Forch
Encyclopedia
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
(el. 682 metres (2,238 ft)) located in the municipalities
Municipalities of the canton of Zürich
There are 171 municipalities in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, .Municipalities are grouped in districts , their capital municipalities are written in bold letters.See also: Municipalities of Switzerland....
of Küsnacht and Maur
Maur, Switzerland
Maur is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Maur has an area of . Of this area, 52.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 26.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.2% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
in the canton of Zürich
Canton of Zürich
The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Geography
Forch is located approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) in the southeast of ZürichZürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, nearby Zumikon
Zumikon
Zumikon is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is located in the Pfannenstiel region.-History:...
and Maur
Maur, Switzerland
Maur is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Maur has an area of . Of this area, 52.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 26.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.2% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
. It includes the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
Aesch and Scheuren (villages of the municipality Maur), and Kaltenstein in the east of the pass, Wangen and Neue Forch, which are villages of the municipality of Küsnacht. The forrested hill called Guldenen on Pfannenstiel
Pfannenstiel (Zürich)
Pfannenstiel is a wooded mountain respectively a region overlooking the Lake Zürich and Zürcher Oberland in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.- Geography :...
belongs to the Forch area, Hinter Guldenen to the municipality of Maur and Vorder Guldenen is part of the municipality of Egg
Egg, Switzerland
Egg is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Egg has an area of . Of this area, 58.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 18.1% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
.
The mountain pass named Forch connects Küsnacht on Lake Zürich
Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates ....
and Maur on Greifensee
Greifensee
Greifensee is a small lake in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.- Geography :Lake Greifen is located to the northeast of the city of Zurich, separated by the Pfannenstiel from Lake Zürich...
respectively in the Glatt Valley
Glatt Valley
The Glatt Valley is a region and a river valley in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.- Geography :The River Glatt is a tributary of the River Rhine in the Zürcher Unterland area of the Canton of Zurich...
.
A monument called Wehrmännerdenkmal commemorating World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
is located nearby Neue Forch and Wassberg hill (el. 851 metres (2,792 ft)), which is also a popular recreation area for the people of the city of Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
.
Village of Forch
The population of the village of Forch is about 2,815 . The village has preserved its rural character. Since 1912, Forch is a stop of the ForchbahnForchbahn
The Forchbahn is a gauge narrow-gauge light railway in the canton of Zürich, linking central Zürich to the eastern suburbs near Esslingen via Forch. The name is often abbreviated to just FB, which also appears on the trains...
, a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
way of the S-Bahn Zürich, between the Zürich Stadelhofen railway station and the municipality of Esslingen
Esslingen, Switzerland
Esslingen is a village in the municipality of Egg, Switzerland, in the canton of Zürich. It is located in the Pfannenstiel region, approximately 15 km southeast of Zürich. In the local dialect it is called Esslinge.The population is 1565...
. Forch village is connected by the A52 highway
A52 (Switzerland)
The A52 is a main road connecting Zumikon in the canton of Zürich with Hinwil and Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen.- Route :...
to Zumikon
Zumikon
Zumikon is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is located in the Pfannenstiel region.-History:...
(to the west) and Hinwil
Hinwil
Hinwil is a municipality in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.- History :The village Hinwil from which the later municipality took its name is first mentioned in 745 as Hunichinwilari, in a donation made by Beata and Landolt to the Abbey of Saint Gall...
(to the east) heading to the Zürcher Oberland
Zürcher Oberland
The Zürcher Oberland in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the Canton of Zurich, bordering on the Toggenburg, including the districts of Uster, Hinwil, Pfäffikon as well as the Töss Valley as far as the district of Winterthur. The territory gradually fell under the control of the city...
. Thanks to these good conditions, Forch is the biggest village within the municipality of Maur. Nevertheless, its infrastructure, apart from Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, primary school, post office, retail facilities and hospitality is modest, i.e. most infrastructure facilities are located in Maur and Küsnacht.
History
The tavern "Zur Krone" (crown) was built in 1783 on the summit of the Forch pass, 1836-1901 a horse's station, on the post route from Zürich to the municipality of Egg, which was in 1905 replaced by a bus line. Around 1900, a small settlement of eight houses was established, 12 years later the train station of the ForchbahnForchbahn
The Forchbahn is a gauge narrow-gauge light railway in the canton of Zürich, linking central Zürich to the eastern suburbs near Esslingen via Forch. The name is often abbreviated to just FB, which also appears on the trains...
was built. The war memorial was built in 1922. Around 1960 the region became part of the growing agglomeration of the city of Zürich, and the villages of Forch, Scheuren and Aesch turned to an upscale residential district.
See also
A small motor ship of the Zürichsee-SchifffahrtsgesellschaftZürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft
The Lake Zurich Shipping Company or Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zürich....
is named after the region.