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


Location

Cham is located on the northern shore of
Lake Zug __NOTOC__ Lake Zug (german: Zugersee) is a lake in Central Switzerland, situated between Lake Lucerne and Lake Zurich. It stretches for 14 km between Arth and the Cham- Zug bay. The Lorze as the main feeder river empties its waters into the ...
, northwest of the cantonal capital of
Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...
. Surrounding Cham, Steinhausen is to the east,
Hünenberg Hünenberg is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. History Hünenberg is first mentioned in 1173 as ''de Hunberg'', though this document is considered a forgery. In 1185 it was mentioned as ''de Hunoberg'' and in 1239 as ''de Hun ...
is to the west, Lake Zug is south, and
Maschwanden Maschwanden is a Municipalities of Switzerland, village in the district of Affoltern (district), Affoltern in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. History Maschwanden is first mentioned in 1189 as ''Masw ...
and
Knonau Knonau is a municipality in the district of Affoltern in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Knonau is first mentioned in 1045 as ''Chnonowa''. In 1223 it was mentioned as ''Knonowe''. Geography Knonau has an area of . Of this a ...
in the
Canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...
are to the north. The town has an area of . The train station is located
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...
and the highest point in town is above sea level. The town is located at the mouth of the Lorze river, with two sections (Kirchbühl and Städtli) located on both sides of the river. Cham also includes a number of smaller villages; Enikon, Lindencham, Friesencham, Hagendorn, Rumentikon, Niederwil, Oberwil and Bibersee. Cham has an area, , of . Of this area, 63.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 21.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).


History

The shores of Lake Zug were populated at least 6000 years ago with several sites in Cham. A number of finds in the village of Oberwil in Cham show that there were a number of middle and late
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
settlements in Cham. In 1944–45 a large, unique Roman
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
with multiple
waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
s was found in the village of Hagendorn. A Roman warehouse from the same era has been discovered in the village of Heiligkreuz. The city's name, Cham, means 'village' and refers to a large
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
settlement on the shore of Lake Zug. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, there was also an
Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
c settlement, but only place names remain. The first mention of the town (as ''Chama'') occurred on 16 April 858 when King
Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...
gave the town to his daughter, Hildegard, the abbess of the
Fraumünster The Fraumünster (; lit. in en, Women's Minster, but often wrongly translated to urLady Minster) is a church in Zürich which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for h ...
Abbey in
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 ...
. The town was administered by a variety of nobles and bailiffs over the following centuries. In 1360 the town was granted a
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
as well as the rights to hold a market and enroll citizens. This charter, granted by Charles IV, was given to Gottfried von Hünenberg as the ruler of the city. The
Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
, attempting to maintain their influence in the region following the loss of Zug to the Swiss Confederation in 1364, bought part of the town in 1366 and completely bought the Hünenberg family out in 1370. However, following the decisive Habsburg defeat in the
Battle of Sempach The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the lo ...
in 1386, Cham was taken by Zug and Schwyz. The Habsburgs had pawned the town to a citizen of Zürich, Götz Mülner, and so Zug was not able to completely own the city until the loan was repaid in 1415. The city would remain under the control of the
vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
or bailiff of Zug until the French invasion of 1798. In the 16th century, the reform-minded preacher Jost Müller unsuccessfully attempted to bring 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 ...
to Cham. Following the 1798 invasion of Switzerland and the collapse of the
Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ...
, Cham finally became an independent town; although the citizens still paid some taxes and tithes to Zug until 1816 when most were abolished and 1872 when the last one ended. The rapid industrialization of the second half of the 19th century caused a population boom in Cham and the surrounding villages. The population doubled between 1850 and 1880 and continued to grow at a slightly slower rate afterward. The first urban plan and construction ordinances came into being in 1950. A goal of the planning was to maintain the character of the industrial part of the city, becoming a center for the surrounding villages and preserve the parkland along the lake. In 1991 the town was awarded the
Wakker Prize The Wakker Prize (German: ''Wakkerpreis'', French: ''Prix Wakker'', Italian: ''Premio Wakker'') is awarded annually by the Swiss Heritage Society to a Municipality of Switzerland for the development and preservation of its architectural herita ...
for the preservation of its architectural heritage. By 1990 Cham was the third largest city in the canton of Zug.


Demographics

Cham has a population (as of ) of . 19.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years, the population has grown at a rate of 14%. Most of the population () speaks German (85.7%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (3.1%) and Italian being third (1.9%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 22 September 2009
In the 2007 federal election, the most popular party was the SVP which received 31.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (22.2%), the FDP (18.2%) and the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
(17.8%). In Cham, about 76.4% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either a 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 ...
''). The historical population was


Weather

Cham has an average of 136.1 days of rain per year and on average receives of
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
. The wettest month is June during which time Cham receives an average of of precipitation. During this month, there is precipitation for an average of 13.5 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 13.5 days., the weather station elevation is 440 meters above sea level.


Sights and recreation

This small town has its own medical clinic, institutions for primary and secondary education, kindergarten and a public green with sports facilities available all year round. Cham also provides visitors and residents alike with hotel services, congress hall, churches (Roman Catholic and Reformed), a marina, and a castle ( St. Andreas). The church of St. James is a late
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
building from the 18th century, with a 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 ...
tower from the 15th century. There are several well-established restaurants providing a variety of local and international cuisines.


Heritage sites of national significance

There are a number of Swiss heritage sites of national significance in Cham. These include the ''Eslen'', a
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
lake shore settlement, the church and
Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
at Frauenthal, the Castle of St. Andreas, two buildings in the old city, and the brickyard.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21 November 2008 version, accessed 22 September 2009


Transportation

Cham is located from Zug and is centrally located between Luzern () and
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 ...
(). The
Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...
line from Luzern through
Thalwil Thalwil is a municipality and town in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. In addition to the town of Thalwil, the municipality includes the village of Gattikon. History Thalwil is first mentioned around 1030 as ''Tal ...
to Zürich occasionally stops in Cham. The E41 highway passes near Cham. The city can also be reached by bus from Zug and in the summer by boat.


Industry

Cham has an unemployment rate of 2.05%. , there were 206 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 68 businesses involved in this sector. 2,151 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 179 businesses in this sector. 4,900 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 783 businesses in this sector. For most of Cham's history, farming and light industry were the main sources of income. The Lorze River has always been a key for the development of the city. The first recorded watermill in Cham was built in 1279. About 1641 a
dyeing Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular ...
and bleaching operation was built along the river. In 1657 a paper mill was built, which partly mechanized in the 1720s and had the first paper machine in 1840. Following several mergers and expansions, this factory became the first Swiss
wood pulp Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...
factory. In the 20th century it became Papierfabrik Cham AG, the largest company in Cham. In 1863, a cotton spinning and weaving company opened in Cham. Following a major fire in 1888 the factory closed, but the
dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
for child laborers for the factory are now a children's home. In 1864, Cham was connected to the Zürich-Lucerne train line. In 1866, the American Page family founded the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in Cham to take advantage of this new rail line. The company initially produced only condensed milk, but soon grew to produce other milk products. In 1905, it merged with the Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé Company to form
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
. The company expanded rapidly; by 1907, they had over 1,000 milkmen in 44 locations. In 1913 a conflict over money between the factory and the milkmen led to a strike and weakened the company. Following World War I, the company faced financial crisis and began to shut down production in Cham. In 1905, one-third of the population worked in agriculture, while half worked in industry. By 1955, nearly two-thirds of the population worked in industry. In the following year, industrial jobs decreased while the central location and low taxes encouraged a growth in service industries. In 2001, 80% of the businesses and 58% of the jobs are in service industries, while 40% are in manufacturing.


Sport

SC Cham SC Cham 1910 is a Swiss football team which plays in the third tier of the Swiss football pyramid. They are based in Cham and were founded in 1910. History The club was founded on 14 June 1910 and was the first football club in Canton Zug. ...
is the municipality's
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club.


Notable people

* Victor Villiger (1868 in Cham – 1934) a Swiss-born German chemist and the discoverer of the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation *
Robert Schiess Robert Schiess (1896–1956) was a Swiss painter and member of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. Life Robert Schiess was born in 1896 in Cham, Switzerland. After learning to paint in Altdorf, Uri, Schiess worked in Lucerne and in 1920 took a stud ...
(1896 in Cham – 1956) a Swiss painter and member of the
Pontifical Swiss Guard The Pontifical Swiss Guard (also Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard; la, Pontificia Cohors Helvetica; it, Guardia Svizzera Pontificia; german: Päpstliche Schweizergarde; french: Garde suisse pontificale; rm, Guardia svizra papala) is ...
* George Page (1910 in Cham - date of death unknown) an American alpine skier, competed in the
1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...
*
Grégory Rast Grégory Rast (born 17 January 1980 in Cham) is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2018 for the , , , and teams. He was the winner of the Swiss National Road Race Championships in 2004 an ...
(born 1980 in Cham) a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer * Cora Huber (born 1981 in Cham) a Swiss bobsledder, competed at the
2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...
*
Priska Doppmann Priska Doppmann (born 10 May 1971) is a Swiss people, Swiss road racing cyclist, born in Cham, Switzerland, Cham. She was the Swiss National Road Race Championships, Swiss National Road Race champion in 1999. She finished 7th in the Cycling at th ...
(born 1971 in Cham) a Swiss road racing cyclist, competed at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
*
Martin Elmiger Martin Elmiger (born 23 September 1978) is a Swiss former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2017 for the Post Swiss Team, , , and squads. During his career, Elmiger was a four-time winner of the Swiss National Road ...
(born 1978 in Hagendorn) a Swiss former road racing cyclist, Swiss National Road Race champion in 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2014


References


External links


Official city website




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