Ramsen 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

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 ...

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

in northern

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

Ramsen is first mentioned in 846 as ''Rammesheim''.

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

is ''Azure three Ears of Wheat leaved Or issuant from a Mount of the same.''

Geography

Ramsen has an area, , of . Of this area, 62.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.6%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The municipality is located in the Stein district which is in the eastern

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of the canton of Schaffhausen. It consists of the farming village of Ramsen and several

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

including Bibermühle and Hofenacker.

Demographics

Ramsen has a population () of 1,299, of which 17.4% are foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (), 59.4% are from

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 ...

, 1.3% are from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, 0.4% are from

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, 8.5% are from

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, 12% are from Macedonia, 0.4% are from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and 17.9% are from another country.Statistical Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen
accessed 2 December 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (95.6%), with Albanian being second most common ( 1.9%) and French being third ( 0.4%).
accessed 17-December-2009 The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.4%. In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 55.1% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the FDP (24.3%), and the SP (20.6%) . In Ramsen about 76.4% 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 ...

''). In Ramsen, , 1.78% of the population attend

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

or another pre-school, 8.06% attend a

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, 4.11% attend a lower level Secondary School, and 3.56% attend a higher level Secondary School. , 45.5% of the population belonged to the

Roman Catholic Church 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 38.6% belonged 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 ...

. The historical population is given in the following table:

Notable people

Mathias Gnädinger Mathias Gnädinger (25 March 1941 – 3 April 2015) was a Swiss stage and film actor. Career Initially a typesetter and typographer, Gnädinger began his acting training at the ''Bühnenstudio Zürich'' (now part of the Zurich University of ...

(1941–2015)

Economy and Infrastructure

Ramsen has an unemployment rate ( of 1.63%. , there were 113 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 37 businesses involved in this sector. 111 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 20 businesses in this sector. 597 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 69 businesses in this sector. the mid year average unemployment rate was 1.4%. There were 89 non-agrarian businesses in the municipality and 16.7% of the (non-agrarian) population was involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 83.3% were involved in the third. At the same time, 66.8% of the working population was employed full-time, and 33.2% was employed part-time. There were 743 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 47.5% of the workforce. there were 295 residents who worked in the municipality, while 283 residents worked outside Ramsen and 220 people commuted into the municipality for work. , there are 4 restaurants, and 1 hotel with 36 beds. The hospitality industry in Ramsen employs 12 people.

Heritage sites of national significance

The manor house ''Bibernhofgut'' in the village of Bibermühle is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. ''Bibernhofgut'' is an old manor house along the

Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

. The late-

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

main building was finished in 1529. The

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

on the south

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

, featuring the coat of arms of

Stein am Rhein Stein am Rhein (abbreviated as Stein a. R.) is a historic town and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. The town's medieval centre retains the ancient street plan. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserve ...

, is from the early 17th Century. The estate ground also include a water mill. While the house was owned by the city of Stein am Rhein for centuries, it is currently privately owned. Ramsen has some fame as the preferred border crossing point for British and Dutch prisoners of war escaping from Germany during the Second World War.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Schaffhausen Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Schaffhausen