:''See Tagsatzung for the meaning in historical Switzerland.'' ''Vorort'' (plural: ''Vororte'') is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

term that could be considered roughly equivalent to a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

as that term is understood in Britain and North America (but not in Australia and New Zealand, where a "suburb" of a city is necessarily within the city). Vororte usually have their own business centre. They are the remainders of formerly separate neighbour towns, or have been founded as

satellite town A satellite city or satellite town is a smaller municipality or settlement that is part of (or on the edge of) a larger metropolitan area and serves as a regional population and employment center. It differs from mere suburbs, subdivisions a ...

s. The term is contrasted with '' Vorstadt'', which describes a more densely populated area grown at the outline of a city centre.

Switzerland

Swiss history Since 1848, the Swiss Confederation has been a federal republic of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of federation that goes back more than 700 years, putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics. The ear ...

, ''Vorort'' referred to the temporary "presidency" of a canton or the cantonal capital. During the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

, the canton or city that convened the Tagsatzung and chaired it was called the ''Vorort''. In the 15th century, the city of

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

became the ''de facto'' Vorort of the Confederacy. Since the

Reformation in Switzerland The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

became the Vorort of the Catholic cantons. With the 1798 establishment of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

the Vororte were abolished and instead

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

was made capital city, then Lucerne, then

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. After the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, French Consulate, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 to abolish the Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Old Swiss Confederacy, Switzerland by F ...

, the "Vorort of Switzerland" would rotate each year between the capital of Aarau and the cities of Zürich, Bern, Lucerne,

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

, Solothurn and

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. In 1815, the choice of Vororte was restricted to Zürich, Bern and Lucerne, who in turn served as biennial

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation's Capital city, capital is also seat of its governmen ...

until 1847. In 1848, Bern became the permanent seat of the Swiss Federal Government and thus the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland.

Vienna

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the historical terms ''Vorstädte'' and ''Vororte'' have very specific meanings. The ''Vorstädte'' were located outside the city walls, but within the '' Linienwall'', a second ring of fortifications outside the city. The city walls were located in the place of the modern

Ringstraße The Ringstrasse or Ringstraße (pronounced Help:IPA/Standard German, �ɪŋˌʃtʁaːsə:File:De-Ringstraße.ogg, ⓘ, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic city centre, ...

, while the ''Linienwall'' has been removed to give way to the '' Gürtel'' (both being rings of streets around the central city). All of the historical municipalities were merged into

during the late 19th century. The former ''Vororte'', which have in large parts become as urban as the ''Vorstädte'', now make up Vienna's so-called outer districts ( 10th to 19th and 21st to 23rd district). Geography of Vienna Urban studies and planning terminology Types of towns {{Vienna-geo-stub