Breil/Brigels

Breil/Brigels occupies a terrace at 1,280 metres on the right side of the Vorderrhein valley, in the Surselva. The municipal territory rises northward to the watershed, towards the Bifertenstock, the Muttenstock and the Hausstock, and falls southward to the valley floor: the village itself, the parts of Danis-Tavanasa and Dardin-Capeder and the hamlet of Vàli belong to it. On 1 January 2018 Andiast and Waltensburg/Vuorz, until then independent municipalities, joined it.

North-west of the village, on the eastern slope of the Piz Dado, the Scatlè reserve has since 1911 left a spruce forest wholly unlogged, between 1,580 and 2,015 metres, beside the Flem in the lower Val Frisal. German-language sources give it as the highest primeval spruce forest in Europe — a claim no scientific source available here confirms.

The origin of the name is disputed: German sources attach it to the Celtic briga, the fortified height, English ones to brigilo, the little town. The place appears in 765 as Bregelo, in the will of Bishop Tello of Chur, who bequeathed the central farm of the village to Disentis Abbey; the church of St Mary and the chapel of St Eusebius passed to the abbey in turn in 1185, by papal confirmation. The tower of Marmarola, seat of the Latour family, burned in 1496 and remains a ruin. Plague struck twice: 316 dead in 1550 and 130 in 1631. In 1738 the inhabitants bought out the tithe rights.

The Waltensburg road, opened in 1870, ended the isolation and accompanied the beginnings of summer tourism. In 1943 the municipality gave up the German-only name Brigels for the double name Breil/Brigels; the building of the Pez d'Artgas lifts in 1972 turned it towards winter sport. Sursilvan remains the everyday language, the Son Sievi chapel is listed as cultural property of national significance, and since 2017 the village has belonged to the association Les plus beaux villages de Suisse.

Why this place is remarkable

The name alone tells the village's history: plain Brigels until 1943, then Breil/Brigels, Romansh first, in a municipality where Sursilvan has remained the everyday language. Above the roofs, the Scatlè reserve has since 1911 let a spruce forest grow old without felling between 1,580 and 2,015 metres, at an altitude where the forest is already near its limit.

History and origin

A hill fort stood on St Eusebius' hill before the name of the place entered the written record, in 765, as Bregelo: Bishop Tello of Chur then bequeathed the central farm to Disentis Abbey. The abbey held the church and the chapel from 1185, then the protection of the land and high justice. The tower of Marmarola burned in 1496. Plague carried off 316 people in 1550 and 130 in 1631. Buying out the tithe rights, in 1738, loosened the hold; the road of 1870, the change of name in 1943 and the lifts of 1972 completed the transformation.