Schmerikon
Description
Schmerikon is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. In the local Swiss German dialect it is called Schmerike.
Geography
Schmerikon is located at the head of Lake Zurich, on the section of the lake known as the Obersee and where the Linth river enters the lake. Part of the municipality is a natural reserve, particularly along the lake shore.
Schmerikon has an area, as of 2006, of 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi). Of this area, 38.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 27% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (11.1%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules two Crescents addorsed Or and in chief a Cross pattee Argent.
Transport
Schmerikon railway station is served by the inter-regional Voralpen Express, which links Lucerne and Romanshorn via Rapperswil and St. Gallen, and by a Regio service from Rapperswil to Linthal. Both trains run hourly, combining to provide a half-hourly service to Rapperswil.
The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft provides passenger shipping services on Lake Zurich, including several daily through services to Zurich. These have a journey time of over three hours.
Religion
From the 2000 census, 2,147 or 67.5% are Roman Catholic, while 411 or 12.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there is 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 56 individuals (or about 1.76% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 22 individuals (or about 0.69% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There is 1 individual who is Jewish, and 248 (or about 7.79% of the population) who are Islamic. There are 22 individuals (or about 0.69% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 166 (or about 5.22% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 108 individuals (or about 3.39% of the population) did not answer the question.
Sights
The village of Schmerikon is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Schmerikoner Ried, a reed located on the northeastern lake shore in the Linthebene area towards the Grynau Castle, was set under federal protection as a low-moor bog of national importance (German: Bundesinventar der Flachmoore von nationaler Bedeutung) in 1994.