Teufen 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 of

Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden ( ; ; ; ), in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of twenty municipalities. The seat of the gove ...

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

Teufen (''Tiuffen'') was first mentioned in 1272. By 1300 the place consisted of only five farms. In 1525 the assembly ruled that each parish could decide whether or not to remain

Catholic 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 ...

. This led to the division of

Appenzell Appenzell () was a cantons of Switzerland, canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen, in existence from 1403 to 1597. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered ...

in 1597. While the town of Teufen adopted the new protestant faith, Wonnenstein Friary remained Roman Catholic. In 1870 the Friary grounds were declared an

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 Appenzell Innerrhoden. In 1841 Teufen offered their new school building as a present to attract the government of the canton. The assembly refused the present. Weaving was important in Teufen. Around 1820 a new

loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

was invented in Teufen, allowing embroidery in one go. This led to a boom in embroidery, particularly between 1880 and 1890.

Geography

, Teufen has an area of . Of this area, 55.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 29.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 14% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Wonnenstein Friary in Teufen is an exclave of Appenzell Innerrhoden.

Demographics

Teufen has a population () of 5,766, of which about 10.0% are foreign nationals.Brief Statistics for the half-canton
accessed 15 September 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.8%. Most of the population () speaks German (93.4%), with Italian being second most common ( 1.3%) and Spanish being third ( 0.9%).
accessed 17-Sep-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 48.5% male and 51.5% female. The age distribution, , in Teufen is; 409 people or 7.4% of the population are between 0–6 years old. 586 people or 10.6% are 6-15, and 248 people or 4.5% are 16–19. Of the adult population, 247 people or 4.5% of the population are between 20–24 years old. 1,544 people or 27.9% are 25–44, and 1,430 people or 25.8% are 45–64. The senior population distribution is 751 people or 13.6% of the population are between 65–79 years old, and 320 people or 5.8% are over 80.Appenzell Outer Rhodes website
accessed 15 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election, the FDP received 72.9% of the vote. In Teufen about 79.7% 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 (; 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 ...

''). Teufen has an unemployment rate of 1.27%. , there were 136 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 66 businesses involved in this sector. 657 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 79 businesses in this sector. 1,463 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 266 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

The Gmündertobel Bridge (shared with

Stein, Appenzell Stein () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. History The municipality separated from Hundwil in 1749 and was named after the ''Uf Stein'' section of th ...

), and the Wattbach Bridge (shared with Stein and St. Gallen) are listed as heritage sites of national significance.

Weather

Teufen has an average of 154.2 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 from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

. The wettest month is June during which time Teufen receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 15.1 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 15.2, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 15.1 days., the weather station elevation is 835 meters above sea level.

Tritium

Teufen is home to RC Tritec, a company that provides

Tritium Tritium () or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.33 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the ...

and other radioactive isotopes to industry. Until 2008 they provided luminous Tritium compounds for the Swiss watch industry, but they have replaced radioactive Tritium with non-radioactive Super-LumiNova. Tritium emissions are tested every week and monitored by the Federal Government. In 2010 the waste water radiation levels reached a high of 16 GBq, which is still below the 20 GBq limit, due to construction activities. The 2011 waste water readings are only 2GBq.Jahresberichte Umweltradioaktivität und Strahlendosen
. See ''Jahresbericht 2011 (Alle Kapitel)''. BAG, Switzerland. Jahresbericht Umweltradioaktivität und Strahlendosen in der Schweiz 2011 Kap.9.

References

External links

Official Page
(German)
Official Municipal Newspaper
(German)
Bilder von Teufen
(German) {{Authority control Municipalities of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Cultural property of national significance in Appenzell Ausserrhoden