Oberengstringen 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 district of

Dietikon Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area. Geography The ...

in the canton 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 ...

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 ...

, located in the

Limmat Valley The Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal'') is a river valley and a region in the Canton (Switzerland), cantons of Canton of Zürich, Zürich and Canton of Aargau, Aargau in Switzerland. Geography The Limmat () is a long river located in ...

(German: ''Limmattal'').

History

Oberengstringen is first mentioned in 870 as ''Enstelingon''. In 1306 it was mentioned as ''Obren Enstringen''.

Geography

Oberengstringen has an area of . Of this area, 23.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 26.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 47.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). housing and buildings made up 39% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (8.9%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 2.8% of the area. 46% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction. The village is located on the right bank of the

Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...

on the road between Zürich through Höngg to

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

. From the 1950s to the 1970s it quickly grew into a suburb of Zürich.

Werdinsel and Limmatauen

''Limmatauen Werdhölzli'' is a protected forest and river area, partially situated in the

of Oberengstringen and between the Limmat weir at the Höngg power plant. Set under protection in 1945, the long section of the Limmat and the

Werdinsel Werdinsel, also known as Limmatauen Werdhölzli, is an island and a protected area in the Limmat in Switzerland. Geography Located in the former independent municipality of Höngg, today the river island is a popular recreation area, publi ...

were renatured, what enhanced the

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

, and thus the quality of the river landscape. In cooperation with the

Canton of Zurich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

and the municipalities of Oberengstringen and Zürich, that section of the river was renewed. The access to the Limmat and the hiking path towards the Fahr Abbey was improved and the area was widened for pedestrians and cyclists. Orientation boards inform on the endemic flora and fauna, so the

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...

may be crossed over a long wooden bridge those material consists of the

urban forest Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

. After nearly a year of construction, the project was officially presented to the public on 20 September 2013. The costs of 9.4 million Swiss Francs are provided by the city and cantonal governments, and some companies in collaboration with the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

Switzerland, which claims the ''place as very important to our rivers and streams, so that they can create their very structure''.

Demographics

Oberengstringen has a population (as of ) of . , 24.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. the gender distribution of the population was 50% male and 50% female. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 5.6%. Most of the population () speaks German (81.8%), with Italian being second most common ( 4.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.7%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (19.5%), the FDP (15.3%) and the CVP (11.1%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 63% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.4%. In Oberengstringen about 75.2% 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 ...

''). There are 2882 households in Oberengstringen. Oberengstringen has an unemployment rate of 3.01%. , there were 10 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 274 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 46 businesses in this sector. 977 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 196 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 05-Aug-2009 66.7% of the working population were employed full-time, and 33.3% were employed part-time.
accessed 4 August 2009 there were 2291

Catholics 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 ...

and 1923

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in Oberengstringen. In the , religion was broken down into several smaller categories. From the 2000 census, 36.7% were some type of Protestant, with 35.1% belonging 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 ...

and 1.6% belonging to other Protestant churches. 37% of the population were Catholic. Of the rest of the population, 0% were Muslim, 8.8% belonged to another religion (not listed), 3.7% did not give a religion, and 12.8% were atheist or agnostic. The historical population is given in the following table:

References

External links

Oberengstringen Online
Official website {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Zürich