Obersaxen ( rm, Sursaissa) is a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2016 the former municipalities of Obersaxen and Mundaun merged to form the new municipality of

Obersaxen Mundaun Obersaxen Mundaun is a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2016 the former municipalities of Obersaxen and Mundaun merged to form the new municipality of Obersaxen Mundaun. History Obersaxen T ...

History

Obersaxen is first mentioned in 765 as ''Supersaxa'' though this is from a copy which dates from later. In 956 it was mentioned as ''Supersaxa'', and in 1227 as ''Ubersahse''. The current settlement was founded in the thirteenth century, when a group of German-speaking

Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser people are named a ...

settled the plateau. Right in the heart of the mainly Romansh-speaking Surselva (which encompasses the valley of the

Vorderrhein The Vorderrhein (German; English: ''Anterior Rhine''; Sursilvan: ; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Anteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Anteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn anteriour'') is one of the two sources of the Rhine. Its catchment ar ...

, along with all of its side valleys, among others the Val Lumnezia), Obersaxen is an island of German-speakers.

Geography

Obersaxen had an area, , of . Of this area, 54.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (19.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The former municipality is located in the Rueun sub-district of the Surselva district. It is located on the northern face of the Mundaun mountain chain, on the right side of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

valley. It consists of 28 settlements which are divided into five ''Pirten'' around the central village of ''Meierhof''.

Coat of arms

The municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

is ''Per pale Gules a Key Or and Azure two Bars Argent.''Flags of the World.com
accessed 02-Dec-2009 The right half of the coat of arms comes from the seal of the

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

Rhäzüns Rhäzüns is a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. History Rhäzüns is first mentioned about 840 as ''Raezunne''. It formed a single parish with Bonaduz until the Reformation. It was part of the Grey League f ...

, who acquired rights in Obersaxen through the Walser immigration. The key is a symbol of

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

which was on the 14th Century village seal.

Demographics

Obersaxen had a population (as of 2014) of 838. , 6.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -4.9%. Most of the population () speaks German (89.3%), with Romansh being second most common (5.0%) and Portuguese being third (3.7%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 02-Dec-2009 The language spoken here is a very distinctive form of Swiss German. , the gender distribution of the population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Obersaxen is; 88 children or 11.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 108 teenagers or 13.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 65 people or 8.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 130 people or 16.7% are between 30 and 39, 131 people or 16.8% are between 40 and 49, and 92 people or 11.8% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 70 people or 9.0% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 62 people or 8.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 31 people or 4.0% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 2 people or 0.3% who are between 90 and 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 49.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (25.8%), the FDP (12%) and the SP (11.4%). In Obersaxen about 64.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a '' Fachhochschule''). Obersaxen has an unemployment rate of 0.71%. , there were 98 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 47 businesses involved in this sector. 81 people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

and there are 11 businesses in this sector. 171 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, with 42 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Sport

Obersaxen is a relatively large, but not particularly well-known

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

. Despite the fact that it's quite close to the internationally popular resort of Flims-Laax, it is quite popular among locals and others who are "in-the-know", due to the quality of skiing and lack of the large crowds that are to be found in Flims. Obersaxen is also home to 2010 overall alpine skiing World Cup & Olympic champion Carlo Janka.

References

{{Authority control Obersaxen Mundaun Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Former municipalities of Graubünden