Obersaxen () is a former municipality 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. 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 settled the plateau. Right in the heart of the mainly Romansh-speaking Surselva (which encompasses the valley of the Vorderrhein, 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 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' blazon is Per pale Gules a Key Or and Azure two Bars Argent. The right half of the coat of arms comes from the seal of the Freiherr of Rhäzüns, who acquired rights in Obersaxen through the Walser immigration. The key is a symbol of Saint Peter 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%). 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. 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