Tujetsch (; ) is a

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

Surselva Region Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.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 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 ...

. It is the westernmost municipality of the canton, connected to

Urseren The Urseren (also ''Ursern'') is the valley of the upper Reuss in Uri, Switzerland, running southwest to northeast, from Realp to Hospental and Andermatt. Separated from the main valley of Uri, it connects to the Valais via the Furkapass, ...

(

canton of Uri The canton of Uri ( ; ; ; ) is one of the cantons of switzerland, 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss ...

) by the

Oberalp Pass Oberalp Pass ( or ''Cuolm d'Ursera''; ) (2044 meters above sea level) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the cantons of Graubünden and Uri between Disentis/Mustér and Andermatt. Winter closure The public road that crosses t ...

History

The upper Surselva was first settled in the 9th century, following the foundation of

Disentis Abbey Disentis Abbey () is a Benedictine monastery in the Grisons, Canton of Grisons in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis () grew up. Early history Formerly the date of the foundation of this abbey, attributed to the local s ...

, as part of the '' Cadi'' (feudal possessions of the abbey). In the 12th century, the

Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Swiss Alps, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser peopl ...

migrated across Oberalp Pass. Sedrun parish church was first consecrated in 1205. Both Romansh and Walser communities lived exclusively in

dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a num ...

s well into the early modern period. The Walser were mostly Romanized, but some Alemannic toponymy remains on the left bank of the Rhine. In the 18th century, villages formed in the vicinity of parish churches, and most of the 66 scattered settlements recorded in the 16th century were abandoned. Sedrun became the main settlement and municipal capital. The economic focus shifted from alpine agriculture to the production of

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium-rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in sub ...

stoves and pottery. Population fell to below 900 people in the second half of the 19th century due to emigration. The development of the

tourism industry Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

in the first half of the 20th century resulted in moderate population growth, to 1,122 as of 1950. Ski tourism and hydroelectricity were developed in the 1950s to 1960s. Tujetsch was never the name of a village. As the name of the valley, ''Thiuesch'' is first recorded in 1237. The local variety of the

Romansh language Romansh ( ; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch) is a Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance and/or Rhaeto-Romance languages, Rhaeto-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the ...

is markedly different from standard

Sursilvan Sursilvan (; also ''romontsch sursilvan'' ; Sursilvan, Vallader, Surmiran, Sutsilvan, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''sursilvan''; Puter: ''sursilvaun'') is a group of dialects of the Romansh language spoken in the Swiss district of Surselva. It is ...

and is sometimes listed as a separate dialect, ''

Tuatschin Tuatschin is a variant of the Sursilvan dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacula ...

''. The Tavetsch breed of sheep closely resembled Neolithic era livestock. The breed was extinct in 1954, and a

breeding back Breeding back is a form of artificial selection by the deliberate selective breeding of domestication, domestic (but not exclusively) animals, in an attempt to achieve an animal breed with a phenotype that resembles a wild type ancestor, usually ...

project was initiated in 1984. The official name of the municipality was ''Tavetsch'' until 1976.

Geography

Tujetsch has an area, , of . Of this area, 25.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 10.8% is forested. 1.4% is settled (buildings or roads) while the remainder (62%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Disentis sub-district of the Surselva district, after 2017 it was part of the Surselva Region.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz – Mutationsmeldungen 2016
accessed 16 February 2017 It is located at the entrance to the

and at the

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

of the

Vorderrhein The Vorderrhein (; ; ; ; ), or Anterior Rhine, is the left of the two initial tributaries of the Rhine (the other being the '' Hinterrhein''). It is longer than the ''Hinterrhein'', but has a lower discharge than the latter at their confluence, w ...

river. It consists of the village of Sedrun, the sections of Tschamut, Selva, Rueras/Dieni, Camischolas/Zarcuns, Gonda and Bugnei on the left bank of the Vorderrhein, and on the right bank are the settlements of Surrein and Cavorgia. Until 1920 there was no direct route between the village halves on each bank of the Vorderrhein. Until 1976 Tujetsch was known as Tavetsch.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009

Demographics

Tujetsch has a population (as of ) of . , 29.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 25.1%. Most of the population () speaks Romansh (66.2%), with German being second most common (19.7%) and Italian being third (2.6%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 4 November 2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 60.2% male and 39.8% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Tujetsch is; 141 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 181 teenagers or 11.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 189 people or 12.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 251 people or 16.5% are between 30 and 39, 243 people or 15.9% are between 40 and 49, and 209 people or 13.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 149 people or 9.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 108 people or 7.1% are between 70 and 79, there are 45 people or 3.0% who are between 80 and 89 there are 8 people or 0.5% who are between 90 and 99, and 1 person who is 100 or more.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 55.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (27%), the SP (11.6%) and the FDP (4.6%). In Tujetsch about 59.9% 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 ...

''). Tujetsch has an unemployment rate of 1.57%. , there were 56 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 26 businesses involved in this sector. 177 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 19 businesses in this sector. 389 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 66 businesses in this sector. From the , 1,222 or 80.1% 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 ...

, while 142 or 9.3% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. Of the rest of the population, there are 23 individuals (or about 1.51% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 6 individuals (or about 0.39% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 63 (or about 4.13% of the population) who are

Muslims 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 ...

. There are 5 individuals (or about 0.33% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 31 (or about 2.03% of the population) belong to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

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 33 individuals (or about 2.16% of the population) did not answer the question. The historical population is given in the following table: : Population increase during construction of a power plant.

Climate

The climate borders between

humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

(Köppen Dfb) and

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

or temperate highland (Köppen Cfb), with cool summers, slightly cold winters and year round precipitation.

Notable people

Felix Maria Diogg Felix Maria Diogg (1 July 1762 – 19 February 1834) was a Swiss painter. Born in Andermatt, as an adult he made Rapperswil his home. Diogg is considered the most important Swiss Classicism portraitist. Life and work Born as the son of Kathari ...

(1762–1834), Classicism portrait painter

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{Authority control Municipalities of Graubünden Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Populated places on the Rhine