Schaffhausen
Country Switzerland Canton Schaffhausen District (None in canton of Schaffhausen) 47°42′N 8°38′E / 47.7°N 8.633°E / 47.7; 8.633Coordinates: 47°42′N 8°38′E / 47.7°N 8.633°E / 47.7; 8.633
Population	34,943 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density	1,127 /km2 (2,919 /sq mi)
Area	41.86 km2 (16.16 sq mi)[2]
Elevation	403 m (1,322 ft)
Postal code	8200
SFOS number	2939
Mayor (list)	Thomas Feurer (as of 2009) ÖBS
Surrounded by	Beringen, Büsingen am Hochrhein (DE-BW), Büttenhardt, Dörflingen, Feuerthalen (ZH), Flurlingen (ZH), Hemmental, Merishausen, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Stetten, Thayngen
Twin towns	Sindelfingen (Germany), Singen am Hohentwiel (Germany), Dobrich (Bulgaria)
Website	www.stadt-schaffhausen.ch Profile (German), SFSO statistics
Schaffhausen
Location of Schaffhausen

Imperial City of Schaffhausen Reichsstadt Schaffhausen
Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1190 or 1218–1330 1415–1501 →
Capital	Schaffhausen
Government	Republic
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Gained Reichsfreiheit	betw 1190 and 1218
- Pledged to Habsburgs	1330
- Bought independence	1415
- Associate member of     Swiss Confederacy	1454
- Joined Switzerland	1501
- Swiss independence     recognised	1648

Imperial Abbey of All Saints in Schaffhausen Reichskloster Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen
Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1080–1529 →
Capital	Schaffhausen
Government	Principality
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Consecrated (Leo IX)	22 November 1049
- Papal grant of     Nellenburg lands	1080
- Gained Hiltensweiler     lands	1122–1389
- City became     Swiss Associate	1454
- City joined Switz.	1501
- Converted to     monastery and     cathedral church	1524
- Disestablished in     Reformation	1529

Schaffhausen (German:  Schaffhausen (help·info), Swiss German: Schafuuse) is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 as of December 2008^[update].^[3]

Rhine Falls as seen from Neuhausen am Rheinfall

The old portion of the city has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the impressive old canton fortress, the Munot. A train runs out of town to the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe's largest waterfall, a tourist attraction.

Origin of the name[link]

The town is first mentioned in 1045 as Villa Scafhusun. There are at least two theories on the origin of this name. One is related to a mention of a "ford" across the Rhine River that first occurs in 1050. This "ford" may actually refer to a scapha or skiff which was used to disembark goods coming from Constance to move them around the Rhine Falls. The name Scafhusun then arose from the scapha used at that point. Another theory is that Scafhusun comes from Schaf (a sheep), as a ram (now a sheep) formed the ancient arms of the town, derived from those of its founders, the counts of Nellenburg.^[4]

Coat of arms[link]

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or on a Base Vert issuant from sinister a Semi Castle Argent with tower with entrance from which is issuing a Semi Ram Sable.^[5] The canting coat of arms refers to the second interpretation of the name, sheep-house.

History[link]

Views of old town, Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins from 1045.^[4] About 1050 the counts of Nellenburg founded the Benedictine monastery of All Saints, which became the centre of the town. Perhaps as early as 1190, certainly in 1208, it was an imperial free city, while the first seal dates from 1253. The powers of the abbot were gradually limited and in 1277 the Emperor Rudolf I gave the town a charter of liberties. In 1330 the emperor Louis of Bavaria pledged it to the Habsburgs. In the early 15th century, Habsburg power over the city waned. By 1411 the guilds ruled the city. Then, in 1415 the Habsburg Duke Frederick IV of Austria sided with the Antipope John XXIII at the Council of Constance, and was banned by the Emperor Sigismund. As a result of the ban and Frederick's need of money, Schaffhausen was able to buy its independence from the Habsburgs in 1418. The city allied with six of the Swiss confederates in 1454 and allied with a further two (Uri and Unterwalden) in 1479. Schaffhausen became a full member of the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1501.

The Reformation was adopted, initially, in 1524 and completely in 1529. The town was heavily damaged during the Thirty Years' War by the passage of Swedish (Protestant) and Bavarian (Roman Catholic) troops and the very important bridge was burnt down. It was not till the early 19th century that the arrested industrial development of the town made a fresh start.^[4] In 1857 the first railroad, the Rheinfall-Bahn running from Winterthur, reached Schaffhausen.^[6]

The Nazi war criminal Karl Jäger was born in Schaffhausen, though he spent most of his adult life in Germany, as soldier, an early member of the Nazi party and the SS, and an Einsatzkommando leader responsible for the mass murder of Jews in Lithuania in 1942.

Schaffhausen is located in a finger of Swiss territory surrounded on three sides by Germany. On 1 April 1944 Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces aircraft which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland due to navigation errors. About a hundred civilians were killed;^[7] the United States immediately offered a million dollars in reparations.

Geography[link]

Schaffhausen covers an area, as of 2006^[update], of 31.1 square kilometers (12.0 sq mi). Of this area, 20.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 47.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 30.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.9%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).^[8]

Demographics[link]

Schaffhausen has a population (as of 2008^[update]) of 34,587, of which 26.4% are foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (as of 2008^[update]), 21% are from Germany, 13.3% are from Italy, 8.8% are from Croatia, 13.3% are from Serbia, 6% are from Macedonia, 9% are from Turkey, and 28.6% are from other countries.^[9] Over the last 10 years the population has remained stable. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (84.3%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 3.4%) and Italian being third ( 3.2%).^[8]

The age distribution of the population (as of 2008^[update]) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.4%.^[9]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 39.5% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the SVP (33.1%), and the FDP (27.4%) .^[8]

As of 2000^[update], 27.4% of the population belonged to the Roman Catholic Church and 43.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.^[9]

The historical population is given in the following table:^[9]

Education[link]

In Schaffhausen about 69.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).^[8] In Schaffhausen, as of 2007^[update], 1.73% of the population attend kindergarten or another pre-school, 5.65% attend a Primary School, 2.98% attend a lower level Secondary School, and 2.49% attend a higher level Secondary School.^[9]

Industry[link]

Schaffhausen has an unemployment rate, as of 2007^[update], of 2.67%. As of 2005^[update], there were 196 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 33 businesses involved in this sector. 6,488 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 293 businesses in this sector. 14,019 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 1,486 businesses in this sector.^[8]

As of 2008^[update] the mid year average unemployment rate was 2.5%. There were 1,879 non-agrarian businesses in the municipality and 29.9% of the (non-agrarian) population was involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 70.1% were involved in the third. At the same time, 67.1% of the working population was employed full-time, and 32.9% was employed part-time. There were 21,841 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which women made up 46.6% of the workforce. As of 2000^[update] there were 10,019 residents who worked in the municipality, while 5,724 residents worked outside Schaffhausen and 8,026 people commuted into the municipality for work.^[9]

Schaffhausen hosts some well-known industrial companies like Georg Fischer (piping systems, machine tools and automotives), an internationally-reputed manufacturer of watches (IWC), pharmaceutical industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos) and BB Biotech (biotechnologies). Tyco International is incorporated in Schaffhausen.

As of 2008^[update], there are 102 restaurants, and 11 hotels with 445 beds. The catering industry in Schaffhausen employs 924 people.^[9]

Transportation[link]

Schaffhausen railway station is a stop of the Zürich S-Bahn on the line S16. Schaffhausen is also a stop on the S33 line that operates between Schaffhausen and Winterthur, and is also a regular stop for high-speed trains to Bern via Zürich, and Stuttgart from Zürich, operated by DB.

Schaffhausen also has a bus network of six lines, including one trolleybus line, linking it with nearby places such as Herblingen and Neuhausen am Rheinfall.

Sport[link]

The town has two football teams, SV Schaffhausen of the second tier, the Swiss 1. Liga, and FC Schaffhausen also of the Swiss 1. Liga.

Weather[link]

Schaffhausen has an average of 124.9 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 883 mm (34.8 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is August during which time Schaffhausen receives an average of 98 mm (3.9 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.4, but with only 77 mm (3.0 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is March with an average of 59 mm (2.3 in) of precipitation over 11.6 days.^[10]

Heritage sites of national significance[link]

There are 35 buildings or sites in Schaffhausen that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. This includes the entire old city of Schaffhausen, the city walls, the Giesserei +GF+ Werk I factory, the city and cantonal archives, the Schweizersbild Paleolithic cave and the Herblingen and Grüthalde Neolithic settlements. Additionally, there are four former guild houses and seven listed houses. There are only two listed religious buildings, the former Benedictine All Saints Abbey and the Church of St. John^[11]

See also[link]

• Cholfirst Radio Tower
• List of mayors of Schaffhausen
• Bombing of Schaffhausen in World War II

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Schaffhausen

• City of Schaffhausen (German)
• Schaffhausen Tourism (English)
• City archives (German)
• U.S. Bombings of Switzerland during World War II
• Historical views

v t e Municipalities in the Canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland Bargen Beggingen Beringen Buch Buchberg Büttenhardt Dörflingen Gächlingen Guntmadingen Hallau Hemishofen Hofen Lohn Löhningen Merishausen Neuhausen am Rheinfall Neunkirch Oberhallau Ramsen Rüdlingen Schaffhausen Schleitheim Siblingen Stein am Rhein Stetten Thayngen Trasadingen Wilchingen Canton of Schaffhausen Municipalities of the canton of Schaffhausen