Speicher 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 of

Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Ausserrhoden; rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadora; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Esterno) is one of the 26 canton ...

, in

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

Speicher is first mentioned in 1309 as ''Spicher''. The name originated in the Middle Ages, during the heyday of the

Abbey of Saint Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot w ...

. At that time the village church served as a granary of the monastery. The first battle of the

Appenzell Wars The Appenzell Wars (german: Appenzeller Kriege) were a series of conflicts that lasted from 1401 until 1429 in the Appenzell region of modern-day Switzerland. The wars consisted of uprisings of cooperative groups, such as the farmers of Appenzell ...

was fought at the village of Vögelinsegg, near Speicher in 1403. A monument to the battle, a pointing Appenzell farmer with a morning star, was built in 1903 on the ridge of Vögelinsegg. A right of way had to be blasted through the rock at Vögelinsegg to lay the track for the ''Trogenerbahn'' in 1900.

Geography

Speicher has an area, , of . Of this area, 54.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 16.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The municipality is located in the former District of Mittelland. Until the 1950s the municipality was lightly settled with scattered farmhouses and two small settlements, Speicher and Speicherschwendi. Both have expanded into larger villages since then.

Demographics

Speicher has a population () of 4,012, of which about 8.5% are foreign nationals.Brief Statistics for the half-canton
accessed 15 September 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1.8%. Most of the population () speaks German (93.5%), with Spanish being second most common ( 1.3%) and Albanian being third ( 0.9%).
accessed 17-Sep-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 49.5% male and 50.5% female. The age distribution, , in Speicher is; 298 people or 7.7% of the population are between 0–6 years old. 477 people or 12.4% are 6-15, and 190 people or 4.9% are 16-19. Of the adult population, 164 people or 4.3% of the population are between 20–24 years old. 1,104 people or 28.7% are 25-44, and 1,077 people or 28.0% are 45-64. The senior population distribution is 405 people or 10.5% of the population are between 65–79 years old, and 138 people or 3.6% are over 80.Appenzell Outer Rhodes website
accessed 15 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election the FDP received 72.2% of the vote. In Speicher about 78% 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 ...

''). Speicher has an unemployment rate of 1.2%. , there were 86 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 34 businesses involved in this sector. 256 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 47 businesses in this sector. 617 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 156 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Education

Speicher is home to five kindergartens, one

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 ...

and a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

. Students who continue on to advanced secondary attend Gymnasium in Trogen.

Sights

The ''Holzpalast'' house in the municipality is listed as a heritage site of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 17-Sep-2009

Sports

*Tennis Hall *Indoor swimming pool with gym *Sports facilities with artificial turf skate park and outdoor handball field *Beach volleyball *Various sports clubs: FC-Speicher, TV-Speicher, Uni hockey, tennis club *Cross-country ski in the winter *Vita-Parcours

Transport

Speicher is linked to the city of St. Gallen by the

Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway The Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway, also known as the Durchmesserlinie (diameter line), is a Metre-gauge railway, metre gauge Interurban, overland tramway in the Swiss cantons of Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and ...

, a narrow-gauge road-side railway line. The line operates two trains per hour throughout the day, with four trains per hour during peak periods. The journey from Speicher to St. Gallen takes 28 minutes and all the way to Appenzell 67 minutes.

References

{{Authority control Cultural property of national significance in Appenzell Ausserrhoden Municipalities of Appenzell Ausserrhoden