Rheinau, Switzerland


Rheinau is a municipality in the district of Andelfingen in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is located at a bend of the Rhine River which forms the Swiss-German border in this area. A bridge links Rheinau to Altenburg, in Jestetten municipality, Baden-Württemberg state.

Geography

Rheinau has an area of. Of this area, 26.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 54.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 11.3% is settled and the remainder is non-productive.

Rheinau Abbey

was founded in 778 and grew until it was abandoned during the Protestant Reformation in 1529. It was re-established in 1532 and was a center of the Counter-reformation. In 1862 the cantonal council decreed the dissolution of the abbey. Following the dissolution of the abbey, in 1867 a cantonal hospital and nursing home were set up in the buildings. Later, a cantonal psychiatric clinic that developed here was closed in 2000, since when the buildings have stood empty.
Update Feb 2019: The Abby has undergone a major refurbishment which is now complete. The buildings look stunning and are open to the public. The restaurant on the ground floor has a riverside dining area and upstairs are function rooms and offices.

Demographics

Rheinau has a population of. , 16.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4%. Most of the population speaks German , with Serbo-Croatian being second most common and French being third.
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 28.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS, the CVP and the Green Party.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers make up 22.6% of the population, while adults make up 58.8% and seniors make up 18.6%. In Rheinau about 64.1% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education.
Rheinau has an unemployment rate of 1.3%. , there were 23 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 43 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 10 businesses in this sector. 641 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 42 businesses in this sector.