Ramsen () 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

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

in northern

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

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 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 ''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 that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

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. 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 ...

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 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 ...

, 1.3% 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 ...

, 0.4% are from

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, 8.5% are from

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, 12% are from

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, 0.4% are from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, 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 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 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 ...

''). 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 cen ...

or another pre-school, 8.06% attend a

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

, 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and 38.6% 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 ...

. 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) Fluss-Biber

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 constructi ...

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 ...

, 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 The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Cons ...

. The late-

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

main building was finished in 1529. The

fresco Fresco ( 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 plaster, the painting become ...

on the south

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

, 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. It is located at the outfall of Lower Lake Constance on the High Rhine river, about halfway between the town of Scha ...

, 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.

Transport

There is a railway station in Ramsen on the cross-border '' Museumsbahn'' (

Etzwilen–Singen railway The Etzwilen to Singen railway is a heritage railway between Etzwilen in the Swiss canton of Thurgau and Singen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, crossing the eastern part of the canton of Schaffhausen. Passenger train services existed ...

line), which is not served by regular trains. The village is also served by two bus routes, vbsh bus route to and line / to and .

References

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