Rhine Valley
Encyclopedia
The Rhine Valley is a glacial alpine valley
, formed by the Alpine Rhine (Alpenrhein), i.e. the section of the Rhine River between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and its mouth at Lake Constance
.
From Reichenau, the Alpine Rhine flows east, passing Chur
and turning north, forms the border between the Canton of St. Gallen
of Switzerland on the left (west) side and first Liechtenstein
and then Vorarlberg
, Austria
on the right (east) side.
The Swiss-Austrian border follows the historical bed of the Rhine, but today the river follows an artificial canal within Austria for the final five kilometers.
The Rhine Valley extends to about 80 km. Its upper third has the character of a Alpine valley, enclosing a bottom plain of about 1 to 4 kilometers across. Downstream of Vaduz
, the valley widens considerably, developing into a broad plain, measuring some 10 km across at its lower end along the southern shores of Lake Constance. From the point of the Rhine's emergence from Lake Constance, it is known as High Rhine
.
Tributaries of the Alpine Rhine are the Plessur
, Landquart, Ill
and Frutz rivers on the right side. It has no major left tributaries; rivulets joining it from the left are Oldisbach at Chur, Cosenz at Untervaz
, Säge at Tardisbrücke
, Tamina
at Bad Ragaz
, Tobelbach at Burchs
, Simml at Gams
.
to Austria
and Liechtenstein
.
Administrative parts of the Rhine Valley are:
-Reichenau by the confluence of the Anterior Rhine
and the Posterior Rhine
.
The river makes a distinctive turn to the north near Chur
. This section is nearly 86 km long, and descends from a height of 599 m to 396 m.
Near Sargans
a natural dam, only a few metres high, prevents it from flowing into the open Seeztal
valley and then trough Lake Walen
and Lake Zurich
into the river Aare. The Alpine Rhine begins in the centre of the Swiss canton of Grisons, and later forms the border between Switzerland to the West and Liechtenstein and later Austria to the East.
The mouth of the Rhine into Lake Constance forms an inland delta. The delta is delimited in the west by the Old Rhine and in the east by a modern canalized section.
Most of the delta is a nature reserve
and bird sanctuary. It includes the Austrian towns of Gaißau
, Höchst
and Fußach
. The natural Rhine originally branched into at least two arms and formed small islands by precipitating sediments.
A regulation of the Rhine was called for, with an upper canal near Diepoldsau
and a lower canal at Fußach, in order to counteract the constant flooding and strong sedimentation
in the western Rhine Delta. The Dornbirner Ach
had to be diverted, too, and it now flows parallel to the canalized Rhine into the lake. Its water has a darker color than the Rhine; the latter's lighter suspended load comes from higher up the mountains. It is expected that the continuous input of sediment into the lake will silt up the lake. This has already happened to the former Lake Tuggenersee.
The cut off Old Rhine at first formed a swamp
landscape. Later an artificial ditch of about two km was dug. It was made navigable to the Swiss town of Rheineck.
province of Raetia
. The Alemannic people settled the lower Rhine Valley in the early Middle Ages
. Under the Frankish Empire
, the Rheintal between Montstein and Hirschensprung was given to the Rhinegraviate (the county of the Rheingau
), and its first recorded mention is in 891; the area between Lake Constance
and Montstein was a part of the Thurgau
.
Rule of the Rhine Valley was fragmented throughout the Middle Ages, with the Holy Roman Emperor
, the Bishop of Constance
, the Abbot of St Gall and the counts of Bregenz and Werdenberg all claiming various portions of the valley. It was not until 1348 that the Rheintal was united, under the county of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg.
From when the Habsburg
s acquired the county of Tyrol
in 1363, they gradually began to gain control of the Rhine Valley, gaining the whole valley through a combination of conquest and purchase by 1395.
in 1445.
In 1464, Appenzell protected the Rheintal from the territorial claims of the prince-abbot
of St Gall, particularly in a series of battles at the time of the "Rorschacher Klosterbruch", the for the St Gallerkrieg between 28 July 1489 and the spring of 1490. Nevertheless, Appenzell was forced to cede the governing protectorship of the Valley to the warring powers — the Abbey and the four cantons of Glarus
, Lucerne
, Schwyz
and Zürich
— bringing the bailiwick into the ambit of the Old Swiss Confederation as a Gemeine Herrschaft (condominium
).
was accepted in the Vogtei Rheintal
; whilst Roman Catholic minorities remained, only Altstätten, Widnau
, Kriessern and Rüthi
had a Catholic majority. Through the defeat of the Catholic hegemony over Switzerland and the end of the lengthy religious disputes that had riven the Confederacy, the 11 August 1712 Peace of Aarau established confessional parity, allowing both religions to coexist in legal equality — a concept relatively common to the Holy Roman Empire
since the Peace of Westphalia
in 1648.
was able to arrange the purchase of the minuscule Herrschaft ("Lordship") of Schellenberg
and county of Vaduz
(in 1699 and 1712 respectively) from the Hohenems
.
On 23 January 1719, after the lands had been purchased, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
, decreed that Vaduz and Schellenberg were united and elevated the newly formed territory to the dignity of Fürstentum (principality
) with the name "Liechtenstein" in honour of "[his] true servant, Anton Florian of Liechtenstein
". It was on this date that Liechtenstein became a sovereign member state of the Holy Roman Empire
. It is a testament to the pure political expediency of the purchases that the Princes of Liechtenstein did not set foot in their new principality for over 120 years.
, by 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was under the control of French emperor Napoleon I
. Napoleon dissolved the empire; this had broad consequences for Liechtenstein: imperial, legal and political mechanisms broke down. The state ceased to owe obligations to any feudal lord beyond its borders.
In 1798, the Vogtei Rheintal unilaterally declared its independence. In the aftermath of the collapse of the Old Swiss Confederation (resulting from it being completely overrun by the French Revolutionary Armies), on 26 March 1798, a Landsgemeinde
in Altstätten promulgated a constitution and elected both a magistrate and a council . Within weeks, however, this nascent independence was quashed with the inclusion of the Rheintal into the Helvetic
canton of Säntis
, with the exception of Rüthi
and Lienz
, assigned to Linth
.
With Napoleon's Act of Mediation
on 19 February 1803, the Helvetic Republic and its cantonal boundaries were abolished, with the Rheintal reunited as a district of the canton of St. Gallen
, stretching from Staad
to Lienz and with its capital alternating monthly between Altstätten and Rheineck.
. This division persisted until 2003, when a constitutional revision created the modern constituency , with the loss of Thal
to the adjacent Wahlkreis of Rorschach
.
Alpine valley
Alpine valley may be:*any valley of the Alps*the Alpine Valleys wine region of Australia* Alpine Valley Music Theatre...
, formed by the Alpine Rhine (Alpenrhein), i.e. the section of the Rhine River between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and its mouth at 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...
.
From Reichenau, the Alpine Rhine flows east, passing Chur
Chur
Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....
and turning north, forms the border between 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...
of Switzerland on the left (west) side and first Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
and then Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...
, 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...
on the right (east) side.
The Swiss-Austrian border follows the historical bed of the Rhine, but today the river follows an artificial canal within Austria for the final five kilometers.
The Rhine Valley extends to about 80 km. Its upper third has the character of a Alpine valley, enclosing a bottom plain of about 1 to 4 kilometers across. Downstream of Vaduz
Vaduz
Vaduz is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein and the seat of the national parliament. The town, located along the Rhine, has about 5,100 inhabitants , most of whom are Roman Catholic. Its cathedral is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop....
, the valley widens considerably, developing into a broad plain, measuring some 10 km across at its lower end along the southern shores of Lake Constance. From the point of the Rhine's emergence from Lake Constance, it is known as High Rhine
High Rhine
The High Rhine is the name used in Germany for the part of the Rhine River that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel.The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine in Basel...
.
Tributaries of the Alpine Rhine are the Plessur
Plessur (river)
The Plessur is a 33 km long right tributary of the Rhine River running through the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The river source is near the municipality of Arosa in the Plessur Range...
, Landquart, Ill
Ill (Austria)
The Ill is a 72 km long tributary of the Rhine river in the western Austrian province of Vorarlberg.It flows from the northern slopes of the Silvretta mountain range and then runs north-west through Vorarlberg. The Ill passes through the Montafon and Walgau valleys and the town Feldkirch...
and Frutz rivers on the right side. It has no major left tributaries; rivulets joining it from the left are Oldisbach at Chur, Cosenz at Untervaz
Untervaz
Untervaz is a municipality in the district of Landquart in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-History:Untervaz is first mentioned between 768-800 as Uaze. Between 801-850 it was mentioned as Vazes and between 1210-1300 it was called Vatz inferiore....
, Säge at Tardisbrücke
Mastrils
Mastrils is a municipality in the district of Landquart in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-History:Mastrils is first mentioned in 1318 as Ponstrils. In 1345 it was mentioned as Bastrils. In 1854 the municipality separated from Zizers to become an independent municipality.-Geography:Mastrils has...
, Tamina
Tamina
The Tamina River in Switzerland originates near the Egghorn . First her course follows a North to South direction through the Marchtal....
at Bad Ragaz
Bad Ragaz
Bad Ragaz is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.It is the home of a famous natural spring and is a popular spa and health resort destination. Bad Ragaz is also surprisingly known as one of the best pizza towns in all of Europe...
, Tobelbach at Burchs
Buchs, St. Gallen
Buchs is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Werdenberg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:Buchs has an area, , of . Of this area, 39.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 27.8% is forested...
, Simml at Gams
Gams
Gams is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Werdenberg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Gams is first mentioned in 835 as Campesias. In 1210 it was mentioned as Chames, in 1236 as Gamps. Until the Middle Ages it was a Romansh village and was known in Romansh as...
.
Subdivisions
The Alpine Rhine forms the eastern boundary of the Swiss cantons of Grisons and St. GallenCanton 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...
to 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...
and Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
.
Administrative parts of the Rhine Valley are:
- left bank (Switzerland)
- St. Galler Rheintal, East Switzerland
- Rheintal (Wahlkreis), Canton St. Gallen
- Churer Rheintal (Grisons)
- St. Galler Rheintal, East Switzerland
- right bank (Austria and Liechtenstein)
- Rheintal (Austria), a region in Austria
- LiechtensteinLiechtensteinThe Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
River Rhine
The Alpine Rhine is formed near TaminsTamins
Tamins is a municipality in the district of Imboden in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-History:Tamins is first mentioned in 1224 as Tuminne. In 1225 it was mentioned as Tvminnis and in 1399 as Tumins.-Geography:...
-Reichenau by the confluence of the Anterior Rhine
Vorderrhein
The Vorderrhein is one of the two sources of the Rhine. Its catchment area of is located predominantly in the Canton of Graubünden . The Vorderrhein is about long, thus more than 5% longer than the Hinterrhein...
and the Posterior Rhine
Hinterrhein (river)
The Hinterrhein is one of the initial tributaries of the Rhine in the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland, flowing from the village Hinterrhein near the San Bernardino pass through the Rheinwald valley into a gorge called Roflaschlucht...
.
The river makes a distinctive turn to the north near Chur
Chur
Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....
. This section is nearly 86 km long, and descends from a height of 599 m to 396 m.
Near Sargans
Sargans
Sargans is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291...
a natural dam, only a few metres high, prevents it from flowing into the open Seeztal
Seeztal
The Seeztal is a valley of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, extending to the east of Lake Walen for some 10 km, formed by the river Seez. The valley appears to be a left branch off the Rhine valley at Sargans, but there is a divide at Mels...
valley and then trough Lake Walen
Lake Walen
Walensee is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland, for about 2/3 of its surface in the Canton of St. Gallen and for 1/3 in the Canton of Glarus. It is also known as Lake Walen or Lake Walenstadt, after Walenstadt. Other towns and villages at the lake include: Weesen, Quinten, Quarten, and Murg.The...
and Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates ....
into the river Aare. The Alpine Rhine begins in the centre of the Swiss canton of Grisons, and later forms the border between Switzerland to the West and Liechtenstein and later Austria to the East.
The mouth of the Rhine into Lake Constance forms an inland delta. The delta is delimited in the west by the Old Rhine and in the east by a modern canalized section.
Most of the delta is a nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
and bird sanctuary. It includes the Austrian towns of Gaißau
Gaißau
Gaißau is a municipality in the district of Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria.-References:...
, Höchst
Höchst, Austria
Höchst is a municipality in the district of Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria.-References:...
and Fußach
Fußach
Fußach is a municipality in the district of Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria.-References:...
. The natural Rhine originally branched into at least two arms and formed small islands by precipitating sediments.
A regulation of the Rhine was called for, with an upper canal near Diepoldsau
Diepoldsau
Diepoldsau is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Diepoldsau is first mentioned in 891 as Thiotpoldesouua. Schmitter is first mentioned in 1385.-Geography:...
and a lower canal at Fußach, in order to counteract the constant flooding and strong sedimentation
Sedimentation
Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...
in the western Rhine Delta. The Dornbirner Ach
Dornbirner Ach
Dornbirner Ach is a river in Vorarlberg, Austria, with its source up in the valley near the alpine village Ebnit. It flows through the famous "Rappenlochschlucht" gorge straight to Dornbirn, cuts through the town and the meanders off over a broad meadow landscape, the Lauterach Ried, finally...
had to be diverted, too, and it now flows parallel to the canalized Rhine into the lake. Its water has a darker color than the Rhine; the latter's lighter suspended load comes from higher up the mountains. It is expected that the continuous input of sediment into the lake will silt up the lake. This has already happened to the former Lake Tuggenersee.
The cut off Old Rhine at first formed a swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
landscape. Later an artificial ditch of about two km was dug. It was made navigable to the Swiss town of Rheineck.
Middle Ages
The valley was part of the ancient RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
province of Raetia
Raetia
Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It was bounded on the west by the country of the Helvetii, on the east by Noricum, on the north by Vindelicia, on the west by Cisalpine Gaul and on south by Venetia et Histria...
. The Alemannic people settled the lower Rhine Valley in the early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
. Under the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire
Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
, the Rheintal between Montstein and Hirschensprung was given to the Rhinegraviate (the county of the Rheingau
Rheingau
The Rheingau is the hill country on the north side of the Rhine River between Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the western Taunus to the Rhine. It lies in the state of Hesse and is part of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis administrative district...
), and its first recorded mention is in 891; the area between 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...
and Montstein was a part of the 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:...
.
Rule of the Rhine Valley was fragmented throughout the Middle Ages, with the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, the Bishop of Constance
Bishopric of Constance
The Bishopric of Constance was a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from about 585 until 1821. Its seat was Konstanz at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany...
, the Abbot of St Gall and the counts of Bregenz and Werdenberg all claiming various portions of the valley. It was not until 1348 that the Rheintal was united, under the county of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg.
From when 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...
s acquired the county of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
in 1363, they gradually began to gain control of the Rhine Valley, gaining the whole valley through a combination of conquest and purchase by 1395.
Vogtei Rheintal
By 1424, the Rhine Valley was largely in the hands of the counts of Toggenburg. After their extinction, Appenzell reconquered the Rheintal with Rheineck in the Old Zürich WarOld 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....
in 1445.
In 1464, Appenzell protected the Rheintal from the territorial claims of the prince-abbot
Prince-abbot
A Prince-Abbot is a title for a cleric who is a Prince of the Church , in the sense of an ex officio temporal lord of a feudal entity, notably a State of the Holy Roman Empire. The secular territory ruled by the head of an abbey is known as Prince-Abbacy or Abbey-principality...
of St Gall, particularly in a series of battles at the time of the "Rorschacher Klosterbruch", the for the St Gallerkrieg between 28 July 1489 and the spring of 1490. Nevertheless, Appenzell was forced to cede the governing protectorship of the Valley to the warring powers — the Abbey and the four cantons of Glarus
Canton of Glarus
The Canton of Glarus is a canton in east central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus.The population speaks a variety of Alemannic German.The majority of the population identifies as Christian, about evenly split between the Protestant and Catholic confessions.-History:According to legend, the...
, Lucerne
Canton of Lucerne
Lucerne is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population of the canton is . , the population included 57,268 foreigners, or about 15.8% of the total population. The cantonal capital is Lucerne.-History:...
, Schwyz
Canton of Schwyz
Schwyz is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne in the east and Lake Zurich in the north, centered around and named after the town of Schwyz....
and Zürich
Canton of Zürich
The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...
— bringing the bailiwick into the ambit of the Old Swiss Confederation as a Gemeine Herrschaft (condominium
Condominium (international law)
In international law, a condominium is a political territory in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.Although a condominium has always been...
).
Swiss Reformation
In 1528, the Protestant ReformationProtestant 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...
was accepted in the Vogtei Rheintal
Vogtei Rheintal
Vogtei Rheintal was condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy from the 15th century until 1798.Its territory corresponded to the left banks of the Alpine Rhine between Hoher Kasten and Lake Constance, including the towns of Altstätten and Rheineck....
; whilst Roman Catholic minorities remained, only Altstätten, Widnau
Widnau
Widnau is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:Widnau has an area, , of . Of this area, 34.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.4% is forested...
, Kriessern and Rüthi
Rüthi
Rüthi is a municipality in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Rüthi is first mentioned in 820 as Reuti. Until 1994 it was known as Rüthi .-Geography:...
had a Catholic majority. Through the defeat of the Catholic hegemony over Switzerland and the end of the lengthy religious disputes that had riven the Confederacy, the 11 August 1712 Peace of Aarau established confessional parity, allowing both religions to coexist in legal equality — a concept relatively common to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
since the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
in 1648.
Liechtenstein
The Liechtenstein dynastyPrincely Family of Liechtenstein
The Liechtenstein dynasty, from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by constitutional, hereditary right over the nation of Liechtenstein...
was able to arrange the purchase of the minuscule Herrschaft ("Lordship") of Schellenberg
Schellenberg
Schellenberg is a municipality in the lowland area of Liechtenstein, on the banks of the Rhine. , it has a population of 952 and covers an area of .-Early history:...
and county of Vaduz
Vaduz
Vaduz is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein and the seat of the national parliament. The town, located along the Rhine, has about 5,100 inhabitants , most of whom are Roman Catholic. Its cathedral is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop....
(in 1699 and 1712 respectively) from the Hohenems
Hohenems
Hohenems is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg, in the Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a population of 15,200 it is the fifth largest municipality in Vorarlberg...
.
On 23 January 1719, after the lands had been purchased, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
, decreed that Vaduz and Schellenberg were united and elevated the newly formed territory to the dignity of Fürstentum (principality
Principality
A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
) with the name "Liechtenstein" in honour of "[his] true servant, Anton Florian of Liechtenstein
Anton Florian of Liechtenstein
Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1718 and 1721.He was born in Wilfersdorf, in what is now Lower Austria...
". It was on this date that Liechtenstein became a sovereign member state of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. It is a testament to the pure political expediency of the purchases that the Princes of Liechtenstein did not set foot in their new principality for over 120 years.
Napoleonic era
As a result of the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, by 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was under the control of French emperor Napoleon I
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
. Napoleon dissolved the empire; this had broad consequences for Liechtenstein: imperial, legal and political mechanisms broke down. The state ceased to owe obligations to any feudal lord beyond its borders.
In 1798, the Vogtei Rheintal unilaterally declared its independence. In the aftermath of the collapse of the Old Swiss Confederation (resulting from it being completely overrun by the French Revolutionary Armies), on 26 March 1798, a Landsgemeinde
Landsgemeinde
The Landsgemeinde or "cantonal assembly" is one of the oldest forms of direct democracy. The first historically documented assembly took place in 1294...
in Altstätten promulgated a constitution and elected both a magistrate and a council . Within weeks, however, this nascent independence was quashed with the inclusion of the Rheintal into 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 Säntis
Canton of Säntis
Säntis was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, consisting of the territory of St. Gallen, Appenzell and Rheintal. Its capital was St. Gallen....
, with the exception of Rüthi
Rüthi
Rüthi is a municipality in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Rüthi is first mentioned in 820 as Reuti. Until 1994 it was known as Rüthi .-Geography:...
and Lienz
Lienz
Lienz is a medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality also includes the cadastral subdivision of Patriasdorf.-Geography:...
, assigned to 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....
.
With Napoleon'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,...
on 19 February 1803, the Helvetic Republic and its cantonal boundaries were abolished, with the Rheintal reunited as a district of 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...
, stretching from Staad
STAAD
STAAD or is a structural analysis and design computer program originally developed by Research Engineers International in Yorba Linda, CA. In late 2005, Research Engineer International was bought by Bentley Systems...
to Lienz and with its capital alternating monthly between Altstätten and Rheineck.
Modern history
The Bezirk was split in twain in 1831, creating Oberrheintal, with its capital in Altstätten, and Unterrheintal, with its capital alternating between Rheineck and BerneckBerneck
Berneck is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Berneck is first mentioned in 892 as Farniwang...
. This division persisted until 2003, when a constitutional revision created the modern constituency , with the loss of 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....
to the adjacent Wahlkreis 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....
.
See also
- Valleys of the AlpsValleys of the Alps-Rhine basin :High Rhine*Aare**Limmat***Linth ****Lake Walen*****Seez****Klöntal****Sernftal**Reuss River***Lake Lucerne****Sarner Aa ****Muotathal***Schächen, Klausen Pass connects to Glarus...
- Geography of the AlpsGeography of the AlpsThe Alps cover a large area. This article describes the delimitation of the Alps as a whole and of subdivisions of the range, follows the course of the main chain of the Alps and discusses the lakes and glaciers found in the region....