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Würdigung von Clara Ragaz

30. March 2024

The square between St. Martin's Church and the Rhaetian Museum is renamed in honor of Clara and Leonhard Ragaz. The new name was initiated by the Reformed Church of Chur. The city council has decided to rename the square "Ragazplatz".

On Kirchgasse, between St. Martin's Church and the Rhaetian Museum, there is a square that is marked as Museumplatz on the local map, but is not clearly marked on site. This square offers an ideal opportunity to honor the couple Clara and Leonhard Ragaz - important personalities in the history of Chur. Next March 30th marks the 150th anniversary of Clara Ragaz's birth. To mark the occasion, the Reformed Church of the City of Chur has requested that Museumplatz be renamed.

Committed Ragaz couple
Clara Ragaz, born on March 30, 1874 in Chur, was a passionate campaigner for pacifism and women's rights after completing her education at a teacher training college, particularly in
the years leading up to the First World War. She was Vice President of the International Women's League for Peace and Freedom for over 20 years. Her husband Leonhard Ragaz was born in Tamins in 1878 and studied theology after leaving school. As a pastor at St. Martin's Church in Chur, he was a liberal clergyman who developed ideas for a "Kingdom of God" that was to be realized through social and ethical action. He vehemently advocated a society based on humanist values and opposed the horror of the violence of the First World War. The Ragaz-Nadig couple are unique in the history of Chur. They spent their formative years in Chur in the Antistitium at Kirchgasse 12. Both the women's rights activist and pacifist and the theologian had an influence throughout Switzerland and even Europe, and their ideas are still received today.

Renaming
A look at the early 1920s and the couple's commitment clearly shows how relevant their messages are for today. After examining the renaming in detail
, the City Council would like to take the opportunity to honor these two deserving individuals. The cost of renaming the square is minimal as no existing addresses are affected. In order to make the significance of the couple more visible, an information plaque with an explanatory text will be added. The explanatory description will focus on Clara Ragaz, which is in line with the City Council's intention to give preference to female personalities when renaming streets and squares.

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.