Teufen is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Ausserrhoden; rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadora; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Esterno) is one of the 26 canton ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

History

Teufen (''Tiuffen'') was first mentioned in 1272. By 1300 the place consisted of only five farms. In 1525 the assembly ruled that each parish could decide whether or not to remain

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. This led to the division of

Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...

in 1597. While the town of Teufen adopted the new protestant faith,

Wonnenstein Friary Wonnenstein Friary or Mary's Rose Garden Wonnenstein is a monastery of Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Teufen in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. While it is located in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the buildings a ...

remained Roman Catholic. In 1870 the Friary grounds were declared an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Appenzell Innerrhoden. In 1841 Teufen offered their new school building as a present to attract the government of the canton. The assembly refused the present. Weaving was important in Teufen. Around 1820 a new

loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but t ...

was invented in Teufen, allowing embroidery in one go. This led to a boom in embroidery, particularly between 1880 and 1890.

Geography

Teufen has an area, , of . Of this area, 55.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 29.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 14% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Wonnenstein Friary in Teufen is an exclave of Appenzell Innerrhoden.

Demographics

Teufen has a population () of 5,766, of which about 10.0% are foreign nationals.Brief Statistics for the half-canton
accessed 15 September 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.8%. Most of the population () speaks German (93.4%), with Italian being second most common ( 1.3%) and Spanish being third ( 0.9%).
accessed 17-Sep-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 48.5% male and 51.5% female. The age distribution, , in Teufen is; 409 people or 7.4% of the population are between 0–6 years old. 586 people or 10.6% are 6-15, and 248 people or 4.5% are 16–19. Of the adult population, 247 people or 4.5% of the population are between 20–24 years old. 1,544 people or 27.9% are 25–44, and 1,430 people or 25.8% are 45–64. The senior population distribution is 751 people or 13.6% of the population are between 65–79 years old, and 320 people or 5.8% are over 80.Appenzell Outer Rhodes website
accessed 15 September 2009 In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

the FDP received 72.9% of the vote. In Teufen about 79.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied art ...

''). Teufen has an unemployment rate of 1.27%. , there were 136 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 66 businesses involved in this sector. 657 people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...

and there are 79 businesses in this sector. 1,463 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 266 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

The Gmündertobel Bridge (shared with Stein, Appenzell), and the Wattbach Bridge (shared with Stein and St. Gallen) are listed as heritage sites of national significance.

Weather

Teufen has an average of 154.2 days of rain per year and on average receives of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. The wettest month is June during which time Teufen receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 15.1 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 15.2, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 15.1 days., the weather station elevation is 835 meters above sea level.

Tritium

Teufen is home to RC Tritec, a company that provides Tritium and other radioactive isotopes to industry. Until 2008 they provided luminous Tritium compounds for the Swiss watch industry, but they have replaced radioactive Tritium with non-radioactive

Super-LumiNova Super-LumiNova is a brand name under which strontium aluminate–based non-radioactive and nontoxic photoluminescent or afterglow pigments for illuminating markings on watch dials, hands and bezels, etc. in the dark are marketed. This technolog ...

. Tritium emissions are tested every week and monitored by the Federal Government. In 2010 the waste water radiation levels reached a high of 16 GBq, which is still below the 20 GBq limit, due to construction activities. The 2011 waste water readings are only 2GBq.Jahresberichte Umweltradioaktivität und Strahlendosen
. See ''Jahresbericht 2011 (Alle Kapitel)''. BAG, Switzerland. Jahresbericht Umweltradioaktivität und Strahlendosen in der Schweiz 2011 Kap.9.

References

External links

Official Page
(German)
Official Municipal Newspaper
(German)
Bilder von Teufen
(German) {{Authority control Municipalities of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Cultural property of national significance in Appenzell Ausserrhoden