Walzenhausen 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 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 Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Appenzell Ausserrhoden is a canton of Switzerland. The seat of the government and parliament is Herisau, judicial authorities are in Trogen. Appenzell Ausserrhoden is located in the north east of Switzerland, bordering the cantons of St...

 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

The farm Walzenhausen was mentioned first in 1320. The church was built in 1638 in as little as nine months. This was the establishment of Walzenhausen as a municipality.

In the past textiles played an important role, but today tourism has taken this role. This is facilitated by good public transport links.

Geography

Walzenhausen has an area, , of 7 km² (2.7 sq mi). Of this area, 52.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 34.4% is forested. The rest of the land, (13.1%) is settled.

Walzenhausen is the eastern most village in the canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden. It lies at 670 m (2,198.2 ft) and offers a panorama of Lake Constance

Lake Constance

Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

 300 m (984.3 ft) below.

Demographics

Walzenhausen has a population of 2,071, of which about 16.2% are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -4.1%. Most of the population speaks German (92.3%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 1.7%) and Italian being third ( 1.4%).

, the gender distribution of the population was 50.9% male and 49.1% female. The age distribution, , in Walzenhausen is; 176 people or 8.1% of the population are between 0–6 years old. 278 people or 12.7% are 6-15, and 98 people or 4.5% are 16-19. Of the adult population, 96 people or 4.4% of the population are between 20–24 years old. 646 people or 29.6% are 25-44, and 530 people or 24.3% are 45-64. The senior population distribution is 250 people or 11.5% of the population are between 65–79 years old, and 107 people or 4.9% are over 80.

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 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....

 received 68.4% of the vote.

In Walzenhausen about 68.5% 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...

).

Walzenhausen has an unemployment rate of 1.67%. , there were 53 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 323 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 34 businesses in this sector. 732 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 72 businesses in this sector.

The historical population is given in the following table:

year	population
1980	2,004
1990	2,152
2000	2,134
2005	2,064
2007	2,041

Transportation

The Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen links the village to Rheineck

Rheineck

Rheineck is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Rheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as castellum Rinegge. In 1218 it was mentioned as Rinegg...

, 272 m (892.4 ft) below.

External links

• Official Page (German)