Mettmenstetten (

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

: ''Mäpmischtette'') is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the district of Affoltern in the canton of

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 ...

Origin of the name and history

The town took its name from being "In the middle". It was listed as being in the middle of two other locations (the exact identity of the locations have been lost in time). Additionally, people used to overnight at Mettmenstetten when they were traveling between Zurich and Luzern, as this town is about in the middle of the route.Mettmenstetten website-Origin of the name and Coat of Arms
accessed 24 July 2009 Mettmenstetten is first mentioned in 1116 as ''Metemunstat''. It is mentioned as ''Mettmonstetten'' in 1240 and as ''Metamonstetten'' or ''Methemonstettin'' in 1255. Mettmenstetten lies near the border between Canton Zurich and the Central Swiss Canton of Zug and therefore during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

near the turbulent fault line between Protestant and Catholic Switzerland. In 1525 it is reported that the evangelical, Protestant parishioners of Mettmenstetten chased their new minister out of the village by throwing stones at him after hearing his first sermon. In August and September 1899

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, then a student at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich, spent a summer holiday at the Paradies, then a hotel, on the hill above the village. His occupations during this time included a walking tour in the direction of

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. History Early history There was no permanent settlement in the area p ...

and the upper part of

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 ...

, as well as the study of "electric force".

Geography

Mettmenstetten has an area of . Of this area, 67.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.1%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 24-Jul-2009 It is located about 10 minutes driving distance from the City of Zug, and 25 minutes from the City of Zurich. Affoltern is about 5 minutes north. The municipality includes the village of Mettmenstetten, with the two core sections of Ober- and Untermettmenstetten as well as the other sections; Dachlissen, Eigi, Grossholz, Herferswil, Hübscheren, Rossau and Wissenbach. It is located an elevation of .

Demographics

Mettmenstetten has a population (as of ) of . , 15% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 5 years the population has grown at a rate of 15%. Most of the population () speaks German (92.8%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 1.7%) and Italian being third ( 1.6%). In the 2015 election to the National Council the most popular party was the SVP which received 35.7% of the vote. The next four 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 ...

(18.8%), the GLP (9.6%), the FDP (13.2%), and the

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

(5.1%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17%. In Mettmenstetten about 83.2% 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 ...

''). Mettmenstetten has an unemployment rate of 1.3%. , there were 47 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 54 businesses involved in this sector. 521 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 45 businesses in this sector. 939 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 105 businesses in this sector.

Education

The city offers daycare, kindergarten, primary and secondary school. There are 124 kids in the kindergarten, 327 in the primary school and 145 in the secondary school. The daycare, called Domino, is located within the school area. The school also has an indoor swimming pool, two indoor sporthalls ("turnhallen") and a large outdoor grass area used mainly for sports.

Transport

Mettmenstetten railway station Mettmenstetten is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Zurich, situated in the municipality of Mettmenstetten. The station is located on the Zurich to Zug via Affoltern am Albis railway line. Service The station is an intermediate stop ...

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 line S5. It is a 13 minute ride from

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

, a 36 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 ...

and 45 to 55 minutes from

Zürich Flughafen , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

. It is only 10 minutes driving-distance to A4 highway that connects Zürich with Luzern.

Local airport

Close to Mettmenstetten lies the private airport Hausen am Albis. Over 16.000 flight movements take place per year, mostly in the weekends and/or the summer. Although the official flight routes are not positioned over Mettmenstetten, the pilots of the private planes often decide to fly over Mettmenstetten instead. They also fly at a lower altitude then the official recommended height of 300 meters (for populated areas). This increases the noise pollution levels for the inhabitants of Mettmenstetten and the surrounding villages, leading them to take action.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Zürich