Breil/Brigels is a

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

in the

Surselva Region Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of

Andiast Andiast () is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Surselva Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. Until 1943, it was known as Andest.Waltensburg/Vuorz Waltensburg/Vuorz is a former municipality in the Surselva Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Andiast and Waltensburg/Vuorz merged into the municipality of Breil/Brigels. History ...

merged into the municipality of Breil/Brigels. The name of the municipality comes from the word ''brigilo'', meaning ''little town''. The name comes from the village name in the two local languages. In Romansh the name is while in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

it is .

History

While the area was settled in the late

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, Breil/Brigels is first mentioned in 765 as ''in Bregelo'' when the

Bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Diocese of Chur in Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Disentis Abbey Disentis Abbey () is a Benedictine monastery in the Grisons, Canton of Grisons in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis () grew up. Early history Formerly the date of the foundation of this abbey, attributed to the local s ...

. Shortly thereafter, the Abbey established a church and fortification on St. Eusebius' hill near the village. The village church of S. Maria and the chapel of S. Sievi (''Chaplutta Son Sievi'') both came under control of the Abbey in 1185 at the order of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. New immigrants, known as the ''Freie von Laax'', moved into the village during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

which weakened the power of the Abbey. In the early 14th Century, the pro-

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

Abbot Hugo III of Werdenberg marched into the valley to reestablish his authority, but was forced out in 1327. Following a fire which destroyed much of the Abbey in 1387, the Abbot Johannes of Ilanz sold his alpine pastures in Breil/Brigels to pay for the reconstruction. In 1491, the village of church of S. Maria was raised to a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

. Then, in 1496 the Abbey church and fort on St. Eusebius' hill both burned to the ground and were not rebuilt. During the plague of 1550 the village had 316 deaths. Six years later the plague struck again, killing 180 and in 1631 a third plague killed 130. In 1738, the village became free of the obligation to provide

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s to the church.

Geography

Breil/Brigels has an area, , of . Of this area, 35.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (38.9%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Disentis sub-district of the Surselva district, after 2017 it was part of the Surselva Region. It consists of the village of Breil/Brigels on a terrace north of the Vorderrhein valley and the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Dardin-Capeder (Dardin) below the village and Danis-Tavanasa (Danis, Tavanasa) on the valley floor. Until 1943 Breil/Brigels was known as Brigels.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009

Demographics

Breil/Brigels has a population (as of ) of . , 4.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -0.1%.
accessed 02-Nov-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 50.6% male and 49.4% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Breil/Brigels is; 145 children or 12.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 167 teenagers or 14.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 98 people or 8.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 195 people or 16.4% are between 30 and 39, 139 people or 11.7% are between 40 and 49, and 133 people or 11.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 160 people or 13.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 103 people or 8.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 43 people or 3.6% who are between 80 and 89 there are 4 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 67.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (18.2%), the FDP (7.1%) and the SP (6.6%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Breil/Brigels about 61.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). Breil/Brigels has an unemployment rate of 1.14%. , there were 90 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 37 businesses involved in this sector. 108 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 15 businesses in this sector. 280 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 ...

, with 62 businesses in this sector. HausBrigels

The historical population is given in the following table:

Language

Most of the population () speaks Sursilvan Romansh (80.5%), with German being second most common (14.3%) and Italian being third (1.5%).

Religion

From the , 1,044 or 88.0% are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, while 57 or 4.8% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. Of the rest of the population, there are 10 individuals (or about 0.84% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 9 individuals (or about 0.76% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 13 (or about 1.10% of the population) who are

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic. 20 (or about 1.68% of the population) belong to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 34 individuals (or about 2.86% of the population) did not answer the question. The

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

did not catch on in the municipality because of the influence of the nearby Disentis Abbey.

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Chaplutta Son Sievi'' is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 02-Nov-2009

Transportation

The municipality has two railway stations: and . Both are located on the Reichenau-Tamins–Disentis/Mustér line with regular service to and .

References

External links

Official Web site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Breil Brigels Municipalities of Graubünden Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden