Chur

Chur is Switzerland's oldest city, with evidence of human habitation spanning over 5,000 years. Permanent settlement during the Pfyn culture (Neolithic period, approximately 3900-3500 BC) represents the earliest structured habitation at the site. The Welschdoerfli district south of the Plessur River is the key archaeological zone, with continuous settlement from the Neolithic period to the present day. Excavations on the Ackermann grounds revealed finds spanning millennia; the protective structures covering the Roman-era remains were designed in 1986 by the architect Peter Zumthor.

In 15 BC, Emperor Augustus conquered the Alpine region and incorporated it into the Roman province of Raetia. The settlement at Chur became Curia Raetorum, a strategic crossroads controlling the junction of routes to the Julier, Spluegen, Septimer, and San Bernardino passes. Around 280 AD, Chur's first written mention appears in the Itinerarium Antonini, a Roman road register. Under Emperor Diocletian, Curia Raetorum was elevated to capital of Raetia Prima. The Roman vicus in today's Welschdoerfli included residential buildings, workshops, and a thermal bath.

The Cathedral of the Assumption in Chur (Kathedrale St. Mariae Himmelfahrt) was built over a 120-year period and consecrated on 19 June 1272 under Bishop Henry of Montfort. Its Jakob Russ High Altar was commissioned by Bishop Ortlieb von Brandis in 1486 and created by the sculptor Jakob Russ from Ravensburg in southern Germany, who moved his workshop to Chur for the project. The magnificent late-Gothic triptych of gilded wood contains 152 carved figures and is considered one of the finest carved Gothic altars of Swiss late Gothic art.

On 27 April 1464, a great fire destroyed most of Chur; only the bishop's precinct and the St. Luzi monastery survived. German craftsmen were brought in to rebuild the town, giving it its current late-Gothic character with winding cobblestone lanes and richly painted house facades. The Rathaus (Town Hall) was rebuilt on the site of a former hospital, its visibly sloping walls revealing centuries of age. The Malteserturm near the Obertor is part of the oldest city fortifications, damaged in the fire and rebuilt in the early 16th century.

Three defensive alliances formed in the eastern Alps to resist Habsburg expansion: the Gotteshausbund (League of God's House, founded 29 January 1367, centred on Chur), the Grauer Bund (Grey League, founded 1395), and the Zehngerichtebund (League of the Ten Jurisdictions, founded 1436 at Davos). On 23 September 1524, the three leagues formally merged into the Free State of the Three Leagues via the Bundesbrief. Governance was radically decentralized through autonomous judicial communities and citizens' assemblies (Landsgemeinde). The Free State existed until 1798, becoming Canton Graubuenden in 1803 with Chur as its capital.

The Rhaetian Railway's Albula line opened in 1904 after construction began in September 1898. The 67-km line features 42 tunnels and 144 viaducts and bridges between Thusis and St. Moritz. The Landwasser Viaduct (built 1901-1902) is the most iconic structure: 65 m high, 136 m long, with six arches curving at a 100 m radius, leading directly into the Landwasser Tunnel -- built without scaffolding using two cranes. The Rhaetian Railway was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Chur's Hauptbahnhof is the starting station for the Glacier Express and Bernina Express.

Johanna Spyri (1827-1901) set her world-famous children's novel 'Heidi' (1881) in the mountains above the town of Maienfeld, just 17 km north of Chur in the Buendner Herrschaft wine region. Spyri spent several summers in the villages of Maienfeld, Jenins, and near Chur. The novel tells of orphaned Heidi, sent to live with her grandfather (the Alpohi) in a mountain hut above Maienfeld, and her friendship with the goatherd Peter. Today, Heididorf in Maienfeld is a popular museum village, and the region is marketed as 'Heidiland.'

Angelika Kauffmann (1741-1807), born in Chur on 30 October 1741, became one of the most celebrated female painters of the 18th century. A Neoclassical painter, she was one of only two women among the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1768. After years in London and Rome, she died in 1807; the sculptor Antonio Canova arranged her funeral, and a bust was placed in the Pantheon beside Raphael's. The Buendner Kunstmuseum in Chur holds a collection of her works.