Eichberg, Switzerland
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Eichberg is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.


History

Eichberg is first mentioned in 891 as under the Romansh name of ''Hermentines''. In 1282 it was mentioned as ''Aichilberch'', and in 1290 as ''Aitberge''.


Geography

Eichberg has an area, , of . Of this area, 47.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 42.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The municipality is located in the Rheintal ''Wahlkreis''. It is a scattered settlement on the south-east edge of the Hirschberg. It consists of the village of Eichberg-dorf and the
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of Au, Hölzlisberg and part of Hinterforsts (which is shared with
Altstätten Altstätten is a small List of towns in Switzerland, historic rural town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Rheintal (Wahlkreis), Rhine Valley, in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gall i ...
).


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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
is ''Argent an Oak branch Vert with three leaves and two acorns.'' This is an example of
canting ' (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: , Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, VOS Spelling: , ) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax () in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely (). Traditional consists of copper wax-con ...
, where the oak leaf is a
visual pun A visual pun is a pun involving an image or images (in addition to or instead of language), often based on a rebus. Visual puns in which the image is at odds with the inscription are common in cartoons such as '' Lost Consonants'' or '' The Fa ...
on the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
word for
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
(''Eichen'') which forms part of the village name (lit. Oak Mountain).


Demographics

Eichberg has a population (as of ) of . , about 13.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (), 43 are from
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, 10 are from
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, 58 are from ex-
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
, 22 are from
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, and 10 are from another country.Der Kanton St. Gallen und seine Menschen in Zahlen – Ausgabe 2009
accessed 30 December 2009
Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 13.2%. Most of the population () speaks German (95.0%), with Albanian being second most common ( 2.3%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 0.5%).
accessed 1 January 2010
Of the Swiss national languages (), 1,203 speak German, 2 people speak
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
, 5 people speak
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, and 1 person speaks Romansh. The age distribution, , in Eichberg is; 217 children or 17.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 179 teenagers or 14.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 136 people or 10.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 235 people or 18.6% are between 30 and 39, 192 people or 15.2% are between 40 and 49, and 135 people or 10.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 85 people or 6.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 66 people or 5.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 19 people or 1.5% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 2 people or 0.2% who are between 90 and 99.Canton St. Gallen Statistics-Hauptergebnisse der Volkszählung 2000: Regionen- und Gemeindevergleich-Personen
accessed 30 December 2009
there were 102 persons (or 8.1% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 239 (or 18.9%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 841 (or 66.4%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 59 (or 4.7%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 7 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 4 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 10 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 4 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 53.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (14.2%), the FDP (12.7%) and the SP (9.3%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Eichberg about 68.8% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory
upper secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
or additional higher education (either university or a ''
Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...
''). Out of the total population in Eichberg, , the highest education level completed by 267 people (21.1% 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 Work ...
, while 423 (33.4%) have completed Secondary, 136 (10.7%) have attended a
Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...
school, and 36 (2.8%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question. The historical population is given in the following table:


Economy

, Eichberg had an unemployment rate of 1.79%. , there were 64 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 29 businesses involved in this sector. 59 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 17 businesses in this sector. 115 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 ...
, with 30 businesses in this sector. the average unemployment rate was 1.5%. There were 77 businesses in the municipality of which 17 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 35 were involved in the third. there were 173 residents who worked in the municipality, while 473 residents worked outside Eichberg and 87 people commuted into the municipality for work.


Religion

From the , 542 or 42.8% are
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, while 496 or 39.2% belonged to the
Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...
. Of the rest of the population, there is 1 individual who belongs to the Orthodox Church, and there are 40 individuals (or about 3.16% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 46 (or about 3.63% of the population) who are
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic. There are 4 individuals (or about 0.32% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 82 (or about 6.48% of the population) belong to no church, are
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...
or
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 55 individuals (or about 4.34% of the population) did not answer the question.


Politics

In 2012, Alex Arnold of the
Pirate Party Switzerland The Pirate Party Switzerland (, , , ) is a political party in Switzerland, based on the model of the Swedish Pirate Party (Sweden), Pirate Party. The party was founded on 12 July 2009 in Zürich, Switzerland, by about 150 people. By the end of F ...
ran for mayor of Eichberg, a part-time position. He was elected on 23 September, defeating two candidates from the
Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...
. Arnold is the first member of the Swiss Pirates to win a mayoral election.Nordenfur, Anton
Pirate Times: "Alex Arnold Becomes the First Elected Pirate Mayor!"
(2012-09-24)


References


External links


Official website
* {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of St. Gallen