Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil 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 ...

. Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the cities of St. Gallen and

Rapperswil-Jona Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, Rapperswil-Jona also includes Bollinge ...

, which is a twin city that merged in 2006. The municipality of Bronschhofen merged into Wil on 1 January 2013. After the merger the

Community Identification Number A Community Identification Number (also known as a Official Municipality Key, Official Municipality Characteristic Number or Municipality Code Number) is a number sequence for the identification of politically independent municipalities or unincor ...

changed from 3425 to 3427.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013 In 1984, Wil was awarded the

Wakker Prize The Wakker Prize (German: ''Wakkerpreis'', French: ''Prix Wakker'', Italian: ''Premio Wakker'') is awarded annually by the Swiss Heritage Society to a Municipality of Switzerland for the development and preservation of its architectural herita ...

for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.

Geography

Since the merger in 2013, Wil now has an area of . Based on the 2004/09 survey, but including the post-merger area, about 50.1% of the total land is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 30.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.9% is unproductive land. During the two decades from 1979/85 to 2004/09, the amount of land that is settled has increased by and the agricultural land has decreased almost by the same ratio, by .Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Regional portraits
accessed 2 May 2016 Before the merger, Wil had an area, , of . Of this area, 32.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 53.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.7%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The former municipality of Bronschhofen had an area, , of . Of this area, 65.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.1% is forested. Of the remaining land, 12% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). It consisted of the villages of Bronschhofen and Rossrüti as well as 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 Maugwil, Trungen and the pilgrimage site of Dreibrunnen.

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 ''Per pale Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and Sable, a Snail shell Or above a letter W of the First''.

Demographics

Wil has a population () of . , 27.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 3 years (2010–2013) the population has changed at a rate of 3.13%. In 2000, of the foreign population, 272 were 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 ...

, 776 were 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 ...

, 1,876 were 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 ...

, 135 were 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 ...

, 309 were 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 578 from another country.Der Kanton St. Gallen und seine Menschen in Zahlen - Ausgabe 2009
accessed 30 December 2009 The

birth rate Birth rate, also known as natality, is the total number of live childbirth, human births per 1,000 population for a given period divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registr ...

in the municipality, in 2013, was 11.2 while the

death rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...

was 7.5 per thousand residents. Before the merger, in 2011, Bronschhofen had a population of 4,654.Canton of St. Gallen Statistics Office
''Wohnbevölkerung (bis 2011)'' accessed 1 May 2012 Most of the population () speaks German (85.1%), with Albanian being the second most common (4.5%) and Italian being the third most common language (3.0%).
accessed 20-January-2010 Of the Swiss national languages (), 13,943 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 ...

, 60 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), ...

, 488 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 26 people speak Romansh.Canton St. Gallen Statistics-Hauptergebnisse der Volkszählung 2000: Regionen- und Gemeindevergleich-Personen
accessed 30 December 2009 , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 62.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.7%. there were 2,829 people (or 17.3% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 4,034 (or 24.6%) people who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 7,421 (or 45.3%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 954 (or 5.8%) people who lived in single parent home, while there were 79 people who were adult children living with one or both parents, 90 people who lived in a household made up of relatives, 174 who lived in a household made up of unrelated people, and 811 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 31.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (21.9%), the SP (14.9%) and the FDP (12.5%). In Wil about 69.2% 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 Wil, , the highest education level completed by 3,538 people (21.6% 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 6,179 (37.7%) have completed their secondary education, 2,158 (13.2%) 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 818 (5.0%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Baronenhaus'' at Marktgasse 73, the Dominican Abbey of St. Katharina, the ''Hof'' (the former seat of the Prince-abbot) and the

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

church Maria-Hilf at Dreibrunnen are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The old city of Wil is designated as part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

Transport

It is a railway node, being located on the train line from

Zürich 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 ...

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

to St. Gallen and connected with lines to

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld (Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Thurgau, Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) Swiss Standard Ge ...

Weinfelden Weinfelden is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of the same name. Weinfelden is an old town, which was known during Ancient Rome, Roma ...

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

and

Wattwil Wattwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Toggenburg (Wahlkreis), Toggenburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gallen in Switzerland, located along the Thur (Rhi ...

Nesslau Nesslau is a municipality in the Toggenburg district of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The current municipality was formed in 2013 and includes the villages of Nesslau, Krummenau and Stein. History The area was incorporated into the ...

(

Toggenburg Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the River Thur (Switzerland), Thur and that of the Necker (river), Necker, one of its afluents. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis ...

) or

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

. The city is close to the border with the

Canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

Sport

The

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club

FC Wil FC Wil (''Fussball Club Wil 1900'') is a Association football, football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the ''Sportpark Bergholz'', which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss Challenge League, ...

play in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

Economy

, there were a total of 14,138 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 163 people worked in 54 businesses in the primary economic sector. 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 ...

employed 3,213 workers in 247 separate businesses. Finally, 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 ...

provided 10,762 jobs in 1,456 businesses. In 2013 a total of 2.0% of the population received social assistance. there were 3,873 residents who worked in the municipality, while 4,695 residents worked outside Wil and 6,368 people commuted into the municipality for work.

Religion

From the , 8,817 or 53.8% 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 3,561 or 21.7% 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 6 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 473 individuals (or about 2.89% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 265 individuals (or about 1.62% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 10 individuals (or about 0.06% 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 1,433 (or about 8.74% 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 116 individuals (or about 0.71% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 1,138 (or about 6.94% 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 573 individuals (or about 3.50% of the population) did not answer the question.

Crime

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the

Swiss Criminal Code The Swiss Criminal Code (SR/RS 311, , , , ) is a portion of the third part (SR/RS 3) of the Swiss law, internal Swiss law ("Private law - Administration of civil justice - Enforcement") that regulates the criminal code in Switzerland. The orig ...

(running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Wil was 62.9 per thousand residents. This rate is about one and a half times greater than the cantonal rate, but very similar to the national rate. During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 10.2 per thousand residents and the rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 3 per thousand. Both of which were very close to the national rate.

Mayor

On 1 January 2013 Susanne Hartmann became the first female mayor not only of Wil-Bronschhofen but in the entire canton of St. Gallen. Hartmann announced her candidacy in April 2012. Despite all forecasts the result of the elections was a landslide victory for Susanne Hartmann.

Notable people

* Anna Sutter (1871 in Wil – 1910), operatic soprano. *

Nikolaus Senn Nikolaus Senn (22 October 1926 – 2 November 2014) was a Swiss jurist, economist and banker. Life Nikolaus Senn studied since 1945 jurisprudence and public administration at the University of Freiburg, University of Zürich, University of Laus ...

(1926–2014), former co-director of the ''Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft''. *

Kurt Widmer Kurt Widmer (28 December 1940 – 31 May 2023) was a Swiss baritone and voice teacher, who appeared and recorded internationally. He focused on concert singing, especially of oratorios from the Romantic music, Romantic period. His recordings cov ...

(1940 in Wil – 2023), baritone and voice teacher. * Yvonne Gilli (born 1957), physician and politician, lives in Wil. *

Karin Keller-Sutter Karin Maria Keller-Sutter (; née Sutter; born 22 December 1963) is a Swiss politician who has served as President of the Swiss Confederation since 2025 and concurrently as a member of the Federal Council of Switzerland since 2019. Keller-Sutte ...

(born 1963), politician, elected to the Swiss Federal Council in 2018, spent her childhood in Wil. *

Renato Tosio Renato Tosio (born 16 November 1964 in Wil, Switzerland) is a retired Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender. He is popular for his energetic style of play, for his sportsmanship and also for being a great entertainer and showman. Playing care ...

(born 1964 in Wil), retired professional ice hockey goaltender. *

Alex Zülle Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Switzerland, Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the most successful cyclists in the world, winning the 1996 and 1997 Vuelta a España, taking second place in the 1995 ...

(born 1968 in Wil), former professional road bicycle racer. *

Fred W. Mast Fred W. Mast is a full professor of Psychology at the University of Bern in Switzerland, specialized in mental imagery, sensorimotor processing, and visual perception. He directs the ''Cognitive Psychology, Perception, and Research Methods Section ...

(born ca.1968 in Wil), professor of Psychology at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

, specializing in mental imagery. * Daniel Imhof (born 1977 in Wil), a retired Canadian soccer player, last played for St. Gallen. * Lukas Reimann (born 1982), conservative politician, lives in Wil. * Daniel Sereinig (born 1982 in Wil), footballer with about 250 club caps. * Nicole Graf (born 1985 in Wil), figure skater, which competes in ladies singles. *

Fabian Schär Fabian Lukas Schär (; born 20 December 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Newcastle United. He is known for his powerful free kicks, long shots and long passes. Beginning his career at ...

(born 1991 in Wil), footballer, who plays for

Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Since the formation of the club in 1881 ...

, with over 300 club appearances and 86 caps for

. *

Stefan Küng Stefan Küng (born 16 November 1993) is a Swiss cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is also a citizen of Liechtenstein. Career Küng won the individual pursuit at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, after beating Jac ...

(born 1993 in Wil), world champion in cycling. *

Martin Welzel Martin Welzel (born November 11, 1972, in Vechta) is a German organist, musicologist, and pedagogue. Biography Martin Welzel received his first musical training in Bremen, where Käte van Tricht (a former student of Karl Straube) was one of h ...

(born 1972), musician, principal organist at the Stadtkirche St. Nikolaus, lives in Wil-Bronschhofen.

References

External links

*http://www.stadtwil.ch
Wilnet - Stadtlexikon der Stadt Wil
city encyclopedia {{Authority control Cities in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in the canton of St. Gallen