Bright sunshine on the way from Andelsbuch to Fuldera – the most attractive route of our tour. Via Landeck and Reschenpass (North Tyrol, Austria) to Lake Reschen (South Tyrol, Italy) with the tower of Saint Catherine’s Church emerging out of the icy water. Last reminder of the village Graun which gave way to a barrier lake in 1950. Before flooding the high valley the inhabitants were expropriated, forcefully relocated and all buildings but the medieval church blown up.

We did not stop to sightsee the bright-white, fortress-like Benedictine monastery Marienberg, or the little town of Mals with its five medieval towers. Guidebook writers with a tendency towards topographic metaphors (see the Venice imagery if some canals, brooks or rivers flow through a town) would identify Mals as the San Gimignano of South Tyrol.

But we definitely were not willing to miss the monastery of Saint John (Clostra Son Jon) on the Swiss side of Münster Valley (in Rhaeto-Romanic Val Müstair). Built by Charlemagne around the year 775, located on a trans-European trade route called Via Claudia Augusta which dates back to ancient Rome.

The highlight of a tour through the convent are the Carolingian frescoes in the church. Expressive and punchy graphic novels depicting scenes from the New Testament. Escape to Egypt, executions of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Herodes’ banquet (dancing Salome producing an acrobatic handspring) including the beheading of John the Baptist.

Clostra Son Jon actually baptized the whole valley: The toponym derives from Latin monasterium. Today the huge complex of buildings accommodates twelve nuns of the Benedictine order. Which makes me think of above-mentioned Marienberg (rather spacious, too) that houses eleven monks who are members of the Benedictines. Honi soit qui mal y pense – am I a rascal because Boccaccio’s Decamerone has come into my mind?

After the impressive abbey tour we finally arrived in Fuldera. Nearly all buildings, old or new, are colorfully painted as if the residents wanted to follow the example of the medieval artists in Son Jon. Such as the cultural center, the Chasté de Cultura, our venue. And like some years ago it was a fine gig – not only musically, but also regarding the talkative aspect. Sometimes the show seemed to be more cabaret than concert. We spoke German, although 75% of Fuldera’s population consider Rhaeto-Romanic as their native tongue (according to the census in the year 2000).

In fact, Rhaeto-Romanic (or Rhaeto-Romance) is Grisons’ first official language. The Palotians, who are pretty fond of applied linguistics and sometimes can’t stop chatting about strange idioms and place names, liked that very much. But after the performance, over a glass of wine, we came to know more.

In 1990 about 67,000 Swiss spoke Rhaeto-Romanic, ten years later the number went down to 35,000. Over the past centuries there evolved five idioms or dialects: Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter and Valladen (in Münster Valley called Jauer). In the 1970ies this situation caused heated debates. Wouldn’t such a Babylonian-Alpine fragmentation (each valley speaks its own idiom) mean the end of Rhaeto-Romanic? Linguist Heinrich Schmid campaigned successfully for a standardization which led to the construction of Rumantsch Grisun.

This neo-idiom seems to make its way – as it is taught at all schools. But Grisonians are devided on this matter. Some fear the loss of old dialects and as a consequence the extinction of Rumantsch as a whole. Others consider unification the only way to preserve their ancient language.

Lots of the information you have read above was passed on the Palotians by Margit Huber who organizes the activities at Chasté de Cultura and who was a wonderful host. Thanks for all – we had so much fun and learned a lot! Concluding our tour report let me offer you a taste of Grisons’ idioms by the example of leave-taking good-bye. Translated with the help of the dictionary Pledari Rumantsch Tudestg.

Rumantsch > a revair / Sursilvan > sin seveser / Sutsilvan > sen saver / Surmiran > a reveir, a bun ans veir / Puter > a revair, a bun ans vair / Vallader > a revair.