St. Gallenkappel
Encyclopedia
St. Gallenkappel is a municipality
in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of See-Gaster
in the canton
of St. Gallen in Switzerland
.
is still known as Chappele. It is located along two old trade and pilgrimage routes, one from Toggenburg
over the Laad and the second from Hummelwald to Lake Zurich
. In the 9th Century there may have been a chapel dedicated to St. Gallus, where the current parish church
now stands. This chapel was the origin of the village name.
On 10 December 1830, St. Gallenkappel was the site of a popular assembly, protesting the loss of freedoms under the Act of Mediation
and the Restoration. The assembly at St. Gallenkappel was one of several in the Canton of St. Gallen and throughout Switzerland. They called for two main changes in the cantonal constitution. First, they called for peacefully adjusting the constitutions by adjusting the way seats in local legislature
s and the Tagsatzung
were allocated. In particular they objected to what they saw as the over-representation of the cantonal capital in the government. Secondly, they sought a way to amend the constitution. Very few cantons even had a way to amend or modify the constitutions, and none of them allowed citizen's initiative
s to be added.
While all of these assemblies ended peacefully, they did march through the streets of St. Gallen. Following the protest march, the government quickly agreed to the protesters demands. Throughout the country, these successful assemblies led to the period known as the Regeneration and in 1848 the creation of the Swiss Federal State
.
The municipality is located in the See-Gaster Wahlkreis to the southwest of the Ricken Pass
between the Linth
valley and the Tweralspitz (elevation 1332 m (4,370.1 ft)). It consists of the village of St. Gallenkappel and the hamlets
of Bezikon, Rüeterswil and Walde.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Per pale Argent St. Gallus stantant clad Sable holding a book Or and a crooked staff and haloed Gules and Azure a Chapel Argent windowed Sable and roofed Gules issuant from triple mount Vert. It is an example of canting
with St. Gallus
and a chapel spelling out the name of the municipality.
, 12 are from Italy
, 66 are from ex-Yugoslavia
, 6 are from Austria
, 4 are from Turkey
, and 22 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 3.8%. Most of the population speaks German (94.6%), with Albanian being second most common ( 2.0%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 0.6%). Of the Swiss national languages , 1,626 speak German
, 9 people speak French
, 4 people speak Italian
, and 4 people speak Romansh.
The age distribution, , in St. Gallenkappel is; 255 children or 14.8% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 286 teenagers or 16.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 193 people or 11.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 274 people or 15.9% are between 30 and 39, 245 people or 14.3% are between 40 and 49, and 188 people or 10.9% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 127 people or 7.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 78 people or 4.5% are between 70 and 79, there are 60 people or 3.5% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 13 people or 0.8% who are between 90 and 99.
there were 143 persons (or 8.3% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 327 (or 19.0%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 1,102 (or 64.1%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 57 (or 3.3%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 18 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 16 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 8 who lived household made up of unrelated persons,and 48 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 46.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
(24.9%), the FDP
(8.9%) and the Green Party
(6.5%).
In St. Gallenkappel about 66.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
). Out of the total population in St. Gallenkappel, , the highest education level completed by 406 people (23.6% of the population) was Primary, while 558 (32.5%) have completed their secondary education, 140 (8.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 81 (4.7%) 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 2.4%. There were 129 businesses in the municipality of which 19 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 50 were involved in the third.
there were 320 residents who worked in the municipality, while 555 residents worked outside St. Gallenkappel and 122 people commuted into the municipality for work.
. Of the rest of the population, there are 19 individuals (or about 1.11% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 17 individuals (or about 0.99% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 11 (or about 0.64% of the population) who are Islam
ic. There are 16 individuals (or about 0.93% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 102 (or about 5.93% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 33 individuals (or about 1.92% of the population) did not answer the question.
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 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
St. Gallenkappel is first mentioned in 1275 as S. Galli capella. In 1425 it was mentioned as bi Sant Gallencappel, and in the local Swiss GermanSwiss German
Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
is still known as Chappele. It is located along two old trade and pilgrimage routes, one from Toggenburg
Toggenburg
Toggenburg is the name given to the upper valley of the Thur River, in the Swiss Canton of St. Gallen. Currently, it is one of the eight constituencies into which the canton is divided....
over the Laad and the second from Hummelwald to 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 ....
. In the 9th Century there may have been a chapel dedicated to St. Gallus, where the current 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....
now stands. This chapel was the origin of the village name.
On 10 December 1830, St. Gallenkappel was the site of a popular assembly, protesting the loss of freedoms under the 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,...
and the Restoration. The assembly at St. Gallenkappel was one of several in the Canton of St. Gallen and throughout Switzerland. They called for two main changes in the cantonal constitution. First, they called for peacefully adjusting the constitutions by adjusting the way seats in local legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
s and the Tagsatzung
Tagsatzung
The Swiss Tagsatzung was the legislative and executive council of the Swiss confederacy from the beginnings until the formation of the Swiss federal state in 1848. It was a meeting of delegates of the individual cantons...
were allocated. In particular they objected to what they saw as the over-representation of the cantonal capital in the government. Secondly, they sought a way to amend the constitution. Very few cantons even had a way to amend or modify the constitutions, and none of them allowed citizen's initiative
Initiative
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
s to be added.
While all of these assemblies ended peacefully, they did march through the streets of St. Gallen. Following the protest march, the government quickly agreed to the protesters demands. Throughout the country, these successful assemblies led to the period known as the Regeneration and in 1848 the creation of the Swiss Federal State
Switzerland as a federal state
The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on September 12, 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution, which was created in response to a 27-day civil war in Switzerland, the Sonderbundskrieg...
.
Geography
St. Gallenkappel has an area, , of 19.5 km² (7.5 sq mi). Of this area, 59.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 34.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.2%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).The municipality is located in the See-Gaster Wahlkreis to the southwest of the Ricken Pass
Ricken Pass
Ricken Pass is a mountain pass in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.It connects the Linth valley and Toggenburg. The pass road has a maximum grade of 9 percent.A Federal Railway tunnel has been dug under the pass....
between the Linth
Linth
The Linth is a Swiss river starting above Linthal the mountains of Glarus near the Klausen Pass and flowing from there north through the Glarus valley passing Schwanden, where it is joined by its main tributary Sernft, Ennenda, the town of Glarus, Netstal, and Näfels, from where it is channeled to...
valley and the Tweralspitz (elevation 1332 m (4,370.1 ft)). It consists of the village of St. Gallenkappel 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 Bezikon, Rüeterswil and Walde.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Per pale Argent St. Gallus stantant clad Sable holding a book Or and a crooked staff and haloed Gules and Azure a Chapel Argent windowed Sable and roofed Gules issuant from triple mount Vert. It is an example of canting
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
with St. Gallus
Saint Gall
Saint Gall, Gallen, or Gallus was an Irish disciple and one of the traditionally twelve companions of Saint Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Saint Deicolus is called an older brother of Gall.-Biography:...
and a chapel spelling out the name of the municipality.
Demographics
St. Gallenkappel has a population (as of ) of . , about 5.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, , 15 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...
, 12 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...
, 66 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,...
, 6 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...
, 4 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 22 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 3.8%. Most of the population speaks German (94.6%), with Albanian being second most common ( 2.0%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 0.6%). Of the Swiss national languages , 1,626 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....
, 9 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...
, 4 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 4 people speak Romansh.
The age distribution, , in St. Gallenkappel is; 255 children or 14.8% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 286 teenagers or 16.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 193 people or 11.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 274 people or 15.9% are between 30 and 39, 245 people or 14.3% are between 40 and 49, and 188 people or 10.9% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 127 people or 7.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 78 people or 4.5% are between 70 and 79, there are 60 people or 3.5% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 13 people or 0.8% who are between 90 and 99.
there were 143 persons (or 8.3% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 327 (or 19.0%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 1,102 (or 64.1%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 57 (or 3.3%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 18 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 16 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 8 who lived household made up of unrelated persons,and 48 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 46.9% 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...
(24.9%), 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....
(8.9%) 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:...
(6.5%).
In St. Gallenkappel about 66.9% 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...
). Out of the total population in St. Gallenkappel, , the highest education level completed by 406 people (23.6% of the population) was Primary, while 558 (32.5%) have completed their secondary education, 140 (8.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 81 (4.7%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 1,229 |
| 1900 | 1,008 |
| 1950 | 1,110 |
| 2000 | 1,719 |
Economy
, St. Gallenkappel had an unemployment rate of 1.02%. , there were 178 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 71 businesses involved in this sector. 124 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 22 businesses in this sector. 215 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 51 businesses in this sector.the average unemployment rate was 2.4%. There were 129 businesses in the municipality of which 19 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 50 were involved in the third.
there were 320 residents who worked in the municipality, while 555 residents worked outside St. Gallenkappel and 122 people commuted into the municipality for work.
Religion
From the , 1,260 or 73.3% are Roman Catholic, while 261 or 15.2% 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 19 individuals (or about 1.11% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 17 individuals (or about 0.99% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 11 (or about 0.64% 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 16 individuals (or about 0.93% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 102 (or about 5.93% 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 33 individuals (or about 1.92% of the population) did not answer the question.