Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil 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 ente ...

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

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 ...

. Wil is the third largest city in 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 ...

, after the city of

and

Rapperswil-Jona Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, B ...

, a twin city that merged in 2006. The municipality of Bronschhofen merged into Wil on 1 January 2013. After the merger the Community Identification Number changed from 3425 to 3427.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013 In 1984, Wil 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 development and preservation of its architectural heritage.

Geography

Since the merger in 2013, Wil now has an area of . Based on the 2004/09 survey, but including the post-merger area, about 50.1% of the total land is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 30.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.9% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85-2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by and the agricultural land has decreased by .Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Regional portraits
accessed 2 May 2016 Before the merger, Wil had an area, , of . Of this area, 32.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 53.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.7%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The former municipality of Bronschhofen had an area, , of . Of this area, 65.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.1% is forested. Of the remaining land, 12% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). It consisted of the villages of Bronschhofen and Rossrüti as well as the

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 ...

of Maugwil, Trungen and the pilgrimage site of Dreibrunnen.

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 ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

is ''Per pale Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and Sable, a Snail shell Or above a letter W of the First''.

Demographics

Wil has a population () of . , 27.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 3 years (2010-2013) the population has changed at a rate of 3.13%. In 2000, of the foreign population, 272 were 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 betwee ...

, 776 were 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 ...

, 1,876 were from ex-

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, 135 were from

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 ...

, 309 were from

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

, and 578 from another country.Der Kanton St. Gallen und seine Menschen in Zahlen - Ausgabe 2009
accessed 30 December 2009 The

birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...

in the municipality, in 2013, was 11.2 while the

death rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...

was 7.5 per thousand residents. Before the merger, in 2011, Bronschhofen had a population of 4,654.Canton of St. Gallen Statistics Office
''Wohnbevölkerung (bis 2011)'' accessed 1 May 2012 Most of the population () speaks German (85.1%), with Albanian being the second most common (4.5%) and Italian being the third most common language (3.0%).
accessed 20-January-2010 Of the Swiss national languages (), 13,943 speak

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 ...

, 60 people speak

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, 488 people speak

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, and 26 people speak Romansh.Canton St. Gallen Statistics-Hauptergebnisse der Volkszählung 2000: Regionen- und Gemeindevergleich-Personen
accessed 30 December 2009 , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 62.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.7%. there were 2,829 people (or 17.3% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 4,034 (or 24.6%) people who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 7,421 (or 45.3%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 954 (or 5.8%) people who lived in single parent home, while there were 79 people who were adult children living with one or both parents, 90 people who lived in a household made up of relatives, 174 who lived in a household made up of unrelated people, and 811 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing. 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 ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 31.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (21.9%), the SP (14.9%) and the FDP (12.5%). In Wil about 69.2% 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 art ...

''). Out of the total population in Wil, , the highest education level completed by 3,538 people (21.6% of the population) was

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

, while 6,179 (37.7%) have completed their secondary education, 2,158 (13.2%) have attended a

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

school, and 818 (5.0%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Baronenhaus'' at Marktgasse 73, the Dominican Abbey of St. Katharina, the ''Hof'' (the former seat of the Prince-abbot) and the

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

church Maria-Hilf at Dreibrunnen are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The old city of Wil is designated as part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

Transport

It is a railway node, being located on the train line from

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

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria ...

and connected with lines to

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 ...

, Weinfelden-

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was t ...

and

Wattwil Wattwil is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Toggenburg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the municipality of Krinau merged into Wattwil.Nesslau Nesslau is a municipality in the Toggenburg district of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The current municipality was formed in 2013 and includes the villages of Nesslau, Krummenau and Stein. History The area was incorporated into the d ...

(

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 ( ...

) or

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

. The city is close to the border with the

Canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is pa ...

Sport

The

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club

FC Wil FC Wil (''Fussball Club Wil 1900'') is a football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the ''Sportpark Bergholz'', which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss second tier since regaining promotion i ...

play in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while th ...

Economy

, there were a total of 14,138 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 163 people worked in 54 businesses in the primary economic sector. 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 construc ...

employed 3,213 workers in 247 separate businesses. Finally, 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 ...

provided 10,762 jobs in 1,456 businesses. In 2013 a total of 2.0% of the population received social assistance. there were 3,873 residents who worked in the municipality, while 4,695 residents worked outside Wil and 6,368 people commuted into the municipality for work.

Religion

From the , 8,817 or 53.8% are

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 ...

, while 3,561 or 21.7% 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 ...

. Of the rest of the population, there are 6 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 473 individuals (or about 2.89% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 265 individuals (or about 1.62% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 10 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who are

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and 1,433 (or about 8.74% of the population) who are

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

ic. There are 116 individuals (or about 0.71% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 1,138 (or about 6.94% of the population) belong to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 573 individuals (or about 3.50% of the population) did not answer the question.

Crime

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the

Swiss Criminal Code , french: Code pénal suisse (CP), it, Codice penale svizzero (CP), rm, Cudesch penal svizzer , citation = , territorial_extent = Switzerland , enacted_by = Federal Assembly of Switzerland , date_enacted = 20 Decemb ...

(running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Wil was 62.9 per thousand residents. This rate is about one and a half times greater than the cantonal rate, but very similar to the national rate. During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 10.2 per thousand residents and the rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 3 per thousand. Both of which were very close to the national rate.

Mayor

On 1 January 2013 Susanne Hartmann became the first female mayor not only of Wil-Bronschhofen but in the entire canton of

. Hartmann announced her candidacy in April 2012. Despite all forecasts the result of the elections was a landslide victory for Susanne Hartmann.

Notable people

* Anna Sutter (1871 in Wil - 1910) operatic soprano * Nikolaus Senn (1926–2014), former co-director of ''Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft'' *

Kurt Widmer Kurt Widmer (28 December 1940 – 31 May 2023) was a Swiss baritone and voice teacher, who appeared and recorded internationally. He focused on concert singing, especially of oratorios from the Romantic period. His recordings cover a repertoire ...

(born 1940 in Wil) a baritone and voice teacher, with a focus on concert singing. * Yvonne Gilli (born 1957) physician and politician, lives in Wil * Karin Keller-Sutter (born 1963) politician, elected to the Swiss Federal Council in 2018, lived her childhood in Wil * Renato Tosio (born 1964 in Wil) retired professional ice hockey goaltender *

Alex Zülle Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the most successful cyclists in the world, winning the 1996 and 1997 Vuelta a España, taking second place in the 1995 and the 1999 ...

(born 1968 in Wil) former professional road bicycle racer. * Fred W. Mast (born ca.1968 in Wil) professor of Psychology at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

specializes in mental imagery * Daniel Imhof (born 1977 in Wil) a Canadian retired soccer player, last played for St. Gallen * Lukas Reimann (born 1982) a conservative politician, resides in Wil *

Daniel Sereinig Daniel Sereinig (born 10 May 1982) is a Swiss former professional Association football, footballer who played as Defender (association football), defender. Career Sereinig was born in Wil, Switzerland. He joined SC Freiburg in January 2009 fro ...

(born 1982 in Wil) a footballer with about 250 club caps * Nicole Graf (born 1985 in Wil) figure skater who competes in ladies singles * Fabian Schär (born 1991 in Wil) footballer, plays for Newcastle United F.C., nearly 200 club caps and 48 for

* Stefan Küng (born 1993 in Wil) world champion in cycling

References

External links

*http://www.stadtwil.ch
Wilnet - Stadtlexikon der Stadt Wil
city encyclopedia {{Authority control Cities in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in the canton of St. Gallen