District of Thusis



	The District of Thusis comprises the whole left bank of 
the Hinter Rhine Valley (Heinzenberg), from the Viamala as far 
as the Rothenbrunnen Gorge, including the communes of Cazis, 
Flerden, Masein, Portein,  Präz, Sarn, Tartar, Thusis, 
Tschappina and Urmein.

	According to some experts the name Thusis is derived 
from the Celtic river name " tauso " (cf. Töss in Canton 
Zurich), by which the HinterRhine is meant; other experts 
reject this derivation. 	

	The most important pre-historic find is the settlement 
on the Petrus Hill near Cazis, which belongs to the Neolithic 
period-the so-called Horgen period of 2000 BC.  The finds on 
the Cresta near Cazis belong to the early and middle Bronze Age 
periods.

	The historical importance of the territory is shown by 
the fact that the main Roman road to the Splügen and San 
Bernadin Passes undoubtedly crossed through this territory.

	In the Middle Ages the Barons of Vaz held the sovereign 
rights, which were inherited by the Dukes of Werdenberg-Sargans 
in 1338.  In 1383 Duke Johann sold the bailiwick at Heinzenberg 
to his brother-in-law, Ulrich Brun the Powerful of Räzüns.  
After the death of the last Lord of Räzüns in 1459 the Lords of 
Werdenberg-Sargans again took possession until, in 1479, the 
Bishop of Chur took over.  In 1709 the communes bought the 
remaining rights from him.

	The greater part of the property at Heinzenberg 
belonged to the convent at Cazis, which was founded in the year 
700 by Victor, Bishop of Chur.  The people who had immigrated 
from the upper Rhine Valley (Walsers) founded the scattered 
settlements at Tschappina, on the convent's mountain domains; 
the first documents of the settlement date from 1398.

	In 1395 the people fom the Heinzenberg, together with 
the people from Räzüns, joined the Grey League at Ilanz and 
formed the three jurisdictions: Thusis with the villages of 
Cazis, Masein, Tartar and Thusis; Heinzenberg with the villages 
of Flerden, Portein, Präz, Sarn and Urmein; and finally 
Tschappina with its own court.

	The new faith, preached from Thusis by Blasius Prader 
and Christian Hartmann, took a hold in the whole district, but 
not, however, in Cazis, which held true to the old belief, 
probably because of the influence of the monastery.  Eventually 
the convent community died out, as a result of the law against 
the acceptance of novices laid down in 1526 in the Articles of 
Ilanz.  In 1623 the convent was restored, but it was given back 
only a small portion of its possessions, which had been 
distributed to the communes of the Grey League after the death 
of the last abbess in 1570.

	On the Heinzenberg, as well as at Domleschg on the 
other side of the river, there were bitter party fights during 
the conflicts in the Grisons, which reached a climax at the 
arbitrary proceedings of the High Court of Thusis in 1618.

	The quieter times which followed after the middle of 
the 17th century led to new prosperity.  Already in 1473 Duke 
Jörg of Werdenberg-Sargans and the Heinzenberg communes had 
decided to open up a road and the path between Thusis and 
Schams, called Fyamala, and in so doing had laid the foundation 
for the flourishing trade lasting, with short interruptions, 
for centuries, and bringing prosperity to the market town of 
Thusis and the other communities of the Heinzenberg.  The 
opening of the railway through the Gotthard in 1882 brought 
this prosperity to an end.

	The Rhine correction, carried out between 1830-1834, 
was one of the greatest achievements of the first half of the 
19th century.  For centuries the material carried down by the 
torrents of the Nolla had been a problem for the people of 
Thusis, but the water-correction enabled them to win valuable 
arable land.

	As a result of the reorganisation of the canton in 
1851, the jurisdiction of Safien was taken away from the High 
Court of Thusis, and the three remaining jurisdictions, Thusis, 
Heinzenberg and Tschappina, were amalgamated in the District of 
Thusis.

	Most of the communes on the Heinzenberg are completely 
or predominantly German-speaking.  The Romansh dialect is 
Sutsilvanian.



Well-known personalities
from the District of Thusis:

Richard La Nicca (1794-1833) from Sarn, for many years held a 
leading position in the construction of the alpine roads in the 
Grisons.  He fathered the idea of the Rhine correction at 
Domleschg, and afterwards took a leading part in work on 
various other river corrections, including those in the Jura.  
Not less important were his plans and the work he carried out 
with such energy for a railway across the Alps in the Grisons.

Emil Camenish (1874-1958) was a clergyman from Heinzenberg in 
the Gruob.  He wrote a study of the commune of Tschappina, as 
well as a number of historical studies of the Reformation.  His 
greatest work was the History of the Reformation in the 
Grisons, which he was commissioned to write for the 
Evangelic-Raetian Synode.


District Coat of arms : Gules, a lion rampant in silver.  
Blazonry: With the reorganisation of the canton into various 
districts in 1851, the jurisdictions of Thusis, Heinzenberg and 
Tschappina were amalgamated into the District of Thusis.  
Heinzenberg, which was the largest and most important of these 
jurisdictions, bore a rampant silver lion on red field, which 
were also the colours of the former Lords of Werdenberg.  The 
coat of arms of Heinzenberg has therefore, for historic 
reasons, become the coat of arms of the District of Thusis.  
District colours: red-white.