Freienbach 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 ...

Höfe District Höfe District is a district of the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The coat of arms of the Höfe is ''per pale: gules, two lions rampant contourny or; and or, three lions passant gules''. It has a population of (as of ). The district contains th ...

in the

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on ...

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

Freienbach is first mentioned in 972 as ''Friginbach''.

Geography

Freienbach has an area, , of . Of this area, 40.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 31% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (4.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The municipality is located on

Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used to ...

and stretches from the lake (elevation ) to the Etzel mountain (elevation ). It consists of the villages of Freienbach, Pfäffikon (not to be confused with Pfäffikon in the canton of Zurich), Wilen, Bäch, Hurden (located on the

Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the partially artificial causeway and bridge at the most narrow area of Lake Zurich, between Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The Seedamm carries a road and a railway across the lake, with the railway being used by the ...

) and the two islands of Lützelau and Ufenau (Ufnau).

Demographics

Freienbach has a population (as of ) of . , 23.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 23.8%. Most of the population () speaks German (87.9%), with Italian being second most common (2.3%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (2.0%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 02-Sep-2009 the gender distribution of the population was 50.6% male and 49.4% female. The age distribution, , in Freienbach is; 2,963 people or 22.7% of the population is between 0 and 19. 4,174 people or 32.0% are 20 to 39, and 4,432 people or 33.9% are 40 to 64. The senior population distribution is 977 people or 7.5% are 65 to 74. There are 407 people or 3.1% who are 70 to 79 and 102 people or 0.78% of the population who are over 80.Canton Schwyz Statistics
accessed 27 August 2009 there are 5,558 households, of which 1,653 households (or about 29.7%) contain only a single individual. 274 or about 4.9% are large households, with at least five members. In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 44.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (19%), 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 ...

(16.3%) and the CVP (15%). In Freienbach about 74.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a '' Fachhochschule''). Freienbach has an unemployment rate of 1.7%. , there were 184 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 53 businesses involved in this sector. 2,718 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 constructi ...

and there are 216 businesses in this sector. 7,174 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 1,029 businesses in this sector. Kirche Freienbach

From the , 7,641 or 58.5% are

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, while 2,915 or 22.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 6 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 202 individuals (or about 1.55% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 18 individuals (or about 0.14% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 12 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who are

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and 633 (or about 4.85% of the population) who are

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic. There are 92 individuals (or about 0.70% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 1,151 (or about 8.82% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 385 individuals (or about 2.95% of the population) did not answer the question. The historical population is given in the following table:

Transport

The municipality of Freienbach is served by six railway stations. Of these, is the most important, being served by both long distance and Zurich S-Bahn trains. The remaining stations each serve a subset of the S-Bahn trains: * is served by S8 * is served by S8 * is served by S40 * is served by S5 and S40 * is served by S2, S5, S8 and S40 * is served by S40

Sport

FC Freienbach is the municipality's football club.

Heritage sites of national significance

The prehistoric lakeside settlement at Hurden/Seedamm and Ufnau, the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St. Peter and Paul with Martin's Chapel, the Seedamm Cultural Center of Pfäffikon and

Pfäffikon Castle Pfäffikon Castle is a castle in the Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of Freienbach of the Canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. It is a Swiss Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance, heritage site of nat ...

are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The prehistoric settlements at Hurden Rosshorn and Hurden Seefeld are part of the

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located variousl ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

.UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Schwyz Cities in Switzerland Populated places on Lake Zurich