Herrliberg

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Herrliberg

Canton	Zurich
District	Meilen
Coordinates	47°17′N 8°37′E
Population	5,677 (December 2003)
Area	8.97 km²
Elevation	464 m
Postal code	8704
SFOS number	0152
Website	www.herrliberg.ch
Herrliberg

Herrliberg is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.

It is located on the north bank of the lake of Zürich and has a population of about 5,700 (in 2003). In the local dialect it is called Herrlibärg.

The area is 9 km². The distance from the main square to Zürich's main station is 22 kilometres. The locality is placed on five tiers.

1 History
2 Sights
3 Famous people
4 External links

[edit] History

There are findings dating back to the Bronze age.

In the 8th century, a village called Tächliswil was established. A hamlet called Wezzo (today Wetzwil) was donated to the monastery of St. Gallen in 797. There are also a number of other hamlets, including Breitwil, Kittenmühle and Intwil.

Wine growing was important for centuries. In the Middle Ages, most of the land belonged to the churches of Zürich (Grossmünster and Fraumünster), but in 1412 Herrliberg was established as the place of a reeve. This made Herrliberg associated with Zürich. Since 1815, the municipality is part of the district of Meilen.

The chapel in Wetzwil predates 1370. The first school was opened in 1639. Thereafter, in 1687, the local parish church was built.

In 1886, the peak of wine growing, Herrliberg counted 174 wine growers, cultivating 1.3 km² of wine.

The population has been growing over the years as follows:

1634|516 1900||1,000

Year	Population
1940	2,000
1960	3,200

With the opening of the railway link to Zürich in 1896, Herrliberg started to develop as part of the suburbs of Zürich.

[edit] Sights

There are three churches in Herrliberg. The protestant churches can be found in Wetzwil and Tal. The catholic church St. Marien is remarkable as it is was built recently. The architecture is distinctive.

[edit] Famous people

Herrliberg is the home of Christoph Blocher. He is currently a member of the Swiss Federal Council. It is also the home of Jurg Marquard, a Swiss publisher.