritus professor of Engineering Geology at

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

, disputed a link to climate change, citing the lack of thawing permafrost and any correlation between annual rainfall and the speed at which the slope slides. Two roads and the railway line were also closed. There was, as predicted, a massive rockfall on the night of 15–16 June 2023 which stopped just before the village, with no damage reported to the buildings. Municipal officials ended the evacuation of the village on 3 July, while emphasizing that future evacuations could remain necessary.

2024 evacuation

In 2024, the movement of an additional 1.2 million cubic meters of rock was detected. It was thought that the relatively slow movement of the rock mass could give villagers additional time, in the range of several months, but a sudden collapse, like that of 2023, was not ruled out; such an event would give no time for the inhabitants of the village to flee. Efforts were made in 2024 to reduce pressure on the deposit prior to its eventual collapse. Civil engineers sought to drain the meltwater deposit by tunneling underneath both layers and the mountain above. On November 9, 2024, it was announced that there was a serious fear of the collapse of about 5 million cubic meters of land, and an urgent need for an emergency evacuation of the village. A new evacuation for the villages 91 residents, as well as their pets and livestock, was ordered to be carried out by November 17th at the latest. Personal belongings and the

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum, it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate struct ...

of the village's 500 year old church were transported out of the village as well. Since then, access to the village and its immediate environs has been prohibited, and it has been classified as a " red zone" by cantonal authorities. In December 2024,

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and cantonal officials from

Grisons The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; *Romansh language, Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...

announced that they were prepared to offer 90% of the financing necessary to relocate the village's population. Although the 2023 evacuation lasted only 51 days, this one is expected to last far longer, and may possibly be permanent. Even if, in the future, the village is deemed safe for public access, funds will be available for those who do not feel comfortable in their return.

Geography

Before the merger, Brienz/Brinzauls had a total area of .Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 15 January 2015 Of this area, 22.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 50.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (24.3%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The village is located north of the Albula River on the road from

Lenzerheide Lenzerheide ( Romansh: ''Lai'') is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village lies in the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein. Th ...

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

. It is a ''Haufendorf'' (an irregular, unplanned and quite closely packed village, built around a central square) on a terrace to the north and above the river. It consists of the village of Brienz/Brinzauls and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Vazerol at the

Julier Pass The Julier Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass dal Güglia'', German: ''Julierpass'', Italian ''Passo del Giulia'') (elev. 2284 m) is a mountain pass in the Albula Alps of Switzerland. It connects the Engadin valley with central Graubünden. At its summit, ...

. Until 1996, Brienz/Brinzauls was known as Brienz (GR).Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009

Demographics

The historical population is given in the following table: Brienz/Brinzauls had a population (as of 2013) of 128. , 1.9% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -12.6%. Most of the population () speaks German (68.4%), with the rest speaking Romansh (31.6%). , the gender distribution of the population was 50.0% male and 50.0% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Brienz/Brinzauls is; 14 people or 12.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. Eight people or 6.8% are 10 to 14, and two people or 1.7% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 12 people or 10.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. Nineteen people or 16.2% are 30 to 39, 16 people or 13.7% are 40 to 49, and five people or 4.3% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 24 people or 20.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 15 people or 12.8% are 70 to 79, there are two people or 1.7% who are 80 to 89.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election, the most popular party was the SVP which received 50.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (30%), the SPS (12.5%) and the FDP (6.9%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Brienz/Brinzauls, about 66.1% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

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 ...

''). Brienz/Brinzauls has an unemployment rate of 0.72%. , there were 10 people employed in the primary economic sector and about four businesses involved in this sector. Six people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

and there are two businesses in this sector. Four 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 two businesses in this sector.

References

External links

* * Salome Müller: ''Abwärts'' - Untertitel: ''Seit Jahrtausenden rutscht der Berg über dem Dorf Brienz in den Schweizer Alpen. Und das Dorf rutscht mit. Bald aber droht ein gewaltiger Bergsturz, der den Ort verschütten könnte.'' (germ: Downwards) In: Die Zeit (Bezahlartikel) Nr. 17/2023, p. 33 on 19 April 2023
Audio-Version (12 min.) and online
Cit: … ''Frühwarnsystem kündigt jetzt den Ernstfall an. … bis Ende des Jahres'' (German: Rockfall Clash will/may come in 2023 and destroy … . Look at

Landslide classification There have been known various classifications of landslides. Broad definitions include forms of mass movement (geology), mass movement that narrower definitions exclude. For example, the ''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology'' distin ...

.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brienz Brinzauls Albula/Alvra Former municipalities of Graubünden