Rheinau () 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 district of Andelfingen in the

Canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

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 ...

. It is located at a bend of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, 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 Austria–Swit ...

River which forms the Swiss-German border in this area. A bridge links Rheinau to

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

, part of the municipality of

Jestetten Jestetten is a municipality in the district of Waldshut (district), Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. History In 1806 Jestetten became part of Baden. From 1840 until 1935, the territory of Jestetten together with Altenburg, Lottstette ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

state.

Geography

Rheinau has an area of . Of this area, 26.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 54.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 11.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (7.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Rheinau Abbey

Rheinau Abbey Rheinau Abbey (Kloster Rheinau) was a Benedictine monastery in Rheinau in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, founded in about 778 and suppressed in 1862. It is located on an island in the Rhine. History The foundation of the abbey, on a strategi ...

was founded in 778 and grew until it was abandoned during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in 1529. It was re-established in 1532 and was a center of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

. In 1862 the cantonal council decreed the dissolution of the abbey. Following the dissolution of the abbey, in 1867 a cantonal hospital and nursing home were set up in the buildings. Later, a cantonal psychiatric clinic that developed here was closed in 2000, since then, the buildings have stood empty. The Abbey underwent a major refurbishment in the 2010s. The buildings are open to the public.

Demographics

Rheinau has a population (as of ) of . , 16.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4%. Most of the population () speaks German (91.2%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (2.4%) and French being third (0.8%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 28.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (25.6%), the CVP (13%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

(12.6%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 22.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.6%. In Rheinau about 64.1% 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 ...

''). Rheinau has an unemployment rate of 1.3%. , there were 23 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 43 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 10 businesses in this sector. 641 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 42 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 28-Jul-2009

Transport

Rheinau is served by a

Postbus A postbus is a public bus service that is operated as part of local mail delivery as a means of providing public transport in rural areas with lower levels of patronage, where a normal bus service would be uneconomic or inefficient. Postbus servi ...

connection to Marthalen railway station. Until 2010, Rheinau and the neighbouring Altenburg in the German

, was served by a Swiss railway station namely , which, despite its location in Germany, is located on the Eglisau to Neuhausen line of the

Swiss Federal Railway Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a government institution, but since 1999 it has been a special stock corpo ...

(SBB) that crosses the

Germany–Switzerland border The border between the modern states of Germany and Switzerland extends to , mostly following Lake Constance and the High Rhine ('), with territories to the north mostly belonging to Germany and territories to the south mainly to Switzerland. E ...

twice on its route between the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

cantons of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

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 ...

. Altenburg-Rheinau was one of only three Swiss operated stations located entirely within Germany, the other two being and . The line running through Altenburg-Rheinau has no direct connection to the German railway network. The station was a border station and as such was in local transport tariff zones in both Germany and Switzerland. Notwithstanding protests from the German authorities, the Swiss closed the station after 113 years of service, due to low passenger numbers. The last train to stop at Altenburg-Rheinau did so at 00:27 on 12 December 2010.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Zürich Cities in Switzerland Germany–Switzerland border crossings