Rikon im Tösstal is a village within the municipality of Zell in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of Zurich in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Geography

Rikon is located in the district of Winterhur within the Töss Valley. Zell-Rikon belongs to the urban area of the northwestern city of Winterthur. In Rikon is a Tibetan monastery, the

Tibet Institute Rikon The Tibet Institute Rikon is a Tibetan monastery located in Zell- Rikon im Tösstal in the Töss Valley in Switzerland. It was established as a non-profit foundation because Swiss laws resulting from the 19th century secularization movement ...

, located. Neighbouring settlements are Kyburg, Kollbrunn, Schlatt, Wildberg and Winterthur.

Education

Education covers Kindergarten, Primarschule and Sekundarschule levels. Higher school levels are located in Winterthur.

Transportation

The ''Tösstalstrasse'' motorway was built in 1837, the '' Tösstalbahn'' railway in 1872/76.

Rikon railway station Rikon railway station is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Zürich. The station is situated in the village of Rikon im Tösstal within the municipality of Zell ( Töss Valley). It is located on the Tösstalbahn between Winterthur and ...

is a stop of the S-Bahn Zürich on the lines S11 and S26.

History

Near the church of Zell, the remains of a Roman Empire estate have been found. First mentioned in the years 741 and 744 as «Cella» (Zell), the municipalities Zell and Turbenthal were given to the nunnery on Lützelau island on Lake Zürich by the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

c noblewoman Beata. Then after, the area was given to the St. Gallen Abbey, and as a fief to the House of Habsburg, including a watermill in Rikon. As part of the '' Grafschaft Kyburg'' the area was sold to the city of Zürich around 1450. In 1817/18 a textile manufacture was established in Rikon, and in 1925 the best known ''Metallwarenfabrik AG Heinrich Kuhn'', now '' Kuhn Rikon AG''. Since 1934 ''Hinter-Rikon'' is part of the municipality Zell. In 1961, Switzerland was one of the first countries in the Western hemisphere, that gave new homes on a large scale to Tibetan

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. Henri and Jacques Kuhn (owners of ''Metallwarenfabrik AG Heinrich Kuhn'') offered work and accommodation to a group of refugees. The monastic

was founded, according to the advice and under the patronage of the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

. On November 9, 1968, the monastic Tibet Institute was consecrated by the two leading teachers of the Dalai Lama, Trijang Rinpoche and Ling Rinpoche.Tibet Institute Rikon: History
/ref> Their story was featured in the November 1968 issue of

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

in an article by Laura Pilarski: "Little Tibet in Switzerland."

References

External links

Official website of the municipality of Zell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rikon im Tosstal Villages in the canton of Zürich