Amden is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of
See-Gaster, in the
canton of
St. Gallen in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.
History
Amden is first mentioned in 1178 as ''Andimo monte Voraden''. In 1230 it was mentioned as ''Andimin'', in 1282 as ''in montibus Andinen'' and later as ''Ammon''.
[
]
Geography
Amden has an area, , of . Of this area, 38.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 48.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (10.3%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).[
The municipality is located in the See-Gaster ''Wahlkreis''. It is located on a terrace above the north shore of the ]Walensee
Lake Walen, also known as Lake Walenstadt or (), is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland. Located in the east of the country, about two thirds of its area are in the canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the canton of Glarus.
Its na ...
. The municipality is a mixture of tourist and alpine pasture
Alpine transhumance is transhumance as practiced in the Alps, that is, a seasonal droving of grazing livestock between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures in summer (German language, German ' from the term for "seasonal mount ...
villages. It consists of the village of Amden () and the hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of Fli and Betlis () as well as the vacation village of Arvenbüel ().
The middle of the three Seerenbach Falls
The Seerenbach Falls () are a cascading set of three waterfalls east of Betlis in the municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of Amden (canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland). The waterfalls form a creek, the Seerenbach (), which drains into Lak ...
is the highest waterfall
A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge
of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
in Switzerland ().
Coat of arms
The blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
is ''Per fess Argent a Lion passant Gules and Azure a Crown Or.''
Demographics
Amden has a population (as of ) of . , about 8.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (), 34 are from Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, 5 are from Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, 59 are from ex-Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
, 6 are from Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, 9 are from Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, and 66 are from another country.[Der Kanton St. Gallen und seine Menschen in Zahlen – Ausgabe 2009]
accessed 30 December 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 5.6%. Most of the population () speaks German (93.0%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 1.3%) and Albanian being third ( 0.6%).
accessed 7 January 2010 Of the Swiss national languages (), 1,482 speak 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 ...
, 9 people speak French, 8 people speak Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
,[
The age distribution, , in Amden is; 205 children or 12.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 199 teenagers or 12.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 170 people or 10.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 263 people or 16.5% are between 30 and 39, 189 people or 11.9% are between 40 and 49, and 187 people or 11.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 177 people or 11.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 130 people or 8.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 64 people or 4.0% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 9 people or 0.6% who are between 90 and 99.][Canton St. Gallen Statistics-Hauptergebnisse der Volkszählung 2000: Regionen- und Gemeindevergleich-Personen]
accessed 30 December 2009
there were 174 persons (or 10.9% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 367 (or 23.0%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 793 (or 49.8%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 75 (or 4.7%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 4 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 6 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 9 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 165 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.[
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (31.5%), the SP (7.6%) and the FDP (6.2%).][
In Amden about 65.5% 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 (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...
'').[ Out of the total population in Amden, , the highest education level completed by 334 people (21.0% of the population) was ]Primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Work ...
, while 541 (34.0%) have completed Secondary, 164 (10.3%) have attended a Tertiary
Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to:
* Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago
* Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...
school, and 56 (3.5%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.[
The historical population is given in the following table:]
Heritage sites of national significance
The ruined Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
watch tower at ''Betlis-Stralegg'' is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Economy
, Amden had an unemployment rate of 0.77%. , there were 151 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 61 businesses involved in this sector. 56 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 constructi ...
and there are 17 businesses in this sector. 319 people are employed in the tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...
, with 58 businesses in this sector.[
the average unemployment rate was 1.9%. There were 130 businesses in the municipality of which 17 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 56 were involved in the third.
there were 377 residents who worked in the municipality, while 406 residents worked outside Amden and 30 people commuted into the municipality for work.St Gallen Canton statistics-Commuters]
accessed 31 December 2009
Religion
From the , 1,007 or 63.2% are Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, while 337 or 21.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...
. Of the rest of the population, there are 19 individuals (or about 1.19% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 10 individuals (or about 0.63% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 2 individuals (or about 0.13% of the population) who are Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 55 (or about 3.45% of the population) who are Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic. There are 12 individuals (or about 0.75% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 70 (or about 4.39% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...
or atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 81 individuals (or about 5.08% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
See also
* Betlis Chapel
References
Notes
External links
Official website municipality of Amden
Official website Amden Weesen Tourismus
{{Municipalities of the district of See-Gaster
Municipalities of the canton of St. Gallen
Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of St. Gallen