Greifensee, Zurich
Encyclopedia
Greifensee is a municipality
in the district of Uster
in the canton
of Zürich in Switzerland
.
stilt house
village located on the northern shore of the Lake Greifen area called Böschen was discovered by recreational divers. Initially, they found ceramic
s, lavishly decorated pots and bowls, and simple, large food tanks. In scientific dives, the remains of a village with 24 huts have been revealed. The excellent condition of the timber relicts allows dendrochronological
dating to the year 1051 B.C. Weaving spindles made of clay, tools, needles and fishing hooks from bronze, charred wild apples and cereals have been conserved. Ten years after its construction, the settlement was destroyed by a fire and not rebuilt. For the subsequent years, in the canton of Zurich various archaeological relicts have been found, such as heavy bronze bracelets, glass, mainly bronze fibulas and flint blades probably from the Mediterranean and France. Relicts dating to the Roman period
have been found in neighbouring municipalities, in Riedikon (Uster
), and about nine kilometers away near Pfäffikon ZH located at Lake Pfäffikon (Irgenhausen Castrum
).
Probably in late 12th century, a Tower house
(later Castle of Greifensee) was built at the location of a small village, estimated to be a settlement by the Counts of Rapperswil. On April 29, 1260, «R. et H. minstri de Grifense» are mentioned. On January 7, 1300, Greifensee was given by Elisabeth of Rapperswil-Habsburg-Laufenburg, the sister of Rudolf V, Count of Rapperswil, to the nobleman Hermann II of Landenberg. His son, Hermann IV (the younger Marshal
), fortified the small town, Greifensee castle and the city walls. He donated, for his salvation and on his wife's favour, the Gallus Chapel
around 1330-1340, Greifensee's former Parish church
, too. In 1369, the Amt (county) of Greifensee was sold to Count Friedrich Donat Diethelm of Toggenburg
; in early 1402, Friedrich VII
sold it to the city of Zurich, and beginning in 1419, Greifensee is the first country bailiwick of the city of Zurich.
In May 1444, during the Old Zürich War
, the Old Swiss Confederacy
laid siege to Greifensee which was held by about 70 defenders, most of them inhabitants of the Amt Greifensee with a few Habsburg
and Zürich
soldiers. The town was captured after four weeks, on May 27, and all but two of the surviving 64 defenders were beheaded on the next day, including the leader, Wildhans von Breitenlandenberg. Even in times of war, mass execution was widely considered a cruel and unjust deed. On May 29, the Castle of Greifensee and the city walls were broken.
In the year 1520, Zurich decided to reconstruct the ruins as residence of Zürich's Landvögte
among them Heinrich Biberli (1403), Gerold Edlibach (1504) and Salomon Landolt
(1776). In 1831, the district of Uster
was formed, thereby stripping Greifensee of its political importance as an administrative center.
It is located on the lake Greifensee
, approximately 12 km (7.5 mi) to the east of Zurich
in Switzerland. The town has a historic part complete with a castle and a unique church (Gallus Chapel) which was shaped as a triangle so it could fit into the city walls.
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP
which received 25.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS
(21%), the FDP
(15%) and the CSP
(13%).
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 65% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 9.7%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Greifensee about 85.5% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
). There are 2198 households in Greifensee.
there were 1464 Catholics
and 2085 Protestants
in Greifensee. In the 2000 census, religion was broken down into several smaller categories. From the , 48.1% were some type of Protestant, with 44% belonging to the Swiss Reformed Church
and 4.1% belonging to other Protestant churches. 31.3% of the population were Catholic. Of the rest of the population, 0% were Muslim, 3.9% belonged to another religion (not listed), 3.2% did not give a religion, and 12.7% were atheist or agnostic.
The historical population is given in the following table:
a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
has one of its world headquarters in Greifensee and is also the towns biggest employer.
Greifensee has an unemployment rate of 1.92%. , there were 21 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 557 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 21 businesses in this sector. 548 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 99 businesses in this sector. 43.8% of the working population were employed full-time, and 56.3% were employed part-time.
on the lines S9
and S14
. Its train station is a 16 minute (S9) ride from Zürich Hauptbahnhof.
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 Uster
Uster (district)
Uster District is one of the twelve districts of the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Its capital is the city of Uster. The German-speaking district has a population of .- Municipalities :Uster contains a total of ten 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 Zürich 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
Settlements in Greifensee date back in 4000 B.C.. In 1975, a NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
stilt house
Stilt house
Stilt houses or pile dwellings or palafitte are houses raised on piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding, but also serve to keep out vermin...
village located on the northern shore of the Lake Greifen area called Böschen was discovered by recreational divers. Initially, they found ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
s, lavishly decorated pots and bowls, and simple, large food tanks. In scientific dives, the remains of a village with 24 huts have been revealed. The excellent condition of the timber relicts allows dendrochronological
Dendrochronology
Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree-rings. Dendrochronology can date the time at which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the exact calendar year...
dating to the year 1051 B.C. Weaving spindles made of clay, tools, needles and fishing hooks from bronze, charred wild apples and cereals have been conserved. Ten years after its construction, the settlement was destroyed by a fire and not rebuilt. For the subsequent years, in the canton of Zurich various archaeological relicts have been found, such as heavy bronze bracelets, glass, mainly bronze fibulas and flint blades probably from the Mediterranean and France. Relicts dating to the Roman period
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...
have been found in neighbouring municipalities, in Riedikon (Uster
Uster
Uster is a city and capital of the district Uster in the Swiss Canton of Zürich.It is the third largest city in the Canton of Zürich, with over 30,000 inhabitants, and is one of the twenty largest cities in Switzerland...
), and about nine kilometers away near Pfäffikon ZH located at Lake Pfäffikon (Irgenhausen Castrum
Irgenhausen Castrum
Irgenhausen Castrum is a Roman fort in Irgenhausen, Switzerland. It was a square fort, measuring in square, with four corner towers and three additional towers...
).
Probably in late 12th century, a Tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
(later Castle of Greifensee) was built at the location of a small village, estimated to be a settlement by the Counts of Rapperswil. On April 29, 1260, «R. et H. minstri de Grifense» are mentioned. On January 7, 1300, Greifensee was given by Elisabeth of Rapperswil-Habsburg-Laufenburg, the sister of Rudolf V, Count of Rapperswil, to the nobleman Hermann II of Landenberg. His son, Hermann IV (the younger Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
), fortified the small town, Greifensee castle and the city walls. He donated, for his salvation and on his wife's favour, the Gallus Chapel
Gallus Chapel
The Gallus chapel is a listed heritage building in the municipality of Greifensee, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland....
around 1330-1340, Greifensee's former 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....
, too. In 1369, the Amt (county) of Greifensee was sold to Count Friedrich Donat Diethelm of Toggenburg
Counts of Toggenburg
The Counts of Toggenburg ruled the Toggenburg region of today's Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, as well as parts of the Canton of Glarus, Thurgau, Grisons, Vorarlberg, and Zurich when their influence was most extensive....
; in early 1402, Friedrich VII
Friedrich VII, count of Toggenburg
Friedrich VII, count of Toggenburg , was the last of the Counts of Toggenburg who ruled in what would become Switzerland. His death without heirs or a will led to the Old Zürich War....
sold it to the city of Zurich, and beginning in 1419, Greifensee is the first country bailiwick of the city of Zurich.
In May 1444, during the Old Zürich War
Old Zürich War
The Old Zürich War , 1440–46, was a conflict between the canton of Zürich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg....
, the Old Swiss Confederacy
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
laid siege to Greifensee which was held by about 70 defenders, most of them inhabitants of the Amt Greifensee with a few Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
and 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...
soldiers. The town was captured after four weeks, on May 27, and all but two of the surviving 64 defenders were beheaded on the next day, including the leader, Wildhans von Breitenlandenberg. Even in times of war, mass execution was widely considered a cruel and unjust deed. On May 29, the Castle of Greifensee and the city walls were broken.
In the year 1520, Zurich decided to reconstruct the ruins as residence of Zürich's Landvögte
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
among them Heinrich Biberli (1403), Gerold Edlibach (1504) and Salomon Landolt
Salomon Landolt
Salomon Landolt was a Swiss painter.-References:*This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
(1776). In 1831, the district of Uster
Uster (district)
Uster District is one of the twelve districts of the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Its capital is the city of Uster. The German-speaking district has a population of .- Municipalities :Uster contains a total of ten municipalities:...
was formed, thereby stripping Greifensee of its political importance as an administrative center.
Geography
Greifensee has an area of 2.3 km² (0.888034964762831 sq mi). Of this area, 37.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 11.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 44.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (6.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). housing and buildings made up 37.8% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (6.5%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 0% of the area. 37.5% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.It is located on the lake 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...
, approximately 12 km (7.5 mi) to the east of Zurich
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...
in Switzerland. The town has a historic part complete with a castle and a unique church (Gallus Chapel) which was shaped as a triangle so it could fit into the city walls.
Demographics
Greifensee has a population (as of ) of . , 15.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -0.2%. Most of the population speaks German (88.3%), with French being second most common ( 1.7%) and Italian being third ( 1.5%).In the 2007 election 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 25.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(21%), the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
(15%) and the CSP
Christian Social Party (Switzerland)
The Christian Social Party is a political party in Switzerland. The CSP is more social democratic than the CVP. With the moderate Christian left as its background, the CSP commits itself to social democratic and environmentalist political solutions...
(13%).
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 65% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 9.7%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Greifensee about 85.5% 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...
). There are 2198 households in Greifensee.
there were 1464 Catholics
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...
and 2085 Protestants
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 Greifensee. In the 2000 census, religion was broken down into several smaller categories. From the , 48.1% were some type of Protestant, with 44% belonging 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...
and 4.1% belonging to other Protestant churches. 31.3% of the population were Catholic. Of the rest of the population, 0% were Muslim, 3.9% belonged to another religion (not listed), 3.2% did not give a religion, and 12.7% were atheist or agnostic.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1634 | 133 |
| 1799 | 278 |
| 1836 | 406 |
| 1850 | 396 |
| 1900 | 289 |
| 1950 | 279 |
| 1960 | 421 |
| 1970 | 2,674 |
| 1980 | 5,423 |
| 2000 | 5,242 |
World heritage site
The prehistoric settlement at Storen-Wildsberg is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the AlpsPrehistoric 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.
Industry
Mettler ToledoMettler Toledo
Mettler-Toledo is a manufacturer of scales and analytical instruments. It was formed by the merging of two companies: Mettler, based in Switzerland, and Toledo Scale, based in Columbus, Ohio, USA...
has one of its world headquarters in Greifensee and is also the towns biggest employer.
Greifensee has an unemployment rate of 1.92%. , there were 21 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 557 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 21 businesses in this sector. 548 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 99 businesses in this sector. 43.8% of the working population were employed full-time, and 56.3% were employed part-time.
Transport
Nänikon-Greifensee is a stop of the Zürich S-BahnZürich S-Bahn
The Zurich S-Bahn system is a network of rapid transit rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighboring cantons The Zurich S-Bahn system is a network of rapid transit rail lines that has been...
on the lines S9
S9 (ZVV)
The S9 is a regional railway line of the S-Bahn Zürich on the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund , Zürich transportation network, and is one of the network's lines connecting the cantons of Zürich and Zug.- Route :...
and S14
S14 (ZVV)
The S14 is a regional railway line of the S-Bahn Zürich on the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund , Zürich transportation network, in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland.- Route :...
. Its train station is a 16 minute (S9) ride from Zürich Hauptbahnhof.