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 Surava merged to form the new municipality of Albula/Alvra.[1]
Alvaneu | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Alvaneu  | |
  Alvaneu  Alvaneu | |
| Coordinates: 46°41′N 9°39′E / 46.683°N 9.650°E | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Graubünden |
| District | Albula |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Thomas Kollegger |
| Area | |
• Total | 35.68 km2 (13.78 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,181 m (3,875 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
• Total | 419 |
| • Density | 12/km2 (30/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (Central European Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time) |
| Postal code(s) | 7492 |
| SFOS number | 3511 |
| ISO 3166 code | CH-GR |
| Surrounded by | Arosa, Brienz/Brinzauls, Filisur, Lantsch/Lenz, Schmitten, Surava, Tiefencastel |
| Website | www SFSO statistics |
On 20 March 2007 Peter Martin Wettler, a media expert and resident of Zurich was appointed Prince of Belfort by the village's authorities.[2]
History
editAlvaneu is first mentioned in 1244 as Aluenude. In 1530 it was mentioned as Allweneü.[3]
Geography
edit
Before the merger, Alvaneu had a total area of 35.7 km2 (13.8 sq mi).[4] Of this area, 27% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (38.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[4]
The former municipality is located in the Belfort sub-district of the Albula district. It is located on a terrace above the Albula river. It consists of the village of Alvaneu (Alvaneu-Dorf) and Alvaneu-Bad on the valley floor. The municipality also includes the settlement of Aclas d'Alvagni as well as the alpine settlements of Creusch and Ramoz.
Demographics
editAlvaneu had a population (as of 2013) of 403.[4] As of 2007[update], 7.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -6.2%.[4]
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 42% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (25.1%), the SPS (22.8%) and the FDP (7.9%).[4]
In Alvaneu about 69.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).[4]
Alvaneu has an unemployment rate of 0.27%. As of 2005[update], there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 16 businesses involved in this sector. 37 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 4 businesses in this sector. 124 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 23 businesses in this sector.[4]
The historical population is given in the following table:[3][5]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1838 | 362 |
| 1850 | 354 |
| 1880 | 314 |
| 1900 | 382 |
| 1930 | 441 |
| 1950 | 475 |
| 1960 | 396 |
| 1970 | 421 |
| 1980 | 379 |
| 1990 | 380 |
| 2000 | 407 |
Languages
editThe traditional language of the population until the middle of the 19th century was Romansh. However, in 1880, only 80.1% of the inhabitants spoke Romansch as their native language. This erosion continued (1910: 68.06%, 1941: 56.0%, 1970: 47.03%). 1960 was the last census that counted a Romansch-speaking majority.
| Language | Census of 1980 | Census of 1990 | Census of 2000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| German | 189 | 49.87% | 230 | 60.53% | 308 | 76.43% |
| Romansh | 157 | 41.42% | 109 | 28.68% | 68 | 16.87% |
| Italian | 30 | 7.92% | 28 | 7.37% | 14 | 3.47% |
| Population | 379 | 100% | 380 | 100% | 403 | 100% |
Although 31% still speak some Romansch, German is now the only official language for municipality business.
Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (76.4%), with Rhaeto-Romance being second most common (16.9%) and Italian being third ( 3.5%).[4]
References
edit- ^ Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German) accessed 2 January 2013
- ^ Leybold-Johnson, Isobel (March 20, 2007). "Mountain village converts to a princedom". Swissinfo. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
- ^ a b Alvaneu in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Portraits of communes". Federal Statistical Office (Switzerland). Archived from the original on 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
- ^ Graubunden in Numbers Archived 2009-09-24 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 21 September 2009
External links
edit
- Gemeinde Alvaneu—official site of the municipality (in German)
- Bad Alvaneu—thermal baths (in German)
- Alvaneu in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.