District of Rhäzüns



	The District of Rhäzüns reaches from the gorge of 
Versam across the terrace of Bonaduz and Rhäzüns on the left 
bank of the Hinter Rhine as far as the narrow passage at 
Rothenbrunnen; on the right bank of the Rhine it includes the 
territory of the commune of Domat/ Ems, from the Hinter Rhine 
between Reichenau and the castle of Räzüns as far as the 
village of Felsberg.

	The name Rhäzüns is today written with an " h " when 
referring to the village and the district; it is written 
without an " h " when referring historically to the castle and 
its lords.  The name refers to the castle rock, and is 
connected with the word Raetiodunum-castle of the Raetians.

	The geographical importance of the territory is 
obvious.  It is here that the Lukmanier route branches off from 
the so-called lower road to the Splügen and Bernadin passes.  
It is therefore not surprising that finds from various 
prehistoric epochs have been made at several places.  In recent 
years a large late Antique burial ground was discovered outside 
Bonaduz.  In view of the geographical importance and the 
various separate finds, it may be taken for granted that the 
district was inhabited at the time of the Romans.

	The first documentary evidence for Ems is to be found 
in Tello's Testament of 765, for Räzüns in a document of the 
Charlemagne Empire dating from the first half of the 9th 
century, and for Bonaduz in a document dating from the year 
900, circa.

	There is no historical evidence of how the Lords of 
Räzüns, the masters during the Middle Ages, came into 
possession of the land.  The first mention of the family is of 
one Arnoldus de Ruzunne, who appears as a witness in a contract 
of purchase in 1139.  Later, members of the family appear more 
frequently as important functionaries in the documents.  Their 
possessions grew constantly, and were administered from the 
castle bearing their name, first mentioned in 1288.  They had 
to defend their property against other lords, such as the 
Bishop, the heirs of Vaz, and the Werdenbergs of Sargans.

	By clever support of the rebel subjects of various 
other lords during the feud between the Werdenbergs and the 
Belmonts in 1352, and also by a calculating policy of marriage, 
the family succeeded in obtaining, in addition to Räzüns and 
Bonaduz, the sovereign rights of Felsberg in 1368, and the 
village and castle of Ems in 1380.  With these, the territory 
of Räzüns, in which the lords possessed the full sovereign 
rights, had reached the size at which it remained, as the 
so-called Court of Räzüns, until the districts were newly 
divided.

	In 1395 Ulrich the Powerful joined the Grey League at 
Ilanz, in which the Lord of Räzüns was to be one of the three 
leaders who had the right to nominate the judge at the 
elections taking place once every three years.

	In 1459, after the death of the last Lord of Räzüns, 
who had almost brought his territory to ruin by his part in the 
War of Schams as one of the Black League, Duke Jost Niklas von 
Zollern inherited the sovereign rights and the Räzüns 
territories in the Oberland.  As the family estate of the Duke 
von Zollern was in Swavia, he exchanged Räzüns for the domain 
of Haigerloch in Swavia in 1497, which the Emperor Maximilian 
ceded to him.  Räzüns was given in security to various local 
families: Marmels, Planta, Stamper, and Travers.  In 1695 
Leopold I redeemed the rights, and the territory was 
administered direct from Austria.  The four villages, however, 
formed their own jurisdiction in the Grey League, with their 
own magistrate, and dealt with minor matters themselves.  The 
Emperor had no reason to object to this, as he was not 
primarily interested in the administration of the law, but in 
maintaining Austrian influence in the Grisons with Räzüns as a 
centre.  More than once the castle became a place of refuge for 
politicians from the Grisons, who were persecuted by the French 
party because they were too much in favour of the Emperor.  
Thanks to Räzüns, Austria was able to keep its position within 
the Upper League until the end of the 18th century.

	In the Peace of Vienna in 1809 Napoleon demanded the 
territory, which remained in French hands until 1814.  Then it 
came back to Austria, and at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it 
was given to the Canton of Grisons as a substitute for the 
Valtellina, which was joined to Austrian Lombardy.  It was 
handed over at an official ceremony on the 19th January 1819.

	The villages of Rhäzüns, Bonaduz and Domat/Ems, 
excluding Felsberg which turned Protestant in the 16th century, 
became the district of Rhäzüns.  Today Sutsilvanian-Romansh is 
spoken at Rhäzüns and partly also at Domat/ Ems, whilst German 
is spoken at Bonaduz.

Famous people from Rhäzüns:

	Georg Anton Vieli (1745-1830) was a citizen of Cumbel 
and Rhäzüns.  This eminent statesman was in a leading 
position at the time of the Revolution.  He was president of 
the Syndicate of the Valtellina, Grisons Ambassador at the 
Congress of Rastatt 1797/8, then a member of the provisional 
Government of the Grisons set up by the French General 
Massena.  He was deported as a hostage to Innsbruck by the 
Austrians.  When he was set free in 1801 he became a member of 
the Committee for the Constitution, and was later Supreme judge 
of the Grey League and representative at the Diet.

	Ramun Vieli (1895-1953) was a member of the family of 
Judge Georg Anton, and he became a teacher at the Cantonal 
School of the Grisons after having studied romance philology.  
With his pioneering philological studies he helped in a 
decisive way to " lay the scientific foundations for the 
grammar and lexicography of Sursilvanian Romansh ".

	District Coat of Arms: Gules, St. George mounted in 
silver, killing silver dragon.  Blazonry: The fight with the 
dragon is the most popular of St. George's deeds.  It is 
especially stressed and depicted in St. George's Church at 
Rhäzüns.  St. George is represented as a knight taking part in 
a tournament, on a rampant horse charging and killing the 
dragon.  As St. George's Church, and also its paintings, are of 
far more than local importance, it is understandable that for 
the District of Rhäzüns the fight with the dragon was chosen as 
the coat of arms.  The coat of arms of the court, dating from 
the 18th and 19th centuries, bears in silver St. George 
standing, killing the dragon, beside John the Baptist with the 
flag of the cross.  Colours of the district:  red-white.