Rapperswil

Rapperswil
Rapperswil harbour, castle, St. John's church and parts of the Altstadt (2008)
Rapperswil [zoom]
Country Switzerland Canton St. Gallen District See-Gaster Municipality Rapperswil-Jona 47°13.6′N 8°49′E / 47.2267°N 8.817°E / 47.2267; 8.817Coordinates: 47°13.6′N 8°49′E / 47.2267°N 8.817°E / 47.2267; 8.817
Population	7,601 (December 2006[update])
- Density	4,368 /km2 (11,314 /sq mi)
Area	1.74 km2 (0.67 sq mi)
Elevation	409 m (1,342 ft)
Postal code	8640
SFOS number	3316
Surrounded by (view map)	Altendorf (SZ), Freienbach (SZ), Jona, Bollingen, Lachen (SZ)
Website	www.rapperswil.ch SFSO statistics

Rapperswil (Swiss German: Rappi) is a city in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, located at the east side of the Lake Zurich. Rapperswil is part of the municipality Rapperswil-Jona.

Tourist attractions

Rapperswil main square, former town hall (Rathaus) to the right (2008)

Rapperswil harbour, Seedamm and wooden bridge; Einsiedlerhaus and parts of the Capuchin monastery's (to the right) rose gardens, and Technical University (HSR) (to the left), seen from Rapperswil castle

The town's main sights are concentrated in the Altstadt of Rapperswil and can be seen while strolling through the medieval alleys. The main sights of Rapperswil are its roses, Rapperswil castle, the reconstructed wooden bridge to Hurden with its bridge chapel (Heilighüsli) located at Seedamm, the Capuchin monastery, and the remains of the Middle Ages fortifications located on Lake Zürich.

Rapperswil is often referred to as the town of roses (Rosenstadt) because of its extensive displays of roses in three designated parks. No less than 15,000 plants of 600 different kinds may be viewed between June and October. There is also a rose garden in the town center, accessible to blind and disabled people.

The old town (Altstadt) is dominated by the Castle of Rapperswil located at the Rapperswil peninsula on Lake Zürich perched atop a hill (Herrenberg). The castle dates back to the early 13th century (first mentioned in 1229). In 1350, it was destroyed by Rudolf Brun, the mayor of Zürich, and was rebuilt in 1352/54 by Albrecht II, Duke of Austria. Deer inhabit lands surrounding the castle.^[1] Since 1870, the castle has been home to the Polish National Museum created by Polish émigrés, including the castle's lessee and restorer, Count Wladyslaw Broel-Plater.^[2]

A small Capuchin monastery was established in 1606 at the lakeside Endingerhorn as a Catholic counterpart to the the Reformation's centre in the city of Zürich. The monastery buildings belong to the citizens of Rapperswil (Endingen itself belongs to the Einsiedeln Abbey) rather than to the monks who inhabit it, and is still in use.^[3] The main churches in town include the Roman-Catholic St. John's Church (built in early 13th century),^[4] the Cemetery Chapel (Liebfrauenkapelle) and a small Protestant church.

The locational advantage of the place attracted the national Circus Knie who built its headquarters in Rapperswil in 1919.^[5] The circus is now also responsible for the Circus Museum ^[6] and the Knie's Kinderzoo located in Rapperswil which is particularly aimed at children.^[7] Rapperswil also hosts the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil (HSR) ^[8] and an Economics school for parts of the cantons Zürich and St. Gallen.

Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) operates passenger vessels on the Lake Zürich (Zürichsee),^[9] connecting the surrounding towns between Zürich-Bürkliplatz and the Rapperswil peninsula with its beautiful harbour area.

History

Herrschaft (Grafschaft) Rapperswil Lordship (County) of Rapperswil State of the Holy Roman Empire ← 1220–1798 → Capital Rapperswil Government Principality Historical era Middle Ages  - Rapperswil founded 1229 (official date)  - Lordship established ~ 1233 1220  - Inherited by counts of     Habsburg-Laufenburg →   1309-1358  - Purchased liberty from     Austria   1415-1458  - Allied with Habsburg and Zürich     in the Old Zürich War   1440–1446  - Condominium of the     Old Swiss Confederation →   1458–1798  - Annexed to the Helvetic     Republic's canton of Linth →   1798 1798  - Joined canton of St. Gallen → February 19, 1803

Upper Lake Zürich and its medevial central municipality Rapperswil on Murerplan (1566)

ZSG paddle steamships «Stadt Rapperswil» (to the left) and «Stadt Zürich» at Rapperswil harbour (1914)

Wooden bridge, Seedamm to the left, Rapperswil-Jona and Bachtel hill in the background (2006)

St. John's church portal and Liebfrauenkapelle to the left (2008)

Capuchin monastery, as seen from Lake Zürich (2008)

Roses near the Capuchin monastery (2006)

Settlements in the region of Rapperswil date back to at least 5000 years ago. Archaeological relicts have been found at a Bronze Age village, and the remains of a first wooden bridge (1650 B.C., reconstructed in 2001) to Hurden (SZ) located at the Technical University (HSR), and in Kempraten, there probably was a Helvetiic settlement.^[10][11] Rapperswil's vineyards are first mentioned in 981, a ferry to the Ufenau island, too. The castle and the fortifications of the former locus Endingen (given by Einsiedeln Abbey) were built by Count Rudolf II and its son Rudolf III of Rapperswil, first mentioned in 1229. The town was founded when the nobility of Rapperswil moved from Altendorf (SZ) across the lake to Rapperswil. The counts of Rapperswil had possessions in what is now Eastern and Central Switzerland. They bore the title of count from 1233. The house of Rapperswil founded the Wettingen monastery in 1227 and the Wurmsbach Abbey in 1259, and they acted as Vögte of Einsiedeln Abbey. Since the 13th/14th centuries, Lützelau island has belonged to the community of Rapperswil (now called Ortsbürgergemeinde).

The house of Rapperswil became extinct in 1283 with the death of the 18 year old Count Rudolf V of Rapperswil, after which emperor Rudolf I acquired their fiefs. The Grafschaft of Rapperswil proper passed to the house of Homberg represented by Count Ludwig († April, 27 1289) by fist marriage of Elisabeth of Rapperswil. Around 1309 the Grafschaft passed to Count Rudolf († 1315) of Habsburg-Laufenburg by second marriage of Elisabeth of Rapperswil, the sister of Rudolf V, followed by her son, Count Johann I († 1337) and its son, Johann II († 1380). In 1350, Rapperswil was mostly destroyed by Rudolf Brun, and the remains of the former Herrschaft Rapperswil – Rapperswil and some surrounding villages including Jona – was acquired by the Habsburg family. In 1358, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built the wooden bridge across the lake. In 1415, the town bought freedom for itself. In 1442, during Old Zurich War, Rapperswil was in alliance with Zürich and the Habsburg Dynasty. In 1458 Rapperswil was controlled by the Swiss Confederation as a so-called Gemeine Herrschaft, i.e. under control of two cantons (Glarus and Schwyz) of the Old Swiss Conferation and their representant, a Vogt at Rapperswil castle.

Because of its strategic location along important infrastructure lines, and because of flourishing trade, the town grew rich. This allowed a certain degree of freedom (especially within the Habsburg-controlled territories and) within the Swiss Confederation which ended with the formation of the Swiss cantons by Napoleon in 1799. In 1656 and 1712 (Battles of Villmergen), Rapperswil was involved in two wars between the Catholic and Reformed cantons of the Old Swiss Confederation. Rapperswil was at first part of the Helvetic and the canton of Linth's capital city. After the 1803 Act of Mediation, it joined the canton of St. Gallen, and the former Herrschaft Rapperswil was split into the municipalites of Rapperswil and Jona.

On January 1, 2007, the former municipalities of Rapperswil and Jona merged to form a new political entity: Rapperswil-Jona has a population of 25,777 (December 2007). This makes it the second-largest town in the canton after the capital of St. Gallen itself.

Transportation

Rapperswil is a nodal point of the Südostbahn (SOB) and the S-Bahn Zürich on the lines S5, S7, S15, S26 and S40. Its train station is a 36 minute (S5) ride from Zürich Hauptbahnhof and a 55 minute ride to St. Gallen with InterRegio respectively Voralpen Express (Südostbahn).

Personalities

• Marianne Ehrmann-Brentano (1755-1795)
• Agaton Giller (1831-1887)
• Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914-1996)
• Count Wladyslaw Plater (1808-1889)
• Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
• Gerold Späth (*1939)
• Stefan Zeromski (1864-1925)

See also

• Rapperswil-Jona
• Jona
• Kempraten
• Circus Knie
• Knies Kinderzoo
• Paddle steamer Stadt Rapperswil
• Polish Museum, Rapperswil
• University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil (HSR)
• Wurmsbach Abbey

Notes

Literature

• Beat Glaus: Der Kanton Linth der Helvetik. Schwyz 2005. ISBN 3-033-00438-5
• Peter Röllin: Kulturbaukasten Rapperswil-Jona. Rapperswil-Jona 2005. ISBN 3-033-00478-4

External links

• Media related to Rapperswil at Wikimedia Commons
• Rapperswil-Jona (official site) (German)
• Ortsgemeinde Rapperswil-Jona (German)
• Tourist Information Rapperswil-Jona (German)

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