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/Brinzauls and Surava merged to form the new municipality of Albula/Alvra.

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.

Before the merger, Alvaschein had a total area of as of 2007, 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 in Alvaschein Language 1980 Census 1990 Census 2000 Census Number Percent Number Percent Number PercentGerman 73 48.99% 64 44.13% 82 53.25%Romansh 71 47.65% 67 46.21% 62 40.26%Italian 5 3.36% 2 1.38% 5 3.25%Population 149 100% 145 100% 154 100%

At the time of the Reformation, 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, 14.94% are Protestant, 1.95% are Orthodox Christians; 2.6% are Muslim, 1.95% are atheist, and 4.55% did not respond.

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 and Serbia and Montenegro.

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%). 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.

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. The village church is named St. Joseph and was erected between 1653 and 1657.