Weesen is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in See-Gaster 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 ...

of St. Gallen,

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 ...

Geography

Weesen has an area, , of . Of this area, 36.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 51.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.8%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

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 a Bendlet Gules between two Lions counterpassant of the same.''

Demographics

Weesen has a population (as of ) of . , about 11.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (), 31 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 ...

, 12 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 ...

, 77 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 ...

, 18 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 ...

, 3 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 44 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 10.3%. Most of the population () speaks German (92.5%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 1.8%) and Albanian being third ( 1.4%).
accessed 8 January 2010 Of the Swiss national languages (), 1,315 speak

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 ...

, 6 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), ...

, 17 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 Weesen is; 167 children or 11.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 134 teenagers or 9.4% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 161 people or 11.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 233 people or 16.4% are between 30 and 39, 185 people or 13.0% are between 40 and 49, and 188 people or 13.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 146 people or 10.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 142 people or 10.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 43 people or 3.0% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 23 people or 1.6% who are between 90 and 99.Canton St. Gallen Statistics-Hauptergebnisse der Volkszählung 2000: Regionen- und Gemeindevergleich-Personen
accessed 30 December 2009 there were 216 persons (or 15.2% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 360 (or 25.3%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 640 (or 45.0%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 66 (or 4.6%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 18 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 2 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 12 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 108 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 36.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (21.1%), the FDP (15.5%) and the SP (12.2%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Weesen about 71.6% 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 Weesen, , the highest education level completed by 277 people (19.5% 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 525 (36.9%) have completed their secondary education, 216 (15.2%) 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 41 (2.9%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.

Heritage sites

The late-

Roman Era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

castle and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

ruins at ''Altweesen'' are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. On 28 August 1232 a document confirms an exchange of goods between members of the noble families of Kyburg and Rapperswil in the villages of ''Oberwesin'' and ''Niderwesin'' that were in the possession of Kyburg to 1264 respectively of Rapperwil to 1283, the nucleus of the monastic community "in den Wyden", a community of lay women or ''

Beguines The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take for ...

'', which Count Rudolf IV von Rapperswil donated certain duties and lands to form the

Dominikanerinnenkloster Maria Zuflucht Weesen Abbey (, ODSHLT) is a monastery of Dominican nuns located in Weesen in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Dominican convent is located at the foot of a terraced hillside in the middle of the town of Weesen on the effluence of the ...

in 1259. The Dominican nunnery is listed in the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

as a ''Class B'' object of regional importance.

Transportation

The municipality is located on the A3 motorway. Weesen railway station, located south of the Linth canal in the

canton of Glarus The canton of Glarus ( ; ; ; ) is a cantons of Switzerland, canton in east-central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus. The population speaks a variety of Alemannic German. The majority of the population (81%) identifies as Christianity in Switzer ...

, has been disused since the end of 2013. A bus route links Weesen with

Ziegelbrücke railway station Ziegelbrücke railway station () is a junction station in the village of Ziegelbrücke in Switzerland. Whilst the village is shared between the Glarus Nord, municipality of Glarus Nord, in the canton of Glarus, and the Schänis, municipality of Sc ...

and

Amden Amden is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster, in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Amden is first mentioned in 1178 as ''Andimo monte Voraden''. In 1230 it was mentioned as ''Andimin'', in 1282 as ...

Economy

, Weesen had an unemployment rate of 1.41%. , there were 34 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 55 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 11 businesses in this sector. 311 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 48 businesses in this sector. the average unemployment rate was 3.5%. There were 75 businesses in the municipality of which 10 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 51 were involved in the third. there were 252 residents who worked in the municipality, while 445 residents worked outside Weesen and 223 people commuted into the municipality for work.St Gallen Canton statistics-Commuters
accessed 31 December 2009

Religion

From the , 728 or 51.2% 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 416 or 29.3% 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 are 35 individuals (or about 2.46% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 14 individuals (or about 0.98% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 2 individuals (or about 0.14% of the population) who are

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and 44 (or about 3.09% 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 2 individuals (or about 0.14% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 106 (or about 7.45% 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 ...

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 75 individuals (or about 5.27% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather

Weesen has an average of 147.2 days of rain or snow 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 August during which time Weesen receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 14.2 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 15, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is January with an average of of precipitation over 14.2 days., the weather station elevation is 435 meters above sea level.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of St. Gallen Cultural property of national significance in the canton of St. Gallen Populated places on the Walensee