Thurgau Explained

Thurgau
Official Name:Canton of Thurgau
Settlement Type:Canton
Map Alt:Map of Switzerland, location of Thurgau highlighted
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Switzerland
Coordinates:47.5833°N 13°W
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Frauenfeld
Parts Type:Subdivisions
Parts Style:para
P1:80 municipalities
P2:5 districts
Leader Title:Executive
Leader Name:Regierungsrat (5)
Leader Title1:Legislative
Leader Name1:Grosser Rat (130)
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:GDP
Demographics1 Footnotes:[1]
Demographics1 Title1:Total
Demographics1 Info1:CHF 17.208 billion (2020)
Demographics1 Title2:Per capita
Demographics1 Info2:CHF 61,190 (2020)
Iso Code:CH-TG
Blank Name Sec1:Highest point
Blank Info Sec1:9910NaN0

Hohgrat

Blank1 Name Sec1:Lowest point
Blank1 Info Sec1:3700NaN0

Thur at the cantonal border in Neunforn

Blank Name Sec2:Joined
Blank Info Sec2:1803
Blank1 Name Sec2:Languages
Blank1 Info Sec2:German

Thurgau (pronounced as /de/; French: Thurgovie; Italian: Turgovia; Romansh: Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally[2] 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. It is named after the river Thur, and the name Thurgovia was historically used for a larger area, including part of this river's basin upstream of the modern canton. The area of what is now Thurgau was acquired as subject territories by the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy from the mid 15th century. Thurgau was first declared a canton in its own right at the formation of the Helvetic Republic in 1798.

The population,, is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 resident foreigners, constituting 19.9% of the population.[3]

History

See main article: History of Thurgau. In prehistoric times the lands of the canton were inhabited by people of the Pfyn culture along Lake Constance. During Roman times the canton was part of the province Raetia until 450, when Alemanni settled on the lands.

In the sixth century, Thurgovia became a Gau of Francia as part of Alamannia, passing to the Duchy of Swabia in the early 10th century. At this time, Thurgovia included not just what is now the canton of Thurgau, but also much of the territory of the modern canton of St. Gallen, the Appenzell and the eastern parts of the canton of Zürich.

The most important cities of Thurgovia in the early medieval period were Konstanz as the seat of the bishop and St. Gallen for the Abbey of Saint Gall.

The dukes of the House of Zähringen and the counts of the Kyburg family took over much of the land in the High Middle Ages. The town of Zürich was part of the Thurgau until it became reichsunmittelbar in 1218. When the Kyburg dynasty became extinct in 1264 the House of Habsburg took over that land.

The Old Swiss Confederacy allied with ten freed bailiwicks of the former Toggenburg seized the lands of the Thurgau from the Habsburgs in 1460, and it became a subject territory of seven Swiss cantons (Zurich, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug and Glarus).

During the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, both the Catholic and emerging Reformed parties sought to swing the subject territories, such as the Thurgau, to their side. In 1524, in an incident that resonated across Switzerland, local peasants occupied the cloister of Ittingen in the Thurgau, driving out monks, destroying documents, and devastating the wine-cellar. Between 1526 and 1531, most of the Thurgau's population adopted the new Reformed faith spreading from Zurich; Zurich's defeat in the 1531 Second War of Kappel ended Reformed predominance. Instead, the First Peace of Kappel protected both Catholic and Reformed worship, though the provisions of the treaty generally favored the Catholics, who also made up a majority among the seven ruling cantons. Religious tensions over the Thurgau were an important background to the First War of Villmergen (1656), during which Zurich briefly occupied the Thurgau.

In 1798 the land became a canton for the first time as part of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803, as part of the Act of Mediation, the canton of Thurgau became a member of the Swiss confederation. The cantonal coat of arms was designed in 1803, based on the coat of arms of the Kyburg family, which ruled the Thurgau in the 13th century, changing the background to green-and-white, at the time considered "revolutionary" colours (c.f. tricolour); as the placement of a yellow (or) charge on white (argent) is a violation of heraldic principles, there have been suggestions to modify the design, including a 1938 suggestion to use a solid green field divided by a diagonal white line, but they were unsuccessful.

The current cantonal constitution of Thurgau dates from 1987.

Geography

To the north the canton is bound by the Lake Constance across which lies Germany (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria) and Austria (Vorarlberg). The Rhine creates the border in the northwest. To the south lies the canton of St. Gallen; to the west lie the cantons of Zürich and Schaffhausen.

The area of the canton is 991km2 and commonly divided into three hill masses. One of these stretches along Lake Constance in the north. Another is further inland between the Thur and the river Murg. The third one forms the southern border of the canton and merges with the Hörnli mountain in the pre-Alps.

Demographics

The population of the canton (as of) is . The canton is mostly German speaking. The population is split between Protestants (45%) and Roman Catholics (36%).[4]

Historical population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Historic Population Data[5]
YearTotal PopulationSwissNon-SwissPopulation share
of total country
185088 90887 0061 9023.7%
188099 23192 1207 1113.5%
1900113 22198 18315 0383.4%
1950149 738139 9909 7483.2%
1970182 835148 79234 0432.9%
2000228 875183 94244 9333.1%
2020282,909 3.3%

Political subdivisions

Districts

Since January 2011, Thurgau has been divided into five districts which are named after their capitals. Before this date, there were eight districts - (Steckborn District, Bischofszell District and Diessenhofen District formed their own districts with their surrounding municipalities).[6]

Municipalities

See main article: Municipalities of the canton of Thurgau., there are 80 municipalities in the canton.[7] The ten largest municipalities by population are:

Politics

Federal election results

Percentage of the total vote per party in the canton in the National Council Elections 1971–2019[8]
Party Ideology 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
FDP.The Liberals16.9 14.4 16.9 18.3 18.5 16.5 15.3 14.7 11.9 12.1 11.2 13.0 11.5
CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD23.4 22.3 24.6 21.6 20.4 16.5 13.0 15.7 16.5 15.2 14.4 13.1 12.7
SP/PS20.7 21.6 22.4 19.5 13.4 15.1 18.1 16.1 14.1 11.7 12.1 12.7 12.6
SVP/UDC26.0 25.1 26.4 22.8 21.7 23.7 27.0 33.2 41.0 42.3 38.7 39.9 36.7
Ring of Independents6.6 5.3 3.9 2.6 3.3
EVP/PEV5.3 3.2 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.3 2.7
GLP/PVL5.2 6.2 8.1
BDP/PBD5.0 3.8 2.3
POCH0.2
GPS/PES5.9 10.8 9.0 9.3 6.2 7.9 10.2 7.0 5.4 10.6
SD/DS4.2 2.5 1.9 2.7 3.5 4.8 2.5 2.9 1.9
Rep.8.8 7.6 2.0
EDU/UDF1.9 1.9 2.6 3.5 3.4 2.8
FPS/PSL6.4 8.7 8.0 2.7 0.3
Other0.4 6.0 0.5 1.9 4.3 0.7 1.1 0.2
Voter participation % 62.0 56.6 48.3 52.7 48.5 47.1 44.1 44.6 42.9 46.9 46.7 46.6 42.4

FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009

"*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.

Economy

The canton of Thurgau is known for its agricultural produce. Particularly, apples, pears. The many orchards in the canton are mainly used for the production of cider. Wine is produced in the Thur valley.

There is also industry in the canton of Thurgau. The main industries are printing, textiles and handicrafts. Small and middle-sized businesses are important for the cantonal economy. Many of these are concentrated around the capital.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Statistik . Bundesamt für . 2021-01-21 . Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) nach Grossregion und Kanton - 2008-2018 Tabelle . 2023-07-01 . Bundesamt für Statistik . de.
  2. https://migrationsamt.tg.ch/public/upload/assets/57551/BO_Englisch_09_11_17.pdf Welcome to the Canton of Thurgau!
  3. Web site: Federal Department of Statistics . Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeit, Geschlecht und Kantonen . 2008 . Microsoft Excel . 5 November 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081215033605/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/02/blank/key/raeumliche_verteilung/kantone__gemeinden.html . 15 December 2008 . dead .
  4. Web site: Federal Department of Statistics . Wohnbevölkerung nach Religion . 2004 . Interactive Map . 2009-01-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160924182116/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/05/blank/key/religionen.html . 2016-09-24 . dead .
  5. Web site: Thurgau. 2022-01-25. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. de.
  6. Web site: Kanton Thurgau > Bezirke und Gemeinden . 2012-01-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120218035606/http://www.statistik.tg.ch/xml_8/internet/de/application/d11641/f7338.cfm . 2012-02-18 . dead .
  7. Web site: Liste officielle des communes de la Suisse - 01.01.2008 . Office fédéral de la statistique . 15 December 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090612012604/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/infothek/nomenklaturen/blank/blank/gem_liste/03.Document.90142.xls . 12 June 2009 . dead .
  8. Nationalratswahlen: Stärke der Parteien nach Kantonen (Schweiz = 100%) . Swiss Federal Statistical Office . 2015 . 2016-08-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160802014002/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/02/blank/dos/09.html . 2016-08-02 . dead .