The District of Belfort

	This district includes the whole side of the lower part 
of the river Landwasser, and the central part of the Albula 
valley from the Tieftobel west of Wiesen up to and including 
the terrace at Lenz.  Those parts of the territory of the 
communes of Surava and Alvaneu lying to the left of the Albula 
are also included in the district, as well as the Wälschtobel 
(part of Alveneu), which flows into the Plessur.

	Politically the district comprises the communes of 
Alveneu, Brienz, Lantsch/Lenz, Schmitten and Surava.

	The name Belfort is derived from the Latin word 
"bellus" meaning beautiful, and "fortis" meaning strong, and 
refers primarily to the stronghold at Belfort.

	The first prehistoric settlement (late La Tène period) 
in the northern part of the Grisons was discovered on the Bot 
da Loz near Lenz.  Coins dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries 
A.D. give proof of Roman occupation.

	At the time of Charlemagne the whole territory of the 
present-day district of Belfort belonged to the Ministerium 
Impetinis in Upper Rhaetia.  Lenz, also referred to in 
documents dating from the Middle Ages as Oberlenz to 
distinguish it from Niederlenz-Haldenstein, was formerly the 
point where the Schin/Albula pass crossed the important 
Julier/Septimer pass route.  The Imperial Register of this 
period shows that at that time there was not only a royal 
domain at Lenz, but also two taverns.  There was also a customs 
house for the Septimer and Albula traffic, as well as many 
people of the League of God's House - who were under the 
jurisdiction of the bishop, the master of the Septimer route.

	At the peak of the Middle Ages the territory of the 
present-day communes of Brienz, Lenz and Surava, which had 
belonged to the Lords of Belfort until the 12th century, was in 
the possession of the Barons of Vaz, as was the fortress at 
Belfort.  In a document dated 1222 it was referred to as "in 
Belfort castro meo".  The Barons of Vaz were also able to take 
possession of Alvaneu, Schmitten and Wiesen.  After the line 
died out in 1338 the territory passed to Friedrich VII of 
Toggenburg through his wife Kunigunde of Vaz.  This line died 
out in 1436 and the territory then passed to the Montfort 
Tettnangs who, because of financial difficulties, sold it to 
Duke Sigismund of Austria in 1466.  The duke in turn sold the 
territory to the bailiff, Ulrich of Matsch, but bought it back 
in 1479.  The Beeli family of Davos acted as the Montfort's 
under-bailiffs at Belfort.  They remained at the fortress as 
lessees until 9th March 1499, when it was stormed and burnt to 
the ground by the people of the Grisons during the Swabian 
wars.  
	
	At the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th 
century Walsers from Davos settled at Schmitten and Wiesen.  
Their legal position was the same as that of the main colony at 
Davos, with which it was originally connected.

	In 1436 the land and court of Belfort joined the League 
of Ten Jurisdictions, with the magistrate Joos Mallet as its 
representative.  Eventually the Romansh people of Alveneu 
secured for themselves the same privileges as the Walsers at 
Schmitten and Wiesen, and in 1614 Inner Belfort, with Alvaneu, 
Smitten and Wiesen, separated from Outer Belfort, Brenz, Lenz 
and Surava, and formed their own court.

	During the Reformation only Wiesen (which is today part 
of the district of Bergün) became Protestant.  All the other 
communes remained true to the Catholic faith-despite despite 
the fact that the remainder of the League of Ten Jurisdictions 
became Protestant.

	The rights held by Austria in the two jurisdictions 
were finally purchased in 1657.

	The bill on the division of the canton in 1851 
separated the only Protestant village, Wiesen, from its 
historic connections with the jurisdiction of Belfort, and, for 
understandable reasons, attached it to the Protestant district 
of Bergün.

	The economy of the territory is bound up historically 
with mining.  As can be seen from the name, the mines were 
situated in the territory of the commune of Schmitten 
(Romansh-Ferrera).  There is proof that the mines were worked 
from the 14th to the 18th century with varying degrees of 
success.  Lenz was a junction of the transit traffic, as 
already mentioned, and the unloading, transport and customs 
rights not only brought in a good revenue but also led to 
quarrels with neighbours and caused worries regarding road 
rolls.

	With the exception of Schmitten, the former Walser 
settlement, where German is spoken, the language of the 
district of Belfort is the Surmir dialect of Romansh.

A famos personality of Belfort.

	Josef Liam (1847-1927) was, like many other men from 
the Grisons, originally a confectioner in various Italian 
towns.  On his return he started a mill at Surava, and in 1886 
he opened a large bakery.  He succeeded in making a new and 
special type of biscuit for soldiers' iron rations, and he 
patented his invention.  The War Office commissioned him to 
deliver the army with this article, and he was the sole 
supplier for over 30 years.  He was full of initiative and 
ideas, and may be regarded as one of the industrial pioneers of 
the Grisons.  Even at that time he imported machinery from 
abroad, in order to be able to keep pace with technical 
developments.

	District Coat of Arms:  Divided, top azure, molet gold, 
bottom silver, cross gules.  Blazonry:  The coat of arms points 
to the two most important churches in the former jurisdiction 
of Belfort.  St. Mauritius at Alveneu is for Inner Belfort, and 
St. Maria at Lenz for Outer Belfort.  The symbols of the star 
(stella maris, stella matutina) for Mary, and the red cross for 
Mauritius, stand for the importance of the two churches.  The 
colours- blue silver and red -go back to the coat of arms of 
the Barons of Vaz, blue and gold to that of the League of Ten 
Jurisdictions to which the court of Belfort belonged.  District 
colours: blue-white-red.