Gommiswald 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 Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

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 ...

. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Rieden and Ernetschwil merged into the municipality of Gommiswald.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013

History

Gommiswald is first mentioned in 1178 as ''Göycheim'' though this comes from a 16th-century copy of the original. In 1440 it was mentioned as ''Göchams gewalt''. The current village of Gommiswald was known as ''Gauen'' until the 18th century, when both Gauen and Gommiswald were used interchangeably. In 1913 the cantonal government directed that the name of Gommiswald would be the official name. During 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 ...

Schänis Abbey Schänis Abbey () was founded in the 9th century. It was situated in the present town of Schänis in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It was a house of secular canonesses of the nobility () and was dissolved in 1811. History According to ...

acquired the right to collect

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s in Gommiswald and the patronage rights over the village church. At around the same time, the village was part of the large

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 ...

of Benken and was part of the

Diocese of Chur The Diocese of Chur () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. It extends over the Swiss Cantons of Graubünden (Grisons), Schwyz, Glarus, Zurich, Nidwalden, Obwalden, and Uri. The modern ...

. Politically, by 1200, it was part of the

Toggenburg Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the River Thur (Switzerland), Thur and that of the Necker (river), Necker, one of its afluents. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis ...

County of

Uznach Uznach is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Uznach is first mentioned in 741 as ''Uzinaa'' in a grant from a noble lady at Benken Abbey to the Abbey of Saint ...

. In 1439, three years after the death of the last Count of Toggenburg, Frederick VII of Toggenburg,

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

and

Glarus Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.joint condominium over the County of Uznach. In 1500, the residents of the village broke away from the Benken parish and built their own

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 ...

. In 1556, they bought the tithe rights over the village away from Schänis Abbey. In 1676 the Felix and Regula Chapel was rebuilt on the Üetliburg hill. Almost a century later, in 1761, the priest Joseph Helg founded the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

Mount Zion Abbey near the chapel. Following the 1798 French invasion, the County of Uznach was finally freed from joint Schwyz and Glarus control. The construction of the Kaltbrunn-Ricken road in 1785-88 and the Uznach road in 1830 connected the village to the surrounding towns. In 1803 Gommiswald and Ernetschwil formed a short lived political municipality, but separated again in 1807. Gommiswald remained without industry until 1932 when the Wattefabrik Kistler opened. The factory employed 90 workers in 1979 and 40 in 2002. In 1956 Gommiswald, Ernetschwil and Rieden formed a secondary school district. Since 1960, the population has doubled and Gommiswald has developed into a residential and recreational community with new commercial buildings and many apartments, leading to an increase of commuting and urban sprawl. Rieden is first mentioned in 1045 as ''Rieta''. Ernetschwil is first mentioned in 885 as ''Eidwarteswilare''.

Geography

After the 2013 merger, Gommiswald had a total area of . Before the merger, Gommiswald had an area, , of . Of this area, 42.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 8.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.2%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The municipality is located in the See-Gaster ''Wahlkreis'' on a high ridge between the

Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Linthal, Glarus, village of Linthal in the mountains of the cantons of Switzerland, canton of canton of Glarus, Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee (Züri ...

valley and the Regelstein valley. It consists of the village of Gommiswald/Gauen 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 Attenbach, Giegen, Ottenhofen, Ramendingen, Schubingen and Üetliburg.

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 ''Gules issuant from base a Hand Or with three fingers raised in blessing clad Sable with a Cross pattee Argent on cuff.'' The hand displays the three fingers with which oaths are traditionally sworn in Switzerland. The original '' Rütlischwur'' or founding oath of the Swiss Confederation is depicted with each of the three representatives of the three

forest cantons A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

holding up the thumb and two fingers for the oath.

Demographics

Gommiswald has a population (as of ) of . , about 13.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (), 50 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 ...

, 43 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 ...

, 152 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 ...

, 15 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 ...

, 21 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 49 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 5.2%. Most of the population () speaks German (92.1%), with Albanian being second most common (3.2%) and Italian being third (1.3%).
accessed 7 January 2010 Of the Swiss national languages (), 2,425 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 ...

, 11 people speak

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, 35 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 ...

, and 5 people speak Romansh. The age distribution, , in Gommiswald is; 376 children or 14.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 358 teenagers or 13.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 291 people or 11.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 444 people or 16.9% are between 30 and 39, 395 people or 15.0% are between 40 and 49, and 294 people or 11.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 246 people or 9.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 163 people or 6.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 61 people or 2.3% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 6 people or 0.2% who are between 90 and 99.Canton St. Gallen Statistics-Hauptergebnisse der Volkszählung 2000: Regionen- und Gemeindevergleich-Personen
accessed 30 December 2009 there were 271 persons (or 10.3% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 614 (or 23.3%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 1,523 (or 57.8%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 124 (or 4.7%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 20 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 4 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 22 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 56 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 46.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (22.2%), the FDP (10.1%) and the SP (8.2%). In Gommiswald about 70.6% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

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 Gommiswald, , the highest education level completed by 570 people (21.6% 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 952 (36.1%) have completed Secondary, 267 (10.1%) 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 94 (3.6%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.

Historic Population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1100 height:500 PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4700 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:900 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:180 start:0 Colors= id:GO value:yellowgreen legend:Gommiswald id:RI value:blue legend:Rieden id:ER value:green legend:Ernetschwil PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 1141 till:2233 text:"1,092" color:GO bar:1860 from: 1128 till:2152 text:"1,024" color:GO bar:1870 from: 1142 till:2118 text:"976" color:GO bar:1880 from: 1113 till:2093 text:"980" color:GO bar:1890 from: 1105 till:2090 text:"985" color:GO bar:1900 from: 1106 till:2116 text:"1,010" color:GO bar:1910 from: 1142 till:2198 text:"1,056" color:GO bar:1920 from: 1179 till:2284 text:"1,105" color:GO bar:1930 from: 1132 till:2297 text:"1,165" color:GO bar:1940 from: 1144 till:2360 text:"1,216" color:GO bar:1950 from: 1158 till:2345 text:"1,187" color:GO bar:1960 from: 1007 till:2305 text:"1,298" color:GO bar:1970 from: 1093 till:2445 text:"1,352" color:GO bar:1980 from: 1181 till:2782 text:"1,601" color:GO bar:1990 from: 1595 till:3873 text:"2,278" color:GO bar:2000 from: 1996 till:4630 text:"2,634" color:GO bar:1850 from: 428 till:1141 text:"713" color:ER bar:1860 from: 454 till:1128 text:"674" color:ER bar:1870 from: 455 till:1142 text:"687" color:ER bar:1880 from: 422 till:1113 text:"691" color:ER bar:1890 from: 424 till:1105 text:"681" color:ER bar:1900 from: 414 till:1106 text:"692" color:ER bar:1910 from: 520 till:1142 text:"622" color:ER bar:1920 from: 510 till:1179 text:"669" color:ER bar:1930 from: 443 till:1132 text:"689" color:ER bar:1940 from: 459 till:1144 text:"685" color:ER bar:1950 from: 451 till:1158 text:"707" color:ER bar:1960 from: 361 till:1007 text:"646" color:ER bar:1970 from: 375 till:1093 text:"718" color:ER bar:1980 from: 460 till:1181 text:"721" color:ER bar:1990 from: 561 till:1595 text:"1,034" color:ER bar:2000 from: 707 till:1996 text:"1,289" color:ER bar:1850 from: 0 till:428 text:"428" color:RI bar:1860 from: 0 till:454 text:"454" color:RI bar:1870 from: 0 till:455 text:"455" color:RI bar:1880 from: 0 till:422 text:"422" color:RI bar:1890 from: 0 till:424 text:"424" color:RI bar:1900 from: 0 till:414 text:"414" color:RI bar:1910 from: 0 till:520 text:"520" color:RI bar:1920 from: 0 till:510 text:"510" color:RI bar:1930 from: 0 till:443 text:"443" color:RI bar:1940 from: 0 till:459 text:"459" color:RI bar:1950 from: 0 till:451 text:"451" color:RI bar:1960 from: 0 till:361 text:"361" color:RI bar:1970 from: 0 till:375 text:"375" color:RI bar:1980 from: 0 till:460 text:"460" color:RI bar:1990 from: 0 till:561 text:"561" color:RI bar:2000 from: 0 till:707 text:"707" color:RI

Economy

, Gommiswald had an unemployment rate of 1.27%. , there were 87 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 37 businesses involved in this sector. 322 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 27 businesses in this sector. 365 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 79 businesses in this sector. the average unemployment rate was 2.6%. There were 133 businesses in the municipality of which 26 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 73 were involved in the third. there were 441 residents who worked in the municipality, while 881 residents worked outside Gommiswald and 294 people commuted into the municipality for work.

Religion

From the , 1,711 or 65.0% 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 485 or 18.4% 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 25 individuals (or about 0.95% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 31 individuals (or about 1.18% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 2 individuals (or about 0.08% 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 80 (or about 3.04% 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 4 individuals (or about 0.15% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 184 (or about 6.99% 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 ...

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 112 individuals (or about 4.25% of the population) did not answer the question.

Sights

The ''Uetliburg/Berg Sion'' near the village of Gommiswald is designated as part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) 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 The types are based on t ...

.ISOS site
accessed 07-Jan-2010

References

External links

Official website
{{Municipalities of the district of See-Gaster Municipalities of the canton of St. Gallen