Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the
26 cantons forming the
Swiss Confederation
). 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 ...
. It is composed of five districts and its capital is
Frauenfeld
Frauenfeld ( Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic ...
.
Thurgau is part of
Eastern Switzerland
Eastern Switzerland (german: Ostschweiz, french: Suisse orientale, rm, Svizra orientala, it, Svizzera orientale) is the common name of the region situated to the east of Glarus Alps, with the cantons of Schaffhausen, Thurgau, St. Gallen, Appenz ...
. It is named for the river
Thur, and the name ''Thurgovia'' was historically used for a larger area, including part of this river's basin upstream of the modern canton. The area of what is now Thurgau was acquired as subject territories by the cantons of the
Old Swiss Confederacy from the mid 15th century. Thurgau was first declared a canton in its own right at the formation of the
Helvetic Republic in 1798.
The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 (or 19.9% of the population) who were resident foreigners.
History
In prehistoric times the lands of the canton were inhabited by people of the
Pfyn culture
The Pfyn Culture is one of several archaeological cultures of the Neolithic period in Switzerland. It dates from c. 3900 BC to c. 3500 BC.
Discovery
The oldest traces of a settlement are about west of Pfyn in the former peat bog of ''Breitenloo ...
along
Lake Constance. During Roman times the canton was part of the province ''Raetia'' until in 450 the lands were settled by the
Alamanni.
In the 6th century ''Thurgovia'' became a
Gau of the
Frankish Empire
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...
as part of
Alemannia, passing to the
Duchy of Swabia in the early 10th century. At this time, ''Thurgovia'' included not just what is now the canton of Thurgau, but also much of the territory of the modern
canton of St. Gallen
The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen.
Located in northeastern ...
, the
Appenzell and the eastern parts of the
canton of Zurich.
The most important cities of Thurgovia in the early medieval period were
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
as the seat of the bishop, and
St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website = ...
for its
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The con ...
.
The dukes of
Zähringen and the counts of
Kyburg took over much of the land in the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...
. The town of
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
was part of the Thurgau until it became ''
reichsunmittelbar
Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular prin ...
'' in 1218. When the Kyburg dynasty became extinct in 1264 the
Habsburgs took over that land.
The
Old Swiss Confederacy allied with ten freed bailiwicks of the former
Toggenburg
Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the river Thur and that of its main tributary, the Necker. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis'') of the canton of St. Gallen ( ...
seized the lands of the Thurgau from the Habsburgs in 1460, and it became a subject territory of seven Swiss cantons (Zurich, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug and Glarus).
During the Protestant
Reformation in Switzerland
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...
, both the Catholic and emerging Reformed parties sought to swing the subject territories, such as the Thurgau, to their side. In 1524, in an incident that resonated across Switzerland, local peasants occupied the cloister of
Ittingen in the Thurgau, driving out the monks, destroying documents, and devastating the wine-cellar. Between 1526 and 1531, most of the Thurgau's population adopted the new Reformed faith spreading from Zurich; Zurich's defeat in the
War of Kappel (1531) ended Reformed predominance. Instead, the First Peace of Kappel protected both Catholic and
Reformed worship
Reformed worship is religious devotion to God as conducted by Reformed or Calvinistic Christians, including Presbyterians. Despite considerable local and national variation, public worship in most Reformed and Presbyterian churches is governed by ...
, though the provisions of the treaty generally favored the Catholics, who also made up a majority among the seven ruling cantons. Religious tensions over the Thurgau were an important background to the
First War of Villmergen
The First War of Villmergen Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Zwitserland. §5.2 Reformatie". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. was a Swiss religious war which lasted from 5 January until 7 March 1656, at the time of the Ol ...
(1656), during which Zurich briefly occupied the Thurgau.
In 1798 the land became a canton for the first time as part of the
Helvetic Republic. In 1803, as part of the
Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasi ...
, the canton of Thurgau became a member of the Swiss confederation. The
cantonal coat of arms was designed in 1803, based on the coat of arms of the
House of Kyburg which ruled the Thurgau in the 13th century, changing the background to green-and-white, at the time considered "revolutionary" colours (c.f.
tricolour
A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland were ...
); as the placement of a yellow (''or'') charge on white (''argent'') is a violation of heraldic principles, there have been suggestions to modify the design, including a 1938 suggestion to use a solid green field divided by a diagonal white line, but they were not successful.
The current cantonal constitution of Thurgau dates from 1987.
Geography
To the north the canton is bound by the
Lake Constance across which lies
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
and
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
) and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
(
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...
). The
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
creates the border in the northwest. To the south lies the
canton of St. Gallen
The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen.
Located in northeastern ...
; to the west lie the cantons of
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
and
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...
.
The area of the canton is and commonly divided into three hill masses. One of these stretches along
Lake Constance in the north. Another is further inland between the
Thur and the river
Murg. The third one forms the southern border of the canton and merges with the
Hörnli
Hörnli mountain is located on the territory of the community of Fischenthal, in the Zürcher Oberland, in the eastern part of canton of Zürich, in Switzerland. It is high.
North of the Hörnli, the ''Dreiländerstein'', altitude , marks ...
mountain in the pre-Alps.
Demographics
The population of the canton (as of ) is . The canton is mostly
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
speaking. The population () is split between
Protestants (45%) and
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 let ...
s (36%).
Historical population
The historical population is given in the following table:
Political subdivisions
Districts
Since January 2011, Thurgau has been divided into five districts which are named after their capitals. Before this date, there were eight districts - (
Steckborn District,
Bischofszell District and
Diessenhofen District formed their own districts with their surrounding municipalities).
*
Frauenfeld District
Frauenfeld District is one of the five districts of the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. It has a population of (as of ). Its capital, and the capital of Thurgau, is the city of Frauenfeld.
The district shares borders with canton Zurich and cant ...
with capital
Frauenfeld
Frauenfeld ( Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic ...
*
Kreuzlingen District
Kreuzlingen District is one of the five districts of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It has a population of (as of ). Its capital is the city of Kreuzlingen.
The district contains the following municipalities:
...
with capital
Kreuzlingen
*
Weinfelden District with capital
Weinfelden
Weinfelden is a municipality in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of the same name.
Weinfelden is an old town, which was known during Roman times as Quivelda (Winis Feld).
Weinfelden is mostly known through ...
*
Münchwilen District with capital
Münchwilen
*
Arbon District with capital
Arbon
Arbon is a historic town and a municipality and district capital of the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
Arbon is located on the southern shore of Lake Constance, on a railway line between Konstanz/Romanshorn and Rorsch ...
Municipalities
, there are 80
municipalities in the canton.
The ten largest municipalities by population are:
20080507 1708MESZ Schloss Frauenfeld 1680x1050 HDR.jpg, 1. Frauenfeld
Frauenfeld ( Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic ...
- population
HafenKreuzlingenSpring.JPG, 2. Kreuzlingen - population
Picswiss TG-11-07.jpg, 3. Arbon
Arbon is a historic town and a municipality and district capital of the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
Arbon is located on the southern shore of Lake Constance, on a railway line between Konstanz/Romanshorn and Rorsch ...
- population
B-Amriswil-Gemeindehaus.jpg, 4. Amriswil
, neighboring_municipalities= Egnach, Erlen, Hefenhofen, Muolen (SG), Salmsach, Sommeri, Zihlschlacht-Sitterdorf
, twintowns =
Amriswil ( Low Alemannic: ''Amerschwiil'') is a town and a municipality in Arbon District in the canton of Thurga ...
- population
Weinfldn01481.JPG, 5. Weinfelden
Weinfelden is a municipality in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of the same name.
Weinfelden is an old town, which was known during Roman times as Quivelda (Winis Feld).
Weinfelden is mostly known through ...
- population
Romanshorn-Bahnhof.jpg, 6. Romanshorn
Romanshorn is a municipality in the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
History
Romanshorn was probably settled in the 7th century, and is first mentioned in 779 as ''Rumanishorn'' in a land grant from Waldrata to the Abb ...
- population
Aadorf chefstrato 097.jpg, 7. Aadorf
Aadorf is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. In 1996 Ettenhausen, Guntershausen bei Aadorf, and Wittenwil merged into Aadorf.[Sirnach
Sirnach is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
Geography
Sirnach has an area, , of . Of this area, or 53.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 24.9% is forested. Of the rest of ...]
- population
Marktgasse in Bischofzell.jpg, 9. Bischofszell
Bischofszell ( Alemannic: ''Bischefzèl'') is a village and a municipality in Weinfelden District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district. In 1987, the city was awarded the Wakker Prize for the preservation of its a ...
- population
2015-Muenchwilen-TG-Wilerstrasse.jpg, 10. Münchwilen - population
Politics
Federal election results
: FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009
: "*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.
Economy
The canton of Thurgau is known for its agricultural produce. Particularly, apples, pears, fruits and vegetables are well-known. The many orchards in the canton are mainly used for the production of cider.
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
is produced in the Thur valley.
There is also industry in the canton of Thurgau. The main industries are printing, textiles and handicrafts. Small and middle-sized businesses are important for the cantonal economy. Many of these are concentrated around the capital.
Notes and references
External links
*
Official statistics*
{{Authority control
Cantons of Switzerland
Cantons of the Helvetic Republic
Former condominiums of Switzerland
States and territories established in 1803
15th-century establishments in the Old Swiss Confederacy
1460s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1460 establishments in Europe
1803 establishments in Switzerland