Homburg, Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Homburg is a municipality
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...

 in Frauenfeld District in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Thurgau
Thurgau
Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 who were resident foreigners. The capital is Frauenfeld.-History:...

 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

History

Homburg is first mentioned in 899 as Hohenperc. In 1243 it was mentioned as de Honburch. From the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 until 1798 it was part of the lands
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Klingenberg Castle. Between 1651 and 1798, Muri Abbey
Muri Abbey
Muri Abbey was a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. It flourished for over eight centuries at Muri, in the Canton of Aargau, near Basle in Switzerland...

 held the Herrschaft
Herrschaft (territory)
In the German feudal system, a Herrschaft or Herrlichkeit was the fiefdom of a lord, who in this area exercised his full feudal rights...

rights and they granted the low court
High, middle and low justice
High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents....

 to their governor who lived at the castle. The parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 of Homburg covered the same land as the Herrschaft. After the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 of 1528, in 1532 the old faith was restored. Both faiths used the same church until the 1555/56 when the Reformed
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

 worship was ended. In the 19 Century livestock, dairy farming and fruit production began to replace agriculture. The dairy cooperative building was built in 1866-67. Despite the a small industry base, Herzog Küchen AG, and the construction of some houses Homburg has remained a farming village.

Geography

Homburg has an area, , of 24.15 square kilometres (9.3 sq mi). Of this area, 16.88 km² (6.5 sq mi) or 69.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.81 km² (2.2 sq mi) or 24.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.36 km² (0.525098935685848 sq mi) or 5.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km² (7.4 acre) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 0.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.3%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.2%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 65.1% is used for growing crops, while 4.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, and .

The municipality is located in Frauenfeld District, on the southern slope of the Seerücken hills and north of Müllheim
Müllheim
Müllheim is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It belongs to the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald. Müllheim is generally considered to be the center of the region known as Markgräflerland.-History:...

. From 1870 until 1998 the village of Homburg, the hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 of Hörstetten and Klingenberg Castle formed the municipality of Homburg. After 1999 it merged with the Ortsgemeinde
Bürgergemeinde
The Bürgergemeinde is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland...

 of Gündelhart-Hörhausen and Salen-Reutenen to form the political municipality of Homburg.

Demographics

Homburg has a population of , 4.2% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 72.2%. Most of the population speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

(97.9%), with Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 being second most common ( 0.8%) and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 being third ( 0.3%).

, the gender distribution of the population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The population was made up of 692 Swiss men (48.2% of the population), and 33 (2.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 684 Swiss women (47.6%), and 28 (1.9%) non-Swiss women. In there were 13 live births to Swiss citizens and in same time span there were 10 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 3 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 2 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 2 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 7 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 6 non-Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 4 and the non-Swiss population change was a decrease of 3 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.1%.

The age distribution, , in Homburg is; 148 children or 10.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 214 teenagers or 14.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 171 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 169 people or 11.6% are between 30 and 39, 237 people or 16.2% are between 40 and 49, and 217 people or 14.8% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 167 people or 11.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 80 people or 5.5% are between 70 and 79, there are 57 people or 3.9% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 3 people or 0.2% who are 90 and older.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.54 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 69.1% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 500 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.8 persons per household. there were 244 single family homes (or 88.4% of the total) out of a total of 276 inhabited buildings. There were 19 two family buildings (6.9%), 4 three family buildings (1.4%) and 9 multi-family buildings (or 3.3%). There were 279 (or 19.5%) persons who were part of a couple without children, and 946 (or 66.1%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 48 (or 3.4%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 13 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 10 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 8 who lived in a household made up of unrelated persons, and 21 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.

The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.71%. , the construction rate of new housing units was 5.6 new units per 1000 residents. there were 529 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 6 room apartment of which there were 183. There were 8 single room apartments and 183 apartments with six or more rooms. the average price to rent an average apartment in Homburg was 1110.18 Swiss franc
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

s (CHF) per month (US$890, £500, €710 approx. exchange rate from 2000). The average rate for a one room apartment was 1000.00 CHF (US$800, £450, €640), a two room apartment was about 673.20 CHF (US$540, £300, €430), a three room apartment was about 1012.27 CHF (US$810, £460, €650) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1236.00 CHF (US$990, £560, €790). The average apartment price in Homburg was 99.5% of the national average of 1116 CHF.

In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...

 the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...

 which received 57.28% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

 (13.68%), the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....

 (11.45%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (4.55%). In the federal election, a total of 548 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was 51.1%.

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1850 1,203
1860 1,253
1870 1,217
1880 1,114
1890 1,065
1900 991
1950 1,291
1960 1,278
1980 1,071
1990 1,248
2000 1,432

Sights

The hamlet of Gündelhart is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...

.

Economy

, Homburg had an unemployment rate of 1.02%. , there were 248 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 98 businesses involved in this sector. 278 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 28 businesses in this sector. 148 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 31 businesses in this sector.
there were 1,011 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 443 or about 43.8% of the residents worked outside Homburg while 247 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 815 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 4.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.7% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 588 or 41.1% were Roman Catholic, while 654 or 45.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there is 1 individual who belongs to the Orthodox Church, and there are 63 individuals (or about 4.40% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There were 2 individuals (or about 0.14% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, and 14 (or about 0.98% of the population) who are Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic. 70 (or about 4.89% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....

 or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

, and 40 individuals (or about 2.79% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Homburg about 77.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

).

Homburg is home to the Homburg-Hörstetten primary school district. In the primary school district there are 88 students who are in kindergarten or the primary level. There are 16 children in the kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

, and the average class size is 16 kindergartners. Of the children in kindergarten, 11 or 68.8% are female, 1 or 6.3% are not Swiss citizens. The lower and upper primary levels begin at about age 5-6 and lasts for 6 years. There are 28 children in who are at the lower primary level and 44 children in the upper primary level. The average class size in the primary school is 24 students. At the lower primary level, there are 16 children or 57.1% of the total population who are female, 5 or 17.9% are not Swiss citizens. In the upper primary level, there are 23 or 52.3% who are female, 1 or 2.3% are not Swiss citizens.

Weather

External links

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