For the Swiss race driver see Natacha Gachnang

Natacha Gachnang

Natacha Gachnang is a Swiss race driver and the cousin of Formula One driver Sébastien Buemi.-Career:...

.

Gachnang is a municipality

Municipalities of Switzerland

Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...

 in the district of Frauenfeld

Frauenfeld (district)

Frauenfeld District is one of the five districts of the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. It has a population of . Its capital, and the capital of Thurgau, is the city of Frauenfeld.The district contains the following municipalities:...

 in the canton

Cantons of Switzerland

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Thurgau

Thurgau

Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 who were resident foreigners. The capital is Frauenfeld.-History:...

 in 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....

.

History

Gachnang is first mentioned in 889 as Kachanang. In the local dialect

Swiss German

Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...

 it has traditionally been known as Gochlingen.

In the Egelsee area (north of Niederwil) a number of significant artifacts from the Pfyn culture

Pfyn culture

The Pfyn Culture is one of several archaeological cultures of the Neolithic period in Switzerland. It dates from c. 3900 BC to c. 3500 BC.-Discovery:...

 have been discovered. In 889 King Arnulf gave his follower Diethelm a manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 in Gachnang with ten dependent huts. From the 11th Century, Gachnang was a possession of the monastery of Reichenau

Reichenau Island

Reichenau Island lies in Lake Constance in southern Germany, at approximately . It lies between Gnadensee and Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance, almost due west of the city of Konstanz. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway that was completed in 1838...

. The Lords of Gachnang administered the village as a Ministerialis

Ministerialis

Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...

 (unfree knights in the service of a feudal overlord) for first the Kyburg

House of Kyburg

The House of Kyburg was family of Grafen or counts from Zürich in Switzerland. The family was one of the three most powerful noble families in the Swiss plateau beside the Habsburg and the House of Savoy during the 11th and 12th Centuries...

 and later Reichenau Abbey. They ruled from the, now ruined, Alt-Gachnang Castle or from the Meierhof

Meierhof

A Meierhof or Meyerhof was a farm or building which was occupied or had been occupied by the administrator of a noble or spiritual estate....

 Meiersberg. In 1417, the Lords of Schinen began to rule over the village. Before 1500, they built Neu-Gachnang Castle. In 1562, the village was acquired by Kaspar Ludwig von Heidenheim, then in 1587 by Hector von Beroldingen and 1623 by Einsiedeln Abbey

Einsiedeln Abbey

Einsiedeln Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Einsiedeln in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, the title being derived from the circumstances of its foundation, from which the name Einsiedeln is also said to have originated...

. The Abbey retained the low justice

High, middle and low justice

High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents....

 rights until 1798.

The parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 of Gachnang existed well before 1000 and included a number of villages in the Thurgau and Zurich area, including the filial church

Filial church

A filial church, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church. The term comes from the Latin filialis, from filia, daughter....

 at Ellikon an der Thur

Ellikon an der Thur

Ellikon an der Thur is a municipality in the district of Winterthur in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Ellikon an der Thur has an area of . Of this area, 69.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 10.4% is settled and the remainder ...

 (until 1651) and Gerlikon (until 1874). The construction of the current church took place before the 13th Century. The border between the counties of Kyburg and Thurgau (now the boundary between the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau) ran through the middle of the parish, starting in 1427. In 1528 the entire municipality converted to the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. In the wake of Gachnangerhandels of 1610 the parish was divided, and the (built in 1587) Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 chapel became a parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

. The right to appoint a priest was held by Reichenau and the Bishop of Constance.

The farming village has not grown far from the medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 settlement centers of the church and castle. Only since the mid-20th Century has the village expanded into a typical residential community. In 1998 the villages of Kefikon, Islikon, Gerlikon, Niederwil and Oberwil merged with Gachnang.

Geography

Gachnang has an area, , of 9.72 square kilometres (3.8 sq mi). Of this area, 6.32 km² (2.4 sq mi) or 65.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.62 km² (0.625485496919907 sq mi) or 16.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.74 km² (0.671817755951011 sq mi) or 17.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km² (9.9 acre) or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and 0.06 km² (14.8 acre) or 0.6% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 8.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 1.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.2%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 6.5%. Out of the forested land, 14.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 63.1% is used for growing crops, while 2.0% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is in lakes and 0.2% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, and .

The municipality is located in the Frauenfeld district. It consists of the villages of Gachnang, Kefikon, Islikon and Niederwiland and 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...

 of Strass and Bethelhausen as well as Oberwil with Rosenhuben.

Demographics

Gachnang has a population of , 10.7% of the population are foreign nationals. Most of the population speaks German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

(93.3%), with Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 being second most common ( 2.7%) and Albanian

Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 being third ( 0.7%).

, the gender distribution of the population was 50.7% male and 49.3% female. The population was made up of 1,515 Swiss men (45.0% of the population), and 191 (5.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,491 Swiss women (44.3%), and 169 (5.0%) non-Swiss women.

In there were 24 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 22 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 2 while the foreign population increased by 2. There were 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 12 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 6 non-Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 42 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 18 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.8%.

The age distribution, , in Gachnang is; 397 children or 11.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 460 teenagers or 13.4% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 400 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 432 people or 12.6% are between 30 and 39, 655 people or 19.1% are between 40 and 49, and 512 people or 15.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 351 people or 10.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 145 people or 4.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 61 people or 1.8% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 10 people or 0.3% who are 90 and older.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.56 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 55.9% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage

Mortgage loan

A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 1,124 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. there were 578 single family homes (or 86.9% of the total) out of a total of 665 inhabited buildings. There were 33 two family buildings (5.0%), 16 three family buildings (2.4%) and 38 multi-family buildings (or 5.7%). There were 693 (or 23.8%) persons who were part of a couple without children, and 1,707 (or 58.7%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 110 (or 3.8%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 20 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 5 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 17 who lived in a household made up of unrelated persons, and 52 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.04%. , the construction rate of new housing units was 5.7 new units per 1000 residents. there were 1,205 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 345. There were 16 single room apartments and 224 apartments with six or more rooms. the average price to rent an average apartment in Gachnang was 1099.05 Swiss franc

Swiss franc

The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

s (CHF) per month (US$880, £490, €700 approx. exchange rate from 2000). The average rate for a one room apartment was 486.67 CHF (US$390, £220, €310), a two room apartment was about 858.07 CHF (US$690, £390, €550), a three room apartment was about 920.39 CHF (US$740, £410, €590) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1628.29 CHF (US$1300, £730, €1040). The average apartment price in Gachnang was 98.5% of the national average of 1116 CHF.

In the 2007 federal election

Swiss federal election, 2007

Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...

 the most popular party was the SVP

Swiss People's Party

The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...

 which received 45.49% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP

Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland

The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

 (13.32%), the SP

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (12.79%) and the Green Party

Green Party of Switzerland

The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...

 (10.89%). In the federal election, a total of 1,107 votes were cast, and the voter turnout

Voter turnout

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was 48.5%.

The historical population is given in the following table:

year	population
1850	1,456
1900	1,368
1950	1,694
1990	3,038
2000	2,906

Heritage sites of national significance

The Egelsee (prehistoric shore front settlement) and Former Factory Greuterhof with a Barn are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance

Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance

The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

. The prehistoric settlement at Egelsee is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps is a series of prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands...

 a UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site.

Economy

, Gachnang had an unemployment rate of 1.16%. , there were 98 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 34 businesses involved in this sector. 370 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 43 businesses in this sector. 465 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 96 businesses in this sector.

there were 2,134 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 1,243 or about 58.2% of the residents worked outside Gachnang while 514 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 1,405 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 13.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 53.9% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 820 or 28.2% were Roman Catholic, while 1,560 or 53.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church

Swiss Reformed Church

The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 Old Catholics (or about 0.07% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland

Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland

The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...

  there are 24 individuals (or about 0.83% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 111 individuals (or about 3.82% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, and 58 (or about 2.00% of the population) who are Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic. There are 16 individuals (or about 0.55% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 220 (or about 7.57% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic

Agnosticism

Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....

 or atheist

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

, and 94 individuals (or about 3.23% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Gachnang about 79.5% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule

Fachhochschule

A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

). Gachnang is home to the Gachnang primary school district.

In the 2008/2009 school year there are 383 students. There are 87 children in the 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...

, and the average class size is 21.75 kindergartners. Of the children in kindergarten, 50 or 57.5% are female, 6 or 6.9% are not Swiss citizens and 8 or 9.2% do not speak German natively. The lower and upper primary levels begin at about age 5-6 and lasts for 6 years. There are 154 children in who are at the lower primary level and 142 children in the upper primary level. The average class size in the primary school is 21.14 students. At the lower primary level, there are 75 children or 48.7% of the total population who are female, 13 or 8.4% are not Swiss citizens and 12 or 7.8% do not speak German natively. In the upper primary level, there are 72 or 50.7% who are female, 10 or 7.0% are not Swiss citizens and 6 or 4.2% do not speak German natively.