Aadorf is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. In 1996 Ettenhausen, Guntershausen bei Aadorf, and Wittenwil merged into Aadorf.
History
Aadorf is first mentioned in 886 as Ahadorf. Ettenhausen is first mentioned in 1278 as Oetenhuse. Guntershausen bei Aadorf is first mentioned in 1282 as Gundolthuser tal. On 6 April 1358 the brothers Herman and Beringer von Landenberg and Hermann von Landenberg donated the church of Aadorf to the Rüti Monastery.
The territory of the municipality was enlarged in 1996, when it absorbed the neighboring municipalities of Aawangen, Ettenhausen, Guntershausen bei Aadorf, and Wittenwil. As of 2008, it was the canton's seventh largest municipality.
Graves from the Hallstatt period were discovered near Elgg and west of Bruggwingert. The Bachwiesen archeological site has yielded scattered finds from the Bronze and Roman eras. The Church (current building from 1863 to 1865) was founded in 840 by the Emperor, and in 886 it was mentioned as the principal church of the Counts of Linzgau. The nearby older cemetery at Sonnhalde dates from the 7th and 8th centuries. In 890, Count Udalrich IV established a clerical community that was affiliated with the church, for the care of his burial place. But by 894/895 this community had already transferred to the Abbey of St. Gall. The right to appoint the priest, was acquired by the Lords of Bernegg before 1304. In 1318, these rights transferred to Hermann of Hohenlandenberg-Greifensee, in 1349-50 they went to Rüti monastery and after the monastery's secularization in 1525 the rights went to Zurich.
thumb|left|Aerial view from 500 m by [[Walter Mittelholzer (1929)]]
After 1427, the dividing line between the territorial boundary of the counties of Kyburg and Thurgau (now the border between Canton Zurich, Thurgau) ran through the parish of Aadorf. During the Late Middle Ages the dominant landlord in Aadorf was the Abbey of St. Gallen. In 1413 the Abbey had to sell all their rights, except for the low justice rights in Tänikon Monastery, to other landholders. In 1528-29, the Protestant Reformation was introduced in Aadorf. As part of the Counter-Reformation Tänikon Monastery expanded.
Geography
thumb|left|350px|Countryside near Aadorf
Aadorf has an area, , of . Of this area, or 52.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 28.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 19.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.4% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 12.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 1.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 0.7%. Out of the forested land, 27.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 50.5% is used for growing crops, while 2.0% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 6%. Most of the population () speaks German (91.2%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.5%) and Albanian being third ( 2.0%).
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 3,294 Swiss men (42.1% of the population), and 596 (7.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 3,427 Swiss women (43.8%), and 515 (6.6%) non-Swiss women.
, there were 2,933 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 1,642 (or 22.5%) persons who were part of a couple without children, and 4,032 (or 55.2%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 439 (or 6.0%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 33 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 33 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 47 who lived in a household made up of unrelated persons, and 174 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.21%. , the construction rate of new housing units was 5.3 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent an average apartment in Aadorf was 1048.91 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$840, £470, €670 approx. exchange rate from 2000). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 514.48 CHF (US$410, £230, €330), a two-room apartment was about 751.73 CHF (US$600, £340, €480), a three-room apartment was about 923.69 CHF (US$740, £420, €590) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1567.37 CHF (US$1250, £710, €1000). The average apartment price in Aadorf was 94.0% of the national average of 1116 CHF.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41.73% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (18.74%), the SP (10.78%) and the FDP (10.01%). In the federal election, a total of 2,449 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.4%.
The historical population is given in the following table:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! year
! population
|-
| 1850
| 2,205
|-
| 1910
| 3,224
|-
| 1960
| 4,106
|-
| 1990
| 6,880
|-
| 2000
| 7,301
|-
|}
Heritage sites of national significance
thumb|Monastery Church
The Agrotechnorama Tänikon and the former monastery church of St Bernhard are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The former Cistercian monastery of Tänikon, which included the Church of St Bernhard, was first mentioned in 1247. During the 15th and 16th centuries, portions of the monastery were demolished and later a road was built through the cloister. The monastery buildings eventually became a federal agricultural research facility, the Agrotechnorama Tänikon. The former monastery church includes a marble pulpit and altar by Johann Josef Mosbrugger from 1830 to 1831.
Economy
, Aadorf had an unemployment rate of 1.64%. , there were 181 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 56 businesses involved in this sector. 1,172 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 93 businesses in this sector. 1,351 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 233 businesses in this sector. Of the working population, 15.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 48.1% used a private car.
Education
In Aadorf about 75% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ).
Climate
Aadorf has either an oceanic or a humid continental climate under the Köppen climate classification. Aadorf has an average of 134.5 days of precipitation per year and on average receives of precipitation.
|source 2 = MeteoSwiss (snow 1981–2010)
|date=August 2010
References
External links
- Official website of Aadorf
- Website of Ettenhausen
- Website of Guntershausen
- Website of Wittenwil