Goldach
Encyclopedia
Goldach is a municipality
in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Rorschach
in the canton
of St. Gallen in Switzerland
.
The municipality is located in the Rorschach Wahlkreis. It is located on the road between Rorschach and St. Gallen
and stretches from Lake Constance
to the Rorschacherberg. It consists of the village sections of Ober-Goldach, Unter-Goldach and Riet.
, 625 are from Italy
, 481 are from ex-Yugoslavia
, 129 are from Austria
, 69 are from Turkey
, and 218 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 8.5%. Most of the population speaks German (89.5%), with Italian being second most common ( 4.0%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 2.2%). Of the Swiss national languages , 7,552 speak German
, 19 people speak French
, 337 people speak Italian
, and 12 people speak Romansh.
The age distribution, , in Goldach is; 935 children or 11.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,029 teenagers or 12.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 951 people or 11.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,395 people or 16.5% are between 30 and 39, 1,178 people or 14.0% are between 40 and 49, and 1,098 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 862 people or 10.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 657 people or 7.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 289 people or 3.4% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 46 people or 0.5% who are between 90 and 99, and 1 person who is 100 or more.
there were 1,176 persons (or 13.9% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 2,169 (or 25.7%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 4,446 (or 52.7%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 390 (or 4.6%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 49 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 40 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 59 who lived household made up of unrelated persons,and 112 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 36.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
(21.7%), the SP
(18.4%) and the FDP
(12.7%).
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Goldach about 73.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
). Out of the total population in Goldach, , the highest education level completed by 1,939 people (23.0% of the population) was Primary, while 3,516 (41.7%) have completed Secondary, 939 (11.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 291 (3.4%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
the average unemployment rate was 3.6%. There were 345 businesses in the municipality of which 91 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 245 were involved in the third.
there were 1,169 residents who worked in the municipality, while 3,191 residents worked outside Goldach and 1,507 people commuted into the municipality for work.
. Of the rest of the population, there are 5 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic
faith, there are 229 individuals (or about 2.71% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 215 individuals (or about 2.55% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 306 (or about 3.63% of the population) who are Islam
ic. There are 25 individuals (or about 0.30% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 549 (or about 6.50% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 75 individuals (or about 0.89% of the population) did not answer the question.
. The Schlosslandschaft is shared between Berg
, Goldach, Mörschwil
, Rheineck
, Rorschacherberg
, St. Margrethen
, Steinach
, Thal
and Tübach
.
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 Wahlkreis (constituency) of Rorschach
Rorschach (Wahlkreis)
Rorschach is a constituency in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Wahlkreis has been established on June 10, 2001, totalling 40,454 inhabitants on an area of 50.37 km². Rorschach is the capital of the Wahlkreis....
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 St. Gallen 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
Goldach is first mentioned in 789 as Goldaha, though this comes from a later copy of the original document. In 847 it was mentioned as Coldaun.Geography
Goldach has an area, , of 4.7 km² (1.8 sq mi). Of this area, 33.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 12.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 51.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.3%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).The municipality is located in the Rorschach Wahlkreis. It is located on the road between Rorschach and St. Gallen
St. Gallen
St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...
and stretches from Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
to the Rorschacherberg. It consists of the village sections of Ober-Goldach, Unter-Goldach and Riet.
Demographics
Goldach has a population (as of ) of . , about 20.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, , 128 are from GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, 625 are from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 481 are from ex-Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, 129 are from Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, 69 are from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and 218 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 8.5%. Most of the population speaks German (89.5%), with Italian being second most common ( 4.0%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 2.2%). Of the Swiss national languages , 7,552 speak 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....
, 19 people speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, 337 people speak 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...
, and 12 people speak Romansh.
The age distribution, , in Goldach is; 935 children or 11.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,029 teenagers or 12.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 951 people or 11.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,395 people or 16.5% are between 30 and 39, 1,178 people or 14.0% are between 40 and 49, and 1,098 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 862 people or 10.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 657 people or 7.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 289 people or 3.4% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 46 people or 0.5% who are between 90 and 99, and 1 person who is 100 or more.
there were 1,176 persons (or 13.9% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 2,169 (or 25.7%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 4,446 (or 52.7%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 390 (or 4.6%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 49 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 40 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 59 who lived household made up of unrelated persons,and 112 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
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 36.1% 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...
(21.7%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(18.4%) and 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....
(12.7%).
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Goldach about 73.8% 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...
). Out of the total population in Goldach, , the highest education level completed by 1,939 people (23.0% of the population) was Primary, while 3,516 (41.7%) have completed Secondary, 939 (11.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 291 (3.4%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 785 |
| 1880 | 1,388 |
| 1900 | 2,278 |
| 1910 | 4,007 |
| 1950 | 3,849 |
| 1960 | 6,233 |
| 2000 | 8,441 |
Economy
, Goldach had an unemployment rate of 1.98%. , there were 65 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 2,200 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 92 businesses in this sector. 1,613 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 247 businesses in this sector.the average unemployment rate was 3.6%. There were 345 businesses in the municipality of which 91 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 245 were involved in the third.
there were 1,169 residents who worked in the municipality, while 3,191 residents worked outside Goldach and 1,507 people commuted into the municipality for work.
Religion
From the , 4,729 or 56.0% are Roman Catholic, while 2,308 or 27.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss 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 are 5 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic
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...
faith, there are 229 individuals (or about 2.71% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 215 individuals (or about 2.55% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 306 (or about 3.63% 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 25 individuals (or about 0.30% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 549 (or about 6.50% 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 75 individuals (or about 0.89% of the population) did not answer the question.
Notable people
- Sebastian Gebhard Messmer, Roman Catholic ArchbishopArchbishopAn archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of MilwaukeeRoman Catholic Archdiocese of MilwaukeeThe Archdiocese of Milwaukee is a Roman Catholic archdiocese headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the United States. It encompasses the City of Milwaukee, as well as the counties of Dodge, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha, all...
, Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
was born in Goldach.
Sights
The Schlosslandschaft Rorschach / Alter Rhein, a number of castles in a region along the Rhine river, is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage SitesInventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
. The Schlosslandschaft is shared between Berg
Berg, St. Gallen
Berg is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Berg is first mentioned in 796 as ad Berga. In 837 it was mentioned as in villa nominata Perc.-Geography:...
, Goldach, Mörschwil
Mörschwil
Mörschwil is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Mörschwil is first mentioned in 811 as Maurini vilare. In 1389 it was mentioned as Mörswile.-Geography:...
, Rheineck
Rheineck
Rheineck is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Rheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as castellum Rinegge. In 1218 it was mentioned as Rinegg...
, Rorschacherberg
Rorschacherberg
Rorschacherberg is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:While some of the hamlets that make up Rorschacherberg are mentioned in the 13th and 14th Centuries. The region known as Roschacherberg is first mentioned in the 15th...
, St. Margrethen
St. Margrethen
St. Margrethen is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:...
, Steinach
Steinach, St. Gallen
Steinach is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:Steinach has an area, , of . Of this area, 63.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.9% is forested...
, Thal
Thal, Switzerland
Thal is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Thal is first mentioned in 1163 as curtis tale....
and Tübach
Tübach
Tübach is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:Tübach has an area, , of . Of this area, 60.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.7% is forested...
.