Rapperswil
Encyclopedia
Rapperswil-Jona 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 Wahlkreis (constituency) of See-Gaster
See-Gaster (Wahlkreis)
See-Gaster is a constituency in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Wahlkreis has been established on June 10, 2001 with an area of .It was formed from See District and Gaster District.-Demographics:...

 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
Canton of St. Gallen
The Canton of St. Gallen is a canton of Switzerland. St. Gallen is located in the north east of Switzerland. It covers an area of 2,026 km², and has a population of . , the population included 97,461 foreigners, or about 20.9% of the total population. The capital is St. Gallen. Spelling...

 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....

.
Besides Rapperswil
Rapperswil
Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.-Today:On...

 and Jona
Jona
Jona is a former municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.- Geography :Jona is located at the eastern shore of Lake Zürich...

, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch
Busskirch
Busskirch is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.- Geography :The village is located along the northern shore of the upper Lake Zurich between Jona and Bollingen...

, Curtiberg, Kempraten
Kempraten
Kempraten-Lenggis is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is one of the most important archeological sites in the canton of St...

-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.

Today

On January 1, 2007, the municipalities of Rapperswil
Rapperswil
Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.-Today:On...

 and Jona
Jona
Jona is a former municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.- Geography :Jona is located at the eastern shore of Lake Zürich...

 merged to form a new political entity. Rapperswil-Jona has a population of 25,777 (17,799 from Jona and 7,601 from Rapperswil). This makes it the second largest town in the canton after the capital 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...

 itself.

Rapperswil-Jona is one of the most significant traffic junctions in the region, and Rapperswil railway station
Rapperswil railway station
Rapperswil is a train station located in Rapperswil, Switzerland.- Nodal point of S-Bahn Zürich, SBB-CFF-FFS and Südostbahn :Rapperswil railway station is an important junction of the S-Bahn Zürich and Südostbahn networks, and thus a bottleneck for public traffic. Rapperswil is a nodal point where...

 is serving as nodal point for the SBB-CFF-FFS
SBB-CFF-FFS
Swiss Federal Railways and SFR are not in official use) is the national railway company of Switzerland headquartered in Bern. Formerly a government institution, it is since 1999 a special stock corporation with all shares held by the Swiss Confederation or the Swiss cantons...

 respectively Südostbahn
Südostbahn
The Südostbahn – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a railway company and network in Switzerland.- Structure :...

 and S-Bahn Zürich lines. Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft
Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft
The Lake Zurich Shipping Company or Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zürich....

 (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) is operating passenger vessels on the Lake Zürich, connecting surrounding towns between Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

-Bürkliplatz and Rapperswil. The Seedamm
Seedamm
Seedamm is the partially artificial dam and bridge at the most narrow area of Lake Zurich, between Hurden and Rapperswil .- Geography and location :...

, a dam across Lake Zurich, links Rapperswil with Hurden (SZ) on the other side of the lake. This connection has been part of old pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 routes. From early centuries, a wooden footbridge led across Lake Zurich. At a later stage, the bridge was replaced by a stone dam. In 2001, a new wooden footbridge
Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden
Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland. The prehistoric timber piles discovered to the west of the Seedamm date back to 1523 BC...

 was opened alongside the dam for the first 840 meters of the crossing. It was built in the same place as the original bridge and links Rapperswil with the nearby bridge chapel (Heilig Hüsli
Heilig Hüsli
Heilig Hüsli is a chapel in the city of Rapperswil, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.- Geography :The chapel is located next to the so-called Seedamm, as of the today, situated on a small island on upper Lake Zürich on the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden, a historical wooden bridge reconstructed in...

) built in 1551.

The main sights are concentrated in the centre of Rapperswil and can be seen while strolling through the medieval alleys. The main sights of Rapperswil are its roses, the castle, the reconstructed wooden bridge to Hurden with its bridge chapel, and a Capuchin monastery. There are also a number of churches, chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

s, and the nearby Wurmsbach Abbey
Wurmsbach Abbey
Wurmsbach Abbey is a monastery of Cistercian nuns located in Bollingen near Rapperswil-Jona, in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is located on the north shore of Lake Zurich...

. In the surroundings of the town there are a number of churches. St. John's Church in Rapperswil was built around 1220 and became Rapperswil's parish church in 1253, the Chapel St. Ursula in the village of Kempraten
Kempraten
Kempraten-Lenggis is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is one of the most important archeological sites in the canton of St...

 was built around 885. The St. Dionysius Chapel, dedicated to Denis
Denis
Saint Denis is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians, shortly after A.D. 250...

, the first bishop of Paris, was reconstructed in 1493 and attracts pilgrims. The nunnery at Wurmsbach (Wurmsbach Abbey
Wurmsbach Abbey
Wurmsbach Abbey is a monastery of Cistercian nuns located in Bollingen near Rapperswil-Jona, in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is located on the north shore of Lake Zurich...

) was established in 1259 and today houses an institute for girls, and St. Martin Busskirch is the former parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of Rapperswil.

Bollingen is known for the "Tower
Bollingen Tower
Bollingen Tower is a structure built by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, in appearance a small castle with several towers, located in Bollingen, on the shore of the Obersee basin of Lake Zürich, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland....

" built there by Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...

. Kempraten
Kempraten
Kempraten-Lenggis is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is one of the most important archeological sites in the canton of St...

 is one of the most important archeological sites in the canton of St. Gallen and is located at the eastern parts of the upper Lake Zurich. Jona river is flowing through the municipality in the upper Lake Zürich. In 2006 Rapperswill-Jona hosted the World Orienteering Championships.

History

Settlements in the region of Rapperswil date back at least 5000 years. Atop the Lindenhof hill overlooking a former small village (Endingen), Rapperswil Castle
Rapperswil Castle
Rapperswil Castle is a castle in the city of Rapperswil. It is located on the eastern shore of the Lake Zurich and belongs to the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland...

 was built around 1220 by the Counts of Rapperswil and is first mentioned in 1229. The town was founded when the nobility of Rapperswil moved from Altendorf
Altendorf
Altendorf can mean any of the following:*Altendorf, Schwyz, a municipality in Switzerland*Altendorf, Upper Franconia, a town in the district of Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany*Altendorf, Upper Palatinate, a town in the district of Schwandorf, Bavaria, Germany...

 across the lake to Rapperswil. The town was soon acquired by the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

 family who, in 1358/60, built the wooden bridge across the upper Lake Zürich. Later, the town bought itself free, and ending Old Zurich War
Old Zürich War
The Old Zürich War , 1440–46, was a conflict between the canton of Zürich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg....

 made an alliance with the Swiss Confederation. Because of its strategic location along important infrastructure the town grew rich because of flourishing trade. This allowed a certain degree of freedom which was ended with the formation of Swiss cantons by Napoleon. Rapperswil was at first part of the Helvetic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...

 canton of Linth
Canton of Linth
Linth was a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, consisting of Glarus and its subject County of Werdenberg, the Höfe and March districts of Schwyz and the Züricher subject Lordship of Sax, along with a handful of shared territories....

. After 1803's Act of Mediation
Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in 1798. After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802,...

, it joined the canton of St. Gallen
Canton of St. Gallen
The Canton of St. Gallen is a canton of Switzerland. St. Gallen is located in the north east of Switzerland. It covers an area of 2,026 km², and has a population of . , the population included 97,461 foreigners, or about 20.9% of the total population. The capital is St. Gallen. Spelling...

. The locational advantage of the place attracted the national Circus Knie
Circus Knie
Circus Knie is the largest circus of Switzerland, based in Rapperswil.The circus was founded in 1803 by the Knie family and has existed in its present form since 1919 when it changed from an open arena to a covered tent. The circus has been long famous for its animals and now operates a zoo and a...

 who built its headquarters in Rapperswil in 1919. The circus is now also responsible for the Knie's Kinderzoo
Knie's Kinderzoo
Knie's Kinderzoo is a zoo located in Rapperswil in Switzerland.-History:The zoo was opened in 1962 and, as of 2009, it has 303 specimens of 51 species. It is located at Oberseestrasse nearby Seedamm respectively Rapperswil railway station and Hochschule Rapperswil on upper Lake Zürich...

 and the Circus Museum.

Geography

Rapperswil-Jona has an area, , of 22.2 square kilometres (8.6 sq mi). Of this area, 37.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 30.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 28.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.4%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

The municipality is located in the See-Gaster Wahlkreis and was formed from the merger of Rapperswil (SG) and Jona.

Demograhics

Most of the population speaks German (86.9%), with Italian being second most common ( 3.1%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 2.1%).

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 30.3% 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...

 (19.3%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (17%) 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....

 (13.1%).

In Rapperswil-Jona about 74.6% 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...

).

Economy

, Rapperswil-Jona had an unemployment rate of 1.84%. , there were 183 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 56 businesses involved in this sector. 3,898 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 231 businesses in this sector. 8,340 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 1,077 businesses in this sector.

Heritage sites of national significance

It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling
Stilt house
Stilt houses or pile dwellings or palafitte are houses raised on piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding, but also serve to keep out vermin...

 (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps is a series of prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands...

 UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site.

There are five sites that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

. The chapel of St. Dionys, Schloss Rapperswil with the Polish Museum
Polish Museum, Rapperswil
The Polish Museum, Rapperswil, was founded in Rapperswil, Switzerland, on October 23, 1870, by Polish Count Władysław Broel-Plater, at the urging of Agaton Giller, as "a refuge for [Poland's] historic memorabilia dishonored and plundered in the [occupied Polish] homeland" and for the promotion of...

 and its archive and the Rathaus (Town Council house) of Rapperswil are the more recent structures. The Roman
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...

 Vicus
Vicus
Vicus may refer to:*Vicus , plural vici, a neighborhood or local administrative unit of ancient Rome**Vicus Tuscus in Rome**Vicus Jugarius, leading into the Roman Forum** Gensis in Moesia Superior...

 at Kempraten
Kempraten
Kempraten-Lenggis is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is one of the most important archeological sites in the canton of St...

and the Seedamm
Seedamm
Seedamm is the partially artificial dam and bridge at the most narrow area of Lake Zurich, between Hurden and Rapperswil .- Geography and location :...

region and historical bridge
Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden
Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland. The prehistoric timber piles discovered to the west of the Seedamm date back to 1523 BC...

 (which had existed in some form since the prehistoric era through 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...

 with the most recent bridge in 2001 and Heilig Hüsli
Heilig Hüsli
Heilig Hüsli is a chapel in the city of Rapperswil, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.- Geography :The chapel is located next to the so-called Seedamm, as of the today, situated on a small island on upper Lake Zürich on the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden, a historical wooden bridge reconstructed in...

) round out the five.

See also

  • Settlements comprised by the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona: Bollingen, Busskirch
    Busskirch
    Busskirch is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.- Geography :The village is located along the northern shore of the upper Lake Zurich between Jona and Bollingen...

    , Jona
    Jona
    Jona is a former municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.- Geography :Jona is located at the eastern shore of Lake Zürich...

    , Kempraten
    Kempraten
    Kempraten-Lenggis is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is one of the most important archeological sites in the canton of St...

    , Rapperswil
    Rapperswil
    Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.-Today:On...

  • Points of interest: Circus Knie
    Circus Knie
    Circus Knie is the largest circus of Switzerland, based in Rapperswil.The circus was founded in 1803 by the Knie family and has existed in its present form since 1919 when it changed from an open arena to a covered tent. The circus has been long famous for its animals and now operates a zoo and a...

    , Heilig Hüsli
    Heilig Hüsli
    Heilig Hüsli is a chapel in the city of Rapperswil, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.- Geography :The chapel is located next to the so-called Seedamm, as of the today, situated on a small island on upper Lake Zürich on the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden, a historical wooden bridge reconstructed in...

    , Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil HSR (University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil)
    Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil
    HSR or University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil is a technical university in Rapperswil, a town of the City of Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland...

    , Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden
    Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden
    Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland. The prehistoric timber piles discovered to the west of the Seedamm date back to 1523 BC...

    , Kapuzinerkloster Rapperswil, Knies Kinderzoo, Paddle steamer Stadt Rapperswil
    Paddle steamer Stadt Rapperswil
    The Stadt Rapperswil is a steam paddle ship on Lake Zurich. She was built in 1914 by Escher, Wyss & Cie. in Zürich for the Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft. In contrast to most other Swiss paddle steamers, the most striking features of this vessel and its sister ship Stadt Zürich are a short...

    , Polish Museum Rapperswil
    Polish Museum, Rapperswil
    The Polish Museum, Rapperswil, was founded in Rapperswil, Switzerland, on October 23, 1870, by Polish Count Władysław Broel-Plater, at the urging of Agaton Giller, as "a refuge for [Poland's] historic memorabilia dishonored and plundered in the [occupied Polish] homeland" and for the promotion of...

    , Rapperswil Castle
    Rapperswil Castle
    Rapperswil Castle is a castle in the city of Rapperswil. It is located on the eastern shore of the Lake Zurich and belongs to the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland...

    , Rathaus Rapperswil
    Rathaus Rapperswil
    The Rathaus Rapperswil is the former Rathaus in the city of Rapperswil, Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.- History :The Rathaus is located within the Altstadt of Rapperswil at the Hauptplatz, the main square of the medieval town. The building replaced an earlier fortified tower probably built...

    , Seedamm
    Seedamm
    Seedamm is the partially artificial dam and bridge at the most narrow area of Lake Zurich, between Hurden and Rapperswil .- Geography and location :...

    , Stadtmuseum Rapperswil
    Stadtmuseum Rapperswil
    Stadtmuseum Rapperswil is a museum of local history and art in Rapperswil, canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.- Location :The museum is situated in three Middle Ages buildings, remains of a former castle as part of the town walls of Rapperswil, as of today in the so-called Breny house, a keep, and...

    , Stadtpfarrkirche Rapperswil
    Stadtpfarrkirche Rapperswil
    Stadtpfarrkirche St. Johann is a Roman Catholic parish church in the city of Rapperswil, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.- Geography :...

    , Wurmsbach Abbey
    Wurmsbach Abbey
    Wurmsbach Abbey is a monastery of Cistercian nuns located in Bollingen near Rapperswil-Jona, in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is located on the north shore of Lake Zurich...


External links

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