Eschlikon
Encyclopedia
Eschlikon is a municipality
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...

 in the district of Münchwilen
Münchwilen (district)
Münchwilen District is one of the five districts of the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. It has a population of . Its capital is the town of Münchwilen.The district contains the following municipalities:...

 in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Thurgau
Thurgau
Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 who were resident foreigners. The capital is Frauenfeld.-History:...

 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

History

Eschlikon is first mentioned in 1280 as Aeslikon. During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, most of Eschlikon (except for the farms of a few free peasants) belonged to the monastery of Magdenau and Heiliggeistspital in St. Gallen. Eschlikon was part of the high courts
High, middle and low justice
High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents....

 of Tuttwilerberg. From the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....

 until 1798 it was the home of the Swiss Confederation
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

 Governor in Thurgau or his appointed Vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...

.

The village church was originally part of the Sirnach parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

. In 1529, the majority of the population converted to the new religion during the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. The Reformed majority separated from Sirnach parish in 1936, and formed a new parish with Münchwilen, Oberhofen, St. Margaret and Wallenwil. The catholic population belongs to the parish of Sirnach.

In addition to farming, viticulture
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

 and peat extraction, cattle and dairy farming became a major industry in the 2nd half of the 19th Century. Through the 18th to 20th Centuries various branches of the textile industry grew into the village economy. After the linen industry, cotton mills opened in the 19th Century. Between 1870-1930, embroidery and knitwear production were important in the local economy. Between 1898-1962 the Weibel brick factory operated. In 1875 the citizens of a municipality opened a bank to provide loans, cattle loans and savings. However, the bank failed in 1912, which severely damaged the municipality. Between 1864-1973 the regional newspaper Volksblatt vom Hörnli was published in Eschlikon. Since the mid-20th Century a number of new industrial and commercial enterprises (such as metal goods factory Spring, with 200 employees) have settled in the formerly small rural village and changed its character.

Geography

Eschlikon has an area, , of 6.21 square kilometres (2.4 sq mi). Of this area, 3.88 km² (1.5 sq mi) or 62.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.15 km² (0.444017482381415 sq mi) or 18.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.1 km² (0.424712374451789 sq mi) or 17.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 2.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 59.6% is used for growing crops, while 2.9% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.

The municipality is located in the Münchwilen district, on the south-east foot of the Tuttwilerberg along the Aadorf
Aadorf
Aadorf is a municipality in the district of Frauenfeld in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.-History:Aadorf is first mentioned in 886 as Ahadorf. The oldest record of Tänikon, now part of Ettenhausen, dates to 789 as Tanninchova. Tänikon is also the site of the Tänikon monastery, founded in...

-Wil
Wil
Wil is the capital of the Wahlkreis of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St...

 road. It consists of the linear village
Linear village
In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....

 of Eschlikon and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 of Hurnen and Than.

Demographics

Eschlikon has a population of , 11.9% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 21.7%. Most of the population speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

(92.8%), with Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 being second most common ( 1.9%) and Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 being third ( 1.3%).

, the gender distribution of the population was 51.0% male and 49.0% female. The population was made up of 1,694 Swiss men (45.0% of the population), and 228 (6.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,624 Swiss women (43.1%), and 220 (5.8%) non-Swiss women.

In there were 29 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 22 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 7 while the foreign population decreased by 1. There was 1 Swiss man, 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 18 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 13 non-Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 38 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 41 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.1%.

The age distribution, , in Eschlikon is; 408 children or 10.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 495 teenagers or 13.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 488 people or 12.8% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 469 people or 12.3% are between 30 and 39, 673 people or 17.7% are between 40 and 49, and 555 people or 14.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 366 people or 9.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 220 people or 5.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 116 people or 3.0% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 18 people or 0.5% who are 90 and older.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.54 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 57.1% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 1,248 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. there were 561 single family homes (or 82.5% of the total) out of a total of 680 inhabited buildings. There were 56 two family buildings (8.2%), 13 three family buildings (1.9%) and 50 multi-family buildings (or 7.4%). There were 789 (or 25.2%) persons who were part of a couple without children, and 1,698 (or 54.2%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 162 (or 5.2%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 18 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 29 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 14 who lived in a household made up of unrelated persons, and 74 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.

The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.44%. , the construction rate of new housing units was 12.2 new units per 1000 residents. there were 1,368 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 355. There were 13 single room apartments and 262 apartments with six or more rooms. the average price to rent an average apartment in Eschlikon was 1072.65 Swiss franc
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

s (CHF) per month (US$860, £480, €690 approx. exchange rate from 2000). The average rate for a one room apartment was 460.00 CHF (US$370, £210, €290), a two room apartment was about 791.76 CHF (US$630, £360, €510), a three room apartment was about 930.92 CHF (US$740, £420, €600) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1536.62 CHF (US$1230, £690, €980). The average apartment price in Eschlikon was 96.1% of the national average of 1116 CHF.

In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...

 the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...

 which received 38.27% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

 (18.12%), the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....

 (12.24%) and the Green Party
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...

 (11.85%). In the federal election, a total of 1,281 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was 49.8%.

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1850 422
1900 640
1950 1,026
1990 1,814
2000 3,133

Sights

Its catholic church from 1963 contains two stained glass windows by Yoki Aebischer (1964).

Economy

, Eschlikon had an unemployment rate of 1.46%. , there were 46 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 17 businesses involved in this sector. 524 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 51 businesses in this sector. 494 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 120 businesses in this sector.

there were 2,178 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 1,118 or about 51.3% of the residents worked outside Eschlikon while 583 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 1,643 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 14.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 51.9% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 1,209 or 38.6% were Roman Catholic, while 1,282 or 40.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 4 Old Catholics (or about 0.13% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...

  there are 23 individuals (or about 0.73% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 137 individuals (or about 4.37% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There were 2 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, and 138 (or about 4.40% of the population) who are Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic. There are 5 individuals (or about 0.16% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 227 (or about 7.25% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....

 or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

, and 106 individuals (or about 3.38% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather

Eschlikon has an average of 140.8 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1268 mm (49.9 in) of precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

. The wettest month is June during which time Eschlikon receives an average of 135 mm (5.3 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.1 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 13.5, but with only 127 mm (5 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is October with an average of 82 mm (3.2 in) of precipitation over 13.1 days.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Eschlikon about 75.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

).
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