Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen
Coat of arms
Schaffhausen
Location of Schaffhausen
Coordinates: 47°42′N 8°38′E / 47.700°N 8.633°E / 47.700; 8.633Coordinates: 47°42′N 8°38′E / 47.700°N 8.633°E / 47.700; 8.633
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Schaffhausen
District	(None in canton of Schaffhausen)
Government
• Executive	Stadtrat with 5 members
• Mayor	Stadtpräsident (list) Peter Neukomm SPS/PSS
• Parliament	Grosser Stadtrat with 36 members
Area[1]
• Total	41.86 km2 (16.16 sq mi)
Elevation	403 m (1,322 ft)
Population (Dec 2014[2])
• Total	35,927
• Density	860/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Postal code	8200
SFOS number	2939
Surrounded by	Beringen, Büsingen am Hochrhein (DE-BW), Büttenhardt, Dörflingen, Feuerthalen (ZH), Flurlingen (ZH), Hemmental, Merishausen, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Stetten, Thayngen
Twin towns	Sindelfingen (Germany), Singen am Hohentwiel (Germany), Dobrich (Bulgaria)
Website	www.stadt-schaffhausen.ch Profile (German), SFSO statistics

Imperial City of Schaffhausen
Reichsstadt Schaffhausen
Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1190 or 1218–1330 1415–1501 →
Capital		Schaffhausen
Government		Republic
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Gained Reichsfreiheit	betw 1190 and 1218
•	Pledged to Habsburgs	1330
•	Bought independence	1415
•	Associate member of     Swiss Confederacy	1454
•	Joined Switzerland	1501
•	Swiss independence     recognised	1648

Imperial Abbey of All Saints in Schaffhausen
Reichskloster Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen
Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1080–1529 →
Capital		Schaffhausen
Government		Principality
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Consecrated (Leo IX)	22 November 1049
•	Papal grant of     Nellenburg lands	1080
•	Gained Hiltensweiler     lands	1122–1389
•	City became     Swiss Associate	1454
•	City joined Switz.	1501
•	Converted to     monastery and     cathedral church	1524
•	Disestablished in     Reformation	1529

Schaffhausen (German: [ˈʃafˌhauzən]; Alemannic German: Schafuuse; French: Schaffhouse; Italian: Sciaffusa; Romansh: Schaffusa) is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 as of December 2008.^[3]

The official language of Schaffhausen is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.

Rhine Falls as seen from Neuhausen am Rheinfall

The old portion of the city has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the impressive old canton fortress, the Munot. A train runs out of town to the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe's largest waterfall, a tourist attraction.

Origin of the name

The town is first mentioned in 1045 as Villa Scafhusun. There are at least two theories on the origin of this name. One is related to a mention of a "ford" across the Rhine River that first occurs in 1050. This "ford" may actually refer to a scapha or skiff which was used to disembark goods coming from Constance to move them around the Rhine Falls. The name Scafhusun then arose from the scapha used at that point. Another theory is that Scafhusun comes from Schaf (a sheep), as a ram (now a sheep) formed the ancient arms of the town, derived from those of its founders, the counts of Nellenburg.^[4]

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or on a Base Vert issuant from sinister a Semi Castle Argent with tower with entrance from which is issuing a Semi Ram Sable.^[5] The canting coat of arms refers to the second interpretation of the name, sheep-house.

History

Views of old town, Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins from 1045.^[4] About 1050 the counts of Nellenburg founded the Benedictine monastery of All Saints, which became the centre of the town. Perhaps as early as 1190, certainly in 1208, it was an imperial free city, while the first seal dates from 1253. The powers of the abbot were gradually limited and in 1277 the Emperor Rudolf I gave the town a charter of liberties. In 1330 the emperor Louis of Bavaria pledged it to the Habsburgs. In the early 15th century, Habsburg power over the city waned. By 1411 the guilds ruled the city. Then, in 1415 the Habsburg Duke Frederick IV of Austria sided with the Antipope John XXIII at the Council of Constance, and was banned by the Emperor Sigismund. As a result of the ban and Frederick's need of money, Schaffhausen was able to buy its independence from the Habsburgs in 1418. The city allied with six of the Swiss confederates in 1454 and allied with a further two (Uri and Unterwalden) in 1479. Schaffhausen became a full member of the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1501.

The Reformation was adopted, initially, in 1524 and completely in 1529. The town was heavily damaged during the Thirty Years' War by the passage of Swedish (Protestant) and Bavarian (Roman Catholic) troops and the very important bridge was burnt down. It was not until the early 19th century that the arrested industrial development of the town made a fresh start.^[4] In 1857 the first railroad, the Rheinfall-Bahn running from Winterthur, reached Schaffhausen.^[6]

Schaffhausen is located in a finger of Swiss territory surrounded on three sides by Germany. On 1 April 1944 Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces aircraft which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland due to navigation errors. About a hundred civilians were killed;^[7] the United States quickly offered four million dollars in reparations.

Geography

Schaffhausen covers an area, as of 2006, of 31.1 square kilometers (12.0 sq mi). Of this area, 20.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 47.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 30.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.9%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).^[8]

Demographics

Schaffhausen has a population (as of 2008) of 34,587, of which 26.4% are foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (as of 2008), 21% are from Germany, 13.3% are from Italy, 8.8% are from Croatia, 13.3% are from Serbia, 6% are from Macedonia, 9% are from Turkey, and 28.6% are from other countries.^[9] Over the last 10 years the population has remained stable. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (84.3%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (3.4%) and Italian being third (3.2%).^[8]

The age distribution of the population (as of 2008) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.4%.^[9]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 39.5% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the SVP (33.1%), and the FDP (27.4%).^[8]

As of 2000, 27.4% of the population belonged to the Roman Catholic Church and 43.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church,^[9] later organized in the parish St. Johann – Münster.^[10]

The historical population is given in the following table:^[9][11]

Education

In Schaffhausen about 69.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).^[8] In Schaffhausen, as of 2007, 1.73% of the population attend kindergarten or another pre-school, 5.65% attend a Primary School, 2.98% attend a lower level Secondary School, and 2.49% attend a higher level Secondary School.^[9]

Industry

Schaffhausen has an unemployment rate, as of 2007, of 2.67%. As of 2005, there were 196 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 33 businesses involved in this sector. 6,488 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 293 businesses in this sector. 14,019 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 1,486 businesses in this sector.^[8]

As of 2008 the mid year average unemployment rate was 2.5%. There were 1,879 non-agrarian businesses in the municipality and 29.9% of the (non-agrarian) population was involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 70.1% were involved in the third. At the same time, 67.1% of the working population was employed full-time, and 32.9% was employed part-time. There were 21,841 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which women made up 46.6% of the workforce. As of 2000 there were 10,019 residents who worked in the municipality, while 5,724 residents worked outside Schaffhausen and 8,026 people commuted into the municipality for work.^[9]

Schaffhausen hosts some well-known industrial companies like Georg Fischer (piping systems, machine tools and automotives), an internationally reputed manufacturer of watches (IWC), pharmaceutical industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos) and BB Biotech (biotechnologies). Tyco International and Garmin are also incorporated in Schaffhausen.

As of 2008, there are 102 restaurants, and 11 hotels with 445 beds. The catering industry in Schaffhausen employs 924 people.^[9]

Transportation

The city of Schaffhausen is served by two railway stations. Schaffhausen railway station is jointly owned by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and Deutsche Bahn (DB), and is served by trains of both nation's networks. The station is served by long distance passenger trains running between Frankfurt and Zurich and between Basel and Ulm. Trains of Zurich S-Bahn services S16, S22 and S33 serve the station, although only the S16 provides a direct service to Zurich. Services S3 and S8 of the St. Gallen S-Bahn operate over the Lake line to St. Gallen and Rorschach respectively. Herblingen railway station is called at by local trains linking Schaffhausen station and Singen.

Schaffhausen also has a bus network of six lines, including the Schaffhausen trolleybus system, linking it with nearby places such as Herblingen and Neuhausen am Rheinfall.

Sport

The town has two football teams, SV Schaffhausen of the fourth tier, the Swiss 1. Liga, and FC Schaffhausen of the Swiss Challenge League. There is a football stadium in Breite, Schaffhausen which seats 4200 persons, known as the Breitestadion. It is also the training headquarters for local children's football teams.

There is a handball team in Schaffhausen which plays in the first Swiss division : Kadetten Schaffhausen. They are centered at the BBC Arena on Schweizersbildstrasse. It seats 3600 persons, and was built in 2011.^[12]

Weather

Schaffhausen has an average of 122.5 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 907 mm (35.7 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is July during which time Schaffhausen receives an average of 95 mm (3.7 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.3 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 59 mm (2.3 in) of precipitation over 8.4 days.^[13]

Heritage sites of national significance

There are 35 buildings or sites in Schaffhausen that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. This includes the entire old city of Schaffhausen, the city walls, the Giesserei +GF+ Werk I factory, the city and cantonal archives, the Schweizersbild Paleolithic cave and the Herblingen and Grüthalde Neolithic settlements. Additionally, there are four former guild houses and seven listed houses. There are only two listed religious buildings, the former Benedictine All Saints Abbey and the Church of St. John.^[14]

See also

• Cholfirst Radio Tower
• List of mayors of Schaffhausen
• Bombing of Schaffhausen in World War II

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schaffhausen.

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Schaffhausen.

• City of Schaffhausen (German)
• Schaffhausen Tourism
• City archives (German)
• U.S. Bombings of Switzerland during World War II
• Historical
• The Museum zu Allerheiligen: Task and Concept, retrieved March 2013 

Municipalities in the Canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland Bargen Beggingen Beringen Buch Buchberg Büttenhardt Dörflingen Gächlingen Hallau Hemishofen Hofen Lohn Löhningen Merishausen Neuhausen am Rheinfall Neunkirch Oberhallau Ramsen Rüdlingen Schaffhausen Schleitheim Siblingen Stein am Rhein Stetten Thayngen Trasadingen Wilchingen Canton of Schaffhausen Municipalities of the canton of Schaffhausen