Administrative division of the canton of St. Gallen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article deals with the administrative structure of the canton of St. Gallen .

When the canton of St. Gallen was founded in 1803, the canton was divided into eight districts . Each district, with the exception of the St. Gallen district, was divided into districts. Political communities belonged to the districts, each with a capital . The districts were abolished in 1831, and the canton has since been divided into 15 districts to which political communities were subordinate. In 1918 there were minor shifts due to the integration of the communities Straubenzell ( Gossau district ) and Tablat (former Tablat district ) into the city ​​of St. Gallen . On the occasion of the constitutional amendment in 2002, the districts were dissolved. Since then, the canton has been divided into eight constituencies. In contrast to the earlier districts, these no longer take on administrative tasks.

prehistory

Before 1798

Eastern Switzerland until 1798

The area of ​​today's canton of St. Gallen consisted of the following areas:

1798 to 1803 (Helvetic)

Cantons Säntis and Linth with their districts

In the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803), the canton of Säntis was divided into the following districts within what is now the canton of St. Gallen:

  • Sankt Gallen (11,200 inhabitants), main town St. Gallen
  • Rorschach (10,100 inhabitants), main town Rorschach
  • Lower Rhine Valley (10,000 inhabitants), main town Rheineck
  • Upper Rhine Valley (11,000 inhabitants), main town Altstätten
  • Gossau (10,000 inhabitants), main town Gossau
  • Wil (8,500 inhabitants), main town Wil
  • Flawil (9,500 inhabitants), capital Flawil
  • Mosnang (10,000 inhabitants), main town Mosnang
  • Lichtensteig (10,000 inhabitants), main town Lichtensteig
  • The districts of Appenzell , Wald , Teufen and Herisau still existed outside of what is now the canton of St. Gallen .

The canton of Linth was divided into what is now the canton of St. Gallen as follows:

  • Werdenberg; Main town Werdenberg , 30 electors, approx. 10 500 inhabitants
  • New St. Johann; Main town Neu St. Johann , 30 electors, approx. 11,600 inhabitants
  • Mels; Main town Mels , 25 electors, approx. 9800 inhabitants
  • Schänis; Main town Schänis , 29 electors, 11,900 inhabitants (included areas of today's cantons St. Gallen and Schwyz)
  • Rapperswil; Main town Rapperswil , 29 electors, 11,800 inhabitants (included areas of today's cantons St. Gallen and Schwyz)
  • Outside of today's area, the following districts also belonged to the canton of Linth: Glarus. Dwindling

The districts were headed by a deputy governor appointed by the cantonal governor.

1803 to 1831

In the ninth chapter of the mediation act of 1803, the constitution of the canton of St. Gallen was written. In Article 1, the canton is structured as follows:

With the exception of the Stadt St. Gallen district, which only included the city of St. Gallen (excluding the municipalities of Straubenzell and Tablat , which were later incorporated ), the districts were divided into 44 districts. Each of these circles comprised one or more parishes. Meetings were held at the community and district levels. District courts were responsible for the districts.

1831 to 1918

In March 1831 the third constitution of the canton of St. Gallen was adopted by the people. There was a reform of the districts and the districts were abolished. The new structure was as follows:

1918 to 2002

Districts 1918–2002

Due to the incorporation of the communities of Tablat and Straubenzell , there were small adjustments to the districts:

The communities of Häggenschwil , Muolen and Wittenbach , the city ​​of St. Gallen with Straubenzell and Tablat formed the new district.

Since then the following structure has applied:

district Area
in km² 		Number of
municipalities
(2002)
Alttoggenburg 120.93 4th
Guest 135.35 6th
Gossau 77.69 4th
Neutoggenburg 102.88 7th
Upper Rhine Valley 97.07 6th
Obertoggenburg 223.80 6th
Rorschach 50.44 9
St. Gallen 71.03 4th
Sargans 517.79 8th
lake 110.81 9
Lower Rhine Valley 50.88 8th
Untertoggenburg 106.55 7th
Werdenberg 206.51 6th
Wil 79.71 6th
Total (14) 1,951.09 90

Since 2002

The current political division follows the constituencies that were established on January 1, 2003 due to the new cantonal constitution from June 10, 2001.

Constituency Population
(December 31, 2018) 		Area
in km² 		Inhabitant
per km² 		Number of
municipalities
Rhine Valley 73,094 138.93 526 13
Rorschach 43,142 50.44 855 9
Sarganserland 40,714 517.79 79 8th
Sea gaster 67,089 245.91 273 10
St. Gallen 122,419 157.67 776 9
Toggenburg 46,452 488.60 95 12
Werdenberg 39,193 206.51 190 6th
Wil 75,594 145.24 520 10
Total (8) 507,697 1,951.09 260 77

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Division of the canton of St. Gallen. Law of June 23, 1817 . In: Johann Jakob Zollikofer (ed.): Collection of the laws and ordinances of the Canton of St. Gallen currently in force . 1826, p. 31 ff .
  2. ↑ a b Standard area statistics - municipalities according to four main areas (15.12.2017) of the Federal Statistical Office FSO
  3. ↑ Cantonal constitution of June 10, 2001 ( Memento of August 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive )