Neunkirch is a small, historic town and 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 canton of

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

in Switzerland. It is set in the south of the

Lange Rande The Lange Rande () is a mountain in the Randen (mountain range), Randen range between the Jura Mountains, Jura and the Swabian Jura, located between Schleitheim and Hemmental in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Schaffhausen. After the Hage (Ran ...

(), part of the mountains range Randen. Neunkirch 267

Name

The first documentary record of Neunkirch is in 850; the town is called ''Niuchilchun''. It is Old High German and means new church. This name varies several times during the ages. Versions are known such as Nuinchilchen, Niuchilchen and Nüwenkilch. Some 17th-century documents mention Nükilch or Nünkilch. The name was finally fixed as Neunkirch because it belonged to the

Bishopric of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance () was a small Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its German Mediatisation, secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dual capacity as prince and as bisho ...

, whose

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

already included a town called Niuchilchun or Neukirch. To avoid confusion with this town, the names were made different.

History

Neunkirch was mentioned first in a deed of gift to the Rheinau Abbey on a Sunday 21 September in the reign of

Louis the German Louis the German (German language, German: ''Ludwig der Deutsche''; c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany (German language, German: ''Ludwig II. von Deutschland''), was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 8 ...

. An exact year is not mentioned. Researches show, that 21 September was a Sunday only in 850, 861, 867 and 872. A commission decided in 1901, that the first year, 850, should officially be taken as the first date Neunkirch was mentioned in. The document itself doesn't exist anymore, but there is a copy in the public record office of

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. We know from 1150 that the bishop of

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

owned the church and a house. In 1260 the bishop bought the majority of land in Neunkirch as well as the low and high justice. At the end of this century Neunkirch was destroyed; perhaps by war or fire. Afterwards the bishop reconstructed Neunkirch with a plan which had, and still has, a geometrical form. It is a rectangle with four straight streets. The houses are protected by two walls with an open space between. In front of the wall was a ditch partially filled with water. For 250 years Neunkirch had belonged to the Bishopric of Constance till in 1525 the bishop sold his rights of the low and high justice to

for 8500 guilder.

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 ''Azure a Church Argent roofed Gules.'' The church on the coat of arms refers to the municipal name of Neunkirch which means ''New Church''.

Geography

Neunkirch has an area, , of . Of this area, 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 45% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 6.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.6%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

Transport

The municipality has a railway station, , on the High Rhine Railway.

Demographics

Neunkirch has a population () of 1,861, of which 14.3% are foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (), 37.6% are from Germany, 17.4% are from Italy, 3.9% are from

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, 2.3% are from

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, 16.7% are from

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, 2.3% 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 19.8% are from another country.Statistical Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen
accessed 2 December 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 3.1%. Most of the population () speaks German (94.9%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.1%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 0.5%).
accessed 17-December-2009 The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.4%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 42.1% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the SP (32.8%), and the FDP (25.1%) . The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Neunkirch about 79.8% 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 ...

''). In Neunkirch, , 2.25% of the population attend

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

or another pre-school, 7.58% attend a

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, 4.34% attend a lower level Secondary School, and 3.9% attend a higher level Secondary School. , 20.3% of the population belonged to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and 63.4% 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 ...

. The historical population is given in the following table:

Economy

Neunkirch has an unemployment rate, , of 1.6%. , there were 51 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 19 businesses involved in this sector. 321 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 30 businesses in this sector. 313 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 56 businesses in this sector. the mid year average unemployment rate was 1.7%. There were 83 non-agrarian businesses in the municipality and 54.1% of the (non-agrarian) population was involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 45.9% were involved in the third. At the same time, 76.8% of the working population was employed full-time, and 23.2% was employed part-time. 682 residents were employed in some capacity; females made up 31.5% of the workforce. there were 252 residents who worked in the municipality, while 538 residents worked outside Neunkirch and 306 people commuted into the municipality for work. , there are 2 restaurants, and 1 hotel with 14 beds. The hospitality industry in Neunkirch employs 9 people.

Heritage sites of national significance

The

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

Early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

old city and the city walls are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The town was founded in the later third of the 13th century by the Bishop of Constance according to a unified plan. The old city is a rectangle with a main east-west street and four parallel small streets. Much of the original character remains, though some

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

elements were added in the 16th and 17th centuries. Only portions of the old city wall remain, though this includes the large ''Obertor'' tower. JvMueller

Notable people

* Johannes von Müller (1752 in Neunkirch – 1809), a Swiss historian * Berta Rahm (1910 - 1998 in Neunkirch), a Swiss architect, writer, publisher and feminist activist * Erika Forster-Vannini (born 1944), a Swiss politician, former president of the Swiss Council of States, 2009/2010 and a citizen of Neunkirch * Aurora Zeka (born 2003 in Neunkirch), a Swiss-Albanian singer

References

{{Authority control Cities in Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Schaffhausen Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Schaffhausen