Appenzell District is a district of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland. It has a population of (). The area of Appenzell is . The district of Appenzell consists of a part of the village Appenzell, as well as Rinkenbach, Kau and Meistersrüte.

History

Prehistoric Appenzell

While a single late Bronze Age site has been discovered in the forest outside Appenzell, there is no evidence of a prehistoric settlement. The region around Appenzell remained forested and very lightly settled until the end of the Early Middle Ages.

Under the Abbots of St. Gall

Under the authority of the abbots of the monastery of St. Gall settlers began to colonization of the Sitter river valley in the late 11th century. It is mentioned, in a deed granting rights to clear land, in 1071 as Abbacella.

In 1291, Appenzell was devastated by the troops of the Count of Werdenberg-Sargans.

In 1353, it was granted the market right and an open plaza, the Schmäuslemarkt, opened to the south of the main street and opposite from the town hall. At the same time, a row of houses grew up to line the Hauptgasse and Hirschengasse streets. The latter road (Hirschengasse) was added as a major cross street running in the north–south direction. Additional connecting roads, squares and open areas were built at around the same time. The village of Ried, south of the village center, was founded in 1483 as a charitable foundation for poor villagers.

Part of the Swiss Confederation

thumb|upright|Battle of Vögelinsegg

Following increasing conflicts between the Appenzellers the abbot's agents, including the bailiff of Appenzell demanding that a dead body be dug up because he wanted the man's clothes, In response, the League raised an army and marched to St. Gallen before heading toward Appenzell. On 15 May 1403, they entered the pass to Speicher and outside the village of Vögelinsegg met the Appenzell army. A small force of Appenzell and Confederation troops defeated the League army and signed a short lived peace treaty.

Following another Appenzell victory on 17 June 1405, at Stoss Pass on the border of Appenzell village, the new canton continued to expand. Following a defeat at Bregenz, Appenzell was unable to hold the Bund together. The city of St. Gallen and the Canton of Schwyz each paid off the Austrians to avoid an attack, and the Bund was dissolved by King Rupert on April 4, 1408.

Geography

thumb|Aerial view of Appenzell

Appenzell has an area, , of . Of this area, 66.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 10.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.7% is unproductive land. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 4.8%. It has changed at a rate of 6.1% due to migration and at a rate of 5.7% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population () speaks German (4,723 or 86.7%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (302 or 5.5%) and Italian being third (98 or 1.8%). There are 14 people who speak French and 3 people who speak Romansh.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.59 per room. About 45.3% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 2,107 private households in the district, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.

there were 2,351 apartments in the district. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 581. There were 121 single room apartments and 839 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,023 apartments (86.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 197 apartments (8.4%) were seasonally occupied and 131 apartments (5.6%) were empty.

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Heritage sites of national significance

There are nine sites in Appenzell that are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The list includes two farm houses around the village, the Kuenzes farm house at Lehnstrasse 102 and the Horersjokelis House with Barn at Lehn 76. The religious buildings on the list include the Capuchin Monastery Maria der Engel and the Parish Church of St. Mauritius. The secular buildings on the list include the Landesarchiv Appenzell Innerrhoden, the Museum Appenzell, the Rathaus (city hall) and the Castle. Finally, the entire medieval and early modern village of Appenzell was on the list. The entire village of Appenzell is also part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

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File:Pfarrkirche-Appenzell03.JPG|Exterior of the parish church of St. Mauritius

File:St. Mauritius Appenzell.jpg|Interior of the parish church of St. Mauritius

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File:2008-05-21 Appenzell (Ort) 5571.jpg|Painted house in Appenzell

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Politics

In the 2007 federal election the CVP received 84.46% of the vote. In the federal election, a total of 786 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 20.6%.

Economy

, Appenzell had an unemployment rate of 2.7%. , there were 180 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 93 businesses involved in this sector. 1,380 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 117 businesses in this sector. 2,489 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 344 businesses in this sector.

, there were 1,776 workers who commuted into the district and 989 workers who commuted away. The district is a net importer of workers, with about 1.8 workers entering the district for every one leaving. Of the working population, 7.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 44.4% used a private car.

Education

In Appenzell about 1,849 or (33.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 529 or (9.7%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule). Of the 529 who completed tertiary schooling, 66.2% were Swiss men, 17.8% were Swiss women, 10.2% were non-Swiss men and 5.9% were non-Swiss women.

References

  • Appenzell Tourism
  • Appenzell