District of Ilanz

	The sovereignty of the District of Ilanz (Romansh: Glion) 
reaches from the forest of Flims and the Versam Gorge to the 
Sether Gorge on the left bank of the Rhine (Vorder Rhine), and 
to the boundary between Flond and Obersaxen on the right bank.  
Of all the districts of the Grisons this one has the most 
communities, seventeen altogether, namely: Castrisch, Fellers, 
Flond, Ilanz, Laax, Ladir, Luven, Pitasch, Riein, Ruschein, 
Sagogn, Schleuis, Schnaus, Sevgein, Strada, Valendas, Versam.  
In two cases, Riein and Pitasch, the district pushes into that 
of Lugnez.

	The name Ilanz/Glion goes back to the Celtic it-landa = 
granary, and is therfore characteristic for the fertile basin 
of the valley, which gave the name Gruob, Romansh " foppa " to 
the old community with its court.  This old name is still more 
common today with the local people than the one which was given 
to the district in 1851, taken from the small town of Ilanz, 
which is the economic centre on the main road.

 	A number of finds, and especially the wellknown Bronze 
Age settlement on the " Mutta ", east of St. Remigius Church at 
Fellers, which was discovered in the thirties, are proof of 
prehistoric settlers in the district.

 	In late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages the Gruob 
was the heart of the Vorder Rhine valley (Poeschel).  Here the 
first family of Raetia, the Victorides, possessed fertile land 
at Ilanz and Sagogn, the greater part of which was willed by 
Bishop Tello to the monastery at Disentis in 765.

 	In the late Middle Ages the old Duchy split up into a 
number of small sovereign districts, which by the 14th century 
had all been taken by the Barons of Belmont and united with 
their territory at Lugnez.  The Barons of Belmont had to defend 
these large possessions against the Dukes of 
Werdenberg-Heiligenberg in 1352.

 	After the Belmont family died out, the sovereignty 
passed to Sax-Misox family by marriage, and to the Bishop of 
Chur by purchase in 1483; in 1538 the communes with a court 
bought the sovereign rights.

 	 An exception in the development described was made by 
the commune of the " Free Men of Laax", to which belonged also 
the village of Seewis i.O. Löwenberg and the village of 
Schleuis went their own way when the sovereignty passed from 
the Lords of Löwenberg to the Lords of Werdenberg-Sargans, then 
to the Lords of Lumerins, and finally to the Lords of Mont at 
Villa in 1493, where it remained, with short interruptions, 
until the commune bought the rights in 1803.

 	The neighbouring villages of Versam and Valendas, which 
had been Germanised by the people from Vals after the 14th 
century, and which had originally belonged to the people of 
Vaz, joined the court of the Free Men of Laax in the course of 
the 14th century, and later that of Gruob.

 	 When in 1395 the Grey League was founded at Ilanz, 
both Duke Albrecht of Sax-Misox and, a little later, Duke 
Johann of Werdenberg-Sargans joined it, each with his people 
from the Gruob and from Lugnez.  The small town of Ilanz, whose 
privileged position was laid down in the Charter of Truns in 
1424, was the seat of the meetings of the General Assembly, 
i.e. of the highest authority of the Free State of the Grisons, 
an honour which was shared with  Chur and Davos.

	The time of the Reformation turned the Gruob into a 
territory where the confessions had equal rights.  The 
religious disputes at Ilanz, which were to have a decisive 
influence on the Reformation in the whole of the Grisons, as 
well as the charters drawn up at Ilanz in 1524 and 1526 
supporting the Reformation and legalizing a number of social 
and political claims, show clearly the importance of the 
capital of the Gruob at that time.

	During the years of the Free State the leading family 
of the Gruob, the Schmids of Grünegg, produced a number of 
influencial politicians and officers, who rose to high ranks 
abroad.

	According to the ancient division of the country the jurisdiction of 
Laax, to which belonged the villages of Laax and Seewis, had belonged 
to the High Court of Waltensburg.  In 1851 it was joined to the old 
communes of Gruob and Schleuis, which together with Tenna had formed 
the High Court of Gruob, and all three of them then formed the 
District of Ilanz; Tenna, for obvious reasons, was joined to the 
District of Safien.

	In most villages of the Gruob SursilvanianRomansh is 
spoken.  In Versam and Valendas, being communes settled by the 
people from Vals, German is spoken.  In earlier times Romansh, 
Ilanz has today become the economic centre and its language is 
predominantly German.

Famous men from the Gruob:

	Stepban Gabriel (1570-1638) from Fetan, was a preacher 
for more than 30 years at Ilanz.  Being an energetic fighter 
for the education of young people, he issued a catechism in 
1611.  In this work, as well as in the translation of the New 
Testament by his son Luzi Gabriel, the Sursilvanian written 
language which resulted from the Reformation was fixed for many 
centuries.

	Christoffel Schmid von Grünegg (1671-1730) from Ilanz, 
succeeded his father as mayor of the Gruob at the age of 15.  
After some years' service in the office of the Valtellina, he 
entered the Dutch service in 1693.  In 1713 he helped to bring 
about the defensive treaty between the Grisons and the 
Netherlands.  In 1727 he was appointed Major General and Chief 
of the Dutch infantry.

	District Coat of Arms: Silver, aslant to the right 
green river (Rhine) flowing through golden crown.  Blazonry: It 
is the traditional seal and coat of arms of the jurisdiction of 
Ilanz/Gruob.   District colours: white-green-yellow.