Hundwil

Hundwil
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Appenzell Ausserrhoden (AR)
District :	former Hinterland district
BFS no. :	3002
Postal code :	9064
Coordinates :	742 081  /  247782 coordinates: 47 ° 21 '56 "  N , 9 ° 19' 11"  O ; CH1903:  742,081  /  247782
Height :	788  m above sea level M.
Height range :	654–2501 m above sea level M.
Area :	24.08  km²
Residents:	941 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	39 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.hundwil.ch
Hundwil
Location of the municipality

Hundwil is a municipality in the hinterland of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland . It is located on the road between Herisau and Appenzell .

geography

Hundwil lies at the north foot of the Hundwiler Höhi at 788  m above sea level. M.

The Säntis ( 2502  m above sea level ), which Hundwil shares with other municipalities, is also located in the municipality of Hundwil. The Schwägalp valley station of the Schwägalp – Säntis cable car is also part of the long Hundwil district.

The neighboring communities in clockwise direction are Urnäsch , Waldstatt , Herisau and Stein AR in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Schlatt-Haslen , Gonten and Schwende in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden as well as the Sanctuary communities Wildhaus and Nesslau-Krummenau .

history

Historic aerial photo by Walter Mittelholzer from 1923

Hundwil was first mentioned in 921 under the name Huntwilare. It is the oldest settlement east of the Urnäsch River, which was barbarized and colonized by people from St. Gallen from around 900 onwards. Under Abbot rule, the Hundwil office comprised the Rhodes Hundwil and Urnäsch. The Schwägalp, which has been called Sweigalpe since 1280, was not part of it, but was directly subordinate to the St. Gallen Court Office from 1353. The residence of the monastic servants, the nobles of Hundwil, was probably the hamlet of Sonder. In the "Burg" house there, the remains of the wall of a former residential tower have been preserved. In the Reichsverband Hundwil belonged to the Vogtei St. Gallen. From 1300 the Rhode Hundwil had a certain communal independence. In 1367 it joined forces with Appenzell to defend itself against abbot claims, in 1377 Hundwil joined the Swabian Association of Cities, and from 1401 it had its own seal. From 1401 to 1429 Hundwil, together with Appenzell and Urnäsch, was the driving force in the Appenzell Wars . During this time, the political reorganization fell into an Upper (Hundwil) and a Lower Rhode (Stein), each of which had its own authorities, but shared the municipal property and the town hall. Urnäsch became an independent municipality in 1417, and Schwägalp, which was confiscated in the Appenzell Wars, came to Hundwil in 1480 after the border was cleared with Urnäsch. From 1607 the village was a regular meeting place for the Great and Small Councils, and from 1611 to 1997 Hundwil was a second regional parish next to Trogen .

In 1297, when a vice priest was mentioned, the existence of a church or chapel is proven. It was a branch church of St. Laurenzen in St. Gallen, and before 1380 it was raised to an independent parish church with the name of St. Martins Patronage. In 1524, Josef Schumacher from Hundwil, enforced the church hearing principle at the Landsgemeinde, so that each parish could vote whether it wanted to stick to the old Catholic faith or convert to the new Protestant faith. In 1525 the community went over to the Reformation, where it played a leading role within the Association of the Appenzell Rhodes. From 1522 to 1530 and 1543 to 1567 the reformer Walter Klarer was a Protestant pastor in Hundwil. After the division of land in 1597, a special solution applied in the denominationally mixed area of ​​Stechlenegg, the border between Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden was only finally cleared here from 1851 to 1852.

The separation of the Lower Rhode and the re-establishment of the Stein municipality, which took place in 1749 despite violent protests from the Upper Rhode, initiated the decline of Hundwil. The majority of the wealthy Hundwiler settled in Stein and became a citizen there. In Hundwil, the poorer parts of the population and a large number of foreign citizens tended to stay. The population fell from 3,360 before to 1,910 after the separation. In the famine years of 1770 and 1817 this brought an enormous burden of the poor, from which the community only recovered after 1860 thanks to a reorganization of the finances and improved transport connections.

The cultivation of flax and the manufacture of linen cloth have been attested since 1500. From 1862 to 1958 embroidery and satin stitch weaving were operated. The bleaching plant in Gapf existed until 1885, the one in Befang from 1868 to 1897. Up until 1850 there were four annual markets in Hundwil.

Dairy and alpine farming have always played a prominent role. Hundwil and Stein were strongholds of the Appenzell whey traders until 1940. Then the emphasis gradually shifted from milk and cheese production to young cattle breeding.

The Mineralbad & Gasthaus zum Rössli was in operation from 1845 to 1905. From 1895 the area became attractive for tourism, with holiday colonies in the Rössli guesthouse and the Bären holiday colony. The construction of the Säntis suspension railway in 1935 benefited the community's tax income, as the mountain and valley stations are on their territory. Since the Second World War , Hundwil has been a structurally weak municipality, with cattle and dairy farming and timber construction being the most important branches of industry. In 2000 almost 40 percent of the workforce were employed in the 1st sector. Around 1900 the population was 1,523, since then it has decreased continuously; In 1950 there were 1,290 and in 2000 1,038 residents.

population

Population development
year	Residents
1667	1845
1734	3360 (with stone)
1794	1910 (without stone)
1850	1500
1900	1523
1950	1290
1980	943
2000	1038
2010	968

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Hundwil

In addition to the superbly preserved townscape, the reformed church from the 13th century with its Gothic wall paintings is particularly worth seeing .

Of the only two surviving bridges by Johann Ulrich Grubenmann , the wooden bridge constructed in 1778 is located in the municipality. Because of the sayings and inscriptions on the roof beams, it is called the "speaking bridge".

• 

  Reformed Church Hundwil

• 

  Landsgemeindeplatz

• 

  Appenzell houses in the village center

Personalities

• Jakob Alder (1915-2004), composer
• Bartholomäus Anhorn the Younger (1616–1700), Evangelical Reformed pastor and historian, 1635–1636 in Hundwil
• Walter Klarer (1500–1567), Protestant Reformed pastor in Hundwil, Herisau , Gossau SG and Urnäsch , reformer in the Appenzellerland , innkeeper and chronicler
• Jakob Künzler (1871–1949), carpenter, Protestant deacon, nurse, lay doctor and rescuer of around 8,000 Armenian orphans in the Ottoman Empire and Lebanon
• Paul Bernhard Rothen (* 1955), evangelical reformed pastor and author, in Hundwil since 2010
• Johann Ulrich Schiess (1775–1849), textile entrepreneur, mayor, state mountaineer, state ensign, state governor, state blanket master and delegate of the daily statute
• Johannes Schiess (1780–1859), textile entrepreneur and member of the Small Council
• Marlies Schoch (1940–2016), innkeeper and non-party politician
• Bartholome Widmer (1713–1796), municipal governor, state builder, state ensign, state governor, state cover master and state governor
• Jakob Zahner (1812-1892), textile entrepreneur and politician

Web links

Commons : Hundwil  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Hundwil
• Thomas Fuchs: Hundwil. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent and non-permanent resident population by year, canton, district, municipality, population type and gender (permanent resident population). In: bfs. admin.ch . Federal Statistical Office (FSO), August 31, 2019, accessed on December 22, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Andrea Vonlanthen: Mit Steinen against Pastor Hess , Interview with Josef Rechsteiner, ideaSpektrum April 20, 2017, pp. 8–11.
3. ^ Thomas Fuchs: Hundwil. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
4. ^ Thomas Fuchs: Hundwil. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .