Ruggell (; dialectal: ''Ruggäll'') 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' ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. It is the northernmost and lowest elevated municipality. As of 2019, it has a population of 2,322.

History

Ruggell has an ancient history, with evidence of human activity preceding the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. Recorded history begins with ties related to the

Abbey of Saint 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 ...

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 ...

. The name comes from Old Romansh ''runcaglia'', meaning "clearing". It is most known for conservation areas and the historic St. Fridolin's Parish Church. Ruggell had 397 inhabitants in 1784. A bridge across the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

(to Salez in Sennwald, Switzerland) was built in 1929.

Administration

Ruggell is administered by the mayor and a 8-person municipal council, elected every four years since 1975. The incumbent mayor is Christian Öhri, since

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

List of mayors (1864–present)

Geography

While Liechtenstein is known as a largely mountainous country, Ruggell is largely flat and is situated along the

River, where the international borders with

and

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 ...

meet. On 13 August 2003, Ruggell had a temperature of , which is the highest temperature recorded in Liechtenstein.

Flora and fauna

On the north side of the

Eschnerberg Eschnerberg, also ''Eschner Berg'', Schellenberg, (especially used in the Austrian village of Feldkirch) is 698 m high (''Klocker'' close to Hinterschellenberg) mountain of seven peaks in the Rhine Valley, on the borderline of Liechtenstein ...

mountain is located the roughly 90-hectare nature reserve Ruggeller Riet, rich in fauna and especially in flora.''Naturschutzgebiet Ruggeller Riet.''
On the website of the municipality of Ruggell, accessed on 16 June 2019 The great biodiversity of the Ruggeller Riets includes

peat moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

, moor grass, Kleinseggenrieder and bogrush. At the end of May to June, the

siberian iris ''Iris sibirica'', commonly known as Siberian iris or Siberian flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, from Europe (including France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Sl ...

blooms in the large parts of the nature reserve. 736 plant and 1,631 animal species occur in the Ruggeller Riet, among them the

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...

and the

Eurasian curlew The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred ...

, which has disappeared as a breeding bird since 1997. The Ruggeller are popularly called "Lättaknätter". The

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

y soil that occurs here is called "Lätta". In the past

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

was used to heat houses during cold season. This ancient tradition has increasingly disappeared in recent years.

Sport

Municipality is famous for

FC Ruggell FC Ruggell is a Liechtensteiner amateur association football, football team that plays in Ruggell. They currently play in the Swiss Football League, in 2. Liga (Switzerland), 2. Liga, which is the sixth tier of Swiss football league system, Swis ...

, one of the best teams in the country, although it plays in the sixth division of Switzerland. In other sporting areas

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

, and other winter sports stand out. In addition, the town of Ruggell has one of the four sports halls of Liechtenstein; the others are in

Schaan Schaan (; dialectal: ''Schaa'') is the largest Municipalities of Liechtenstein, municipality of Liechtenstein by population. It is located to the north of Vaduz, the capital, in the central part of the country. it has a population of 6,039, ma ...

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

, and

Balzers Balzers () is a municipality and village located in southern Liechtenstein. In 2024, the village had a population of 4,806. The main part of the village is situated along the east bank of the Rhine. History and culture Historically, the present- ...

Notable people

Klaus Tschütscher Klaus Tschütscher (; born 8 July 1967) is a politician from Liechtenstein who served as the Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 2009 to 2013. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 2005 to 2009, under the government ...

(born 1967) a politician from Liechtenstein, twelfth Prime Minister of Liechtenstein 2009–2013, lives in Ruggell. * Marcel Tschopp (born 1974 in Ruggell) a Liechtensteiner orienteer and track athlete, specializing in the marathon; was Liechtenstein's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Benjamin Büchel Benjamin Büchel (born 4 July 1989) is a Liechtensteiner professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Swiss Challenge League club Vaduz, which he captains, and the Liechtenstein national team. Club career Born in Ruggell, Büchel spen ...

(born 1989 in Ruggell) international footballer who plays for

FC Vaduz Fussball Club Vaduz (En: ''Football Club Vaduz'') is a professional association football, football club from Vaduz, Liechtenstein that plays in the Challenge League (Switzerland), Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. The club pla ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Municipalities of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein–Switzerland border crossings Austria–Liechtenstein border crossings Lowest points of countries Ruggell