Birmensdorf is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of

Dietikon Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area. Geography The ind ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

History

Birmensdorf is first mentioned in 876 as ''Piripoumesdorf''.

Geography

Birmensdorf has an area of . Of this area, 41% is used for agricultural purposes, while 38.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). housing and buildings made up 12.8% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (7.3%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 0.4% of the area. 14.1% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction. The municipality is located in the ''

Reppisch The Reppisch is a river in Switzerland. It rises in the Türlersee and joins the Limmat as its tributary, near the town of Dietikon. The Reppisch flows in the Säuliamt (Affoltern district), canton of Zürich, an area featuring still partially ...

tal''. It includes the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Landikon and numerous scattered farm houses. The village of Birmensdorf includes the former hamlets of Wullikon, Schüren, Güpf, Uf Dorf and Risi. The

Wüeribach The Wüeribach (also called the Dorfbach and Fischbach in its upper reaches) is a tributary of the Reppisch, around 8 kilometres long, in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It rises in the municipality of Bonstetten, flows through the narrow ...

stream empties into the

near Birmensdorf.

Demographics

Birmensdorf has a population (as of ) of . , 19.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. the gender distribution of the population was 49.8% male and 50.2% female. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 13.7%. Most of the population () speaks German (87.1%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.6%) and French being third ( 1.4%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the

SPS SPS may refer to: Law and government * Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO * NATO Science for Peace and Security * Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy * The Standard Procurement System, fo ...

(16%), the FDP (12.7%) and the CVP (9.5%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 67.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Birmensdorf about 80.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). There are 2508 households in Birmensdorf. Birmensdorf has an unemployment rate of 2.38%. , there were 78 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 440 people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...

and there are 66 businesses in this sector. 1270 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, with 188 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 05-Aug-2009 43.6% of the working population were employed full-time, and 56.4% were employed part-time.
accessed 4 August 2009 there were 1738

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and 2227

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

in Birmensdorf. In the religion was broken down into several smaller categories. From the 2000 census, 46.5% were some type of Protestant, with 44.6% belonging to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

and 1.9% belonging to other Protestant churches. 30.1% of the population were Catholic. Of the rest of the population, 0% were Muslim, 5.2% belonged to another religion (not listed), 3.2% did not give a religion, and 14% were atheist or agnostic. The historical population is given in the following table:

Transport

Birmensdorf railway station Birmensdorf is a railway station in the municipality of Birmensdorf, in the Swiss canton of Zurich. The station is located on the Zurich to Zug via Affoltern am Albis railway line. Service Birmensdorf station is served by Zurich S-Bahn lines ...

is a stop of the

Zürich S-Bahn The Zürich S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Zürich) system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zürich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, ...

on the lines S5 and S14. It is an 18 minute ride from

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Zürich Hauptbahnhof (often shortened to Zürich HB, or just HB; ''Zürich Main Station'' or ''Zürich Central Station'') is the largest railway station in Switzerland. Zürich is a major railway hub, with services to and from across Switzerland a ...

. The municipality is located on the

A3 motorway This is a list of roads designated A3. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * A003 road (Argentina), a road connecting the junction with National Route 9 and Camino de Cintura to Tigre * ''A3 road (Australia)'' may refer ...

References

External links

Birmensdorf Online
Official website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birmensdorf, Zurich Municipalities of the canton of Zürich