Bichelsee is a village and former municipality in the

canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

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 ...

. It takes its name from the nearby lake, Bichelsee. The municipality also contained the villages Höfli, Niederhofen am Bichelsee and Itaslen.

History

Bichelsee is first mentioned in 894 as ''Pichelense''. The Udalrichinger family donated the village of Bichelsee, in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, to the

Abbey of St. Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall () is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had er ...

en. During the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

, the Bichelsee family ruled the village as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

for the Abbey. Originally they ruled from Alt-Bichelsee Castle, though in the early 13th century, they built Neu-Bichelsee Castle. This castle was destroyed in 1274 by the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

. In 1358 Hermann IV of Landsberg-Greifensee acquired Alt-Bichelsee Castle along with various rights and possessions, including the

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

of Balterswil. In 1407, Alt-Bichelsee was burned by

Appenzell Appenzell () was a cantons of Switzerland, canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen, in existence from 1403 to 1597. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered ...

troops. After rebuilding the castle, the Abbey of Fischingen bought the castle, land and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in 1419–21. It remained part of the Fischingen court until 1798. However, the village of Itaslen was not part of Bichelsee at this time. It was part of the Tannegg district and an independent municipality until 1812. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St. Nicholas (later St. Blasius church) was occupied from 1275 and probably built in the 12th century under the leadership of Fischingen Abbey. The Abbey supported the church until 1769. In 1529 the village converted to the new faith during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in 1529, but returned to their old faith in 1542 during the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

. The Reformed church members were part of the parish of Dussnang since 1550. St. Blasius church remained a

shared church A shared church (), simultaneum mixtum, a term first coined in 16th-century Germany, is a church in which public worship is conducted by adherents of two or more religious groups. Such churches became common in the German-speaking lands of Europe ...

, even after a new church was built in 1864, until 1954. In 1960 a new Reformed church was built. Agriculture and small industries still dominated the local economy until the late 20th century. Since the end of the 19th century, cropland and orchards have been segregated from the dairy industry. Small-scale home weaving and embroidery became common in the early 19th century but declined by about 1900. In 1899, Johann Evangelist Traber founded the first Swiss Raiffeisen bank. The largest employer is the Traxler AG embroidery firm (founded 1908). With increased immigration after 1970 and the construction of many new houses, it became a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

; by 1990, about 62% of the population commuted. In 1996 the municipality was merged with the neighboring municipality

Balterswil Balterswil is a village and former municipality in the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. The municipality also contained the villages Lützelmurg, Zielwies, Ifwil and Lochwies. History Balterswil is first mentioned in 885 as ''Baldherreswilar ...

to form a new and larger municipality

Bichelsee-Balterswil Bichelsee-Balterswil is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It was formed from the union on January 1, 1996 of Bichelsee and Balterswil. History It was created in 1996 when the former municipa ...

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14 January 2010

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following table:

References

* Former municipalities of Thurgau Villages in Thurgau {{Thurgau-geo-stub