Kreuzlingen

Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 20,800. Together with the adjoining city of Konstanz just across the border in Germany, Kreuzlingen is part of the largest conurbation on Lake Constance with a population of almost 120,000.

In 1874, the municipality of Egelshofen was renamed Kreuzlingen. It reached its present size with the incorporation of Kurzrickenbach in 1927 and Emmishofen in 1928.

History

The name of the municipality stems from the Augustinian monastery Crucelin, later Kreuzlingen Abbey. It was founded in 1125 by the Bishop of Constance Ulrich I. In the Swabian War and the 30 Years' War after the siege of Constance by Swedish troops, the Augustinian monastery was burned down by the people of Constance, who blamed the monks for having supported the enemy. In 1650, the monastery was rebuilt in its present location. With secularization in 1848, the buildings became a teachers' school. The chapel became a Catholic church

The area was already settled during the Bronze Age. Celtic and Roman coins and artifacts testify of continued settlement. Kurzrickenbach is first mentioned as Rihinbah in 830, Egelshofen as Eigolteshoven in 1125, and Emmishofen as Eminshoven in 1159. The territory of the municipality, except for the Augustinian monastery, belonged to the Bishop of Constance. When the Eidgenossen conquered Thurgau in 1460 and further with the Reformation, the ties to the neighboring city loosened.

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the present center of Kreuzlingen was still largely agricultural. The first steamboats began to operate on Lake Constance in 1824. The first train line to Romanshorn was finished in 1871, and the second to Etzwilen in 1875. This brought commerce and industry to the region. In 1874, Kreuzlingen became the capital of the district, instead of Gottlieben. However, until World War I, Kreuzlingen was a kind of suburb of Constance. Most of its industry was in the hands of German firms. The war made Kreuzlingen more independent.

The Sanatorium of Bellevue (1857–1980), which occupied part of the old monastery, played an important role in the history of Kreuzlingen. In 1842, Ignaz Vanotti from Constance bought a large tract of land and built a residential and commercial building in 1843 to house the emigrant press of Bellevue, which had previously been located in Römerburg. In 1857, Ludwig Binswanger, a psychiatrist from Münsterlingen acquired the property and opened a private sanatorium. The clinic was very modern and remained in the control of the Binswanger family for nearly 120 years. Important psychiatric advances, particularly under the founder's grandson, also called Ludwig Binswanger, especially in the development of existential psychotherapy, were made at the sanatorium. However, few of its buildings remain.

Geography

Kreuzlingen has an area, as of 2009, of 11.49 square km. Of this area, 3.13 km2 (1.21 sq mi) or 27.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.24 km2 (1.25 sq mi) or 28.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.87 km2 (1.88 sq mi) or 42.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.11 km2 (27 acres) or 1.0% is either rivers or lakes and 0.13 km2 (32 acres) or 1.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 22.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 5.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.7%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 5.3% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 8.4%. Out of the forested land, 26.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 25.1% is used for growing crops, while 2.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, 1.1% is unproductive vegetation and .

The municipality is located in the Kreuzlingen district on the border with the German city of Konstanz. It is located on Lake Constance where it narrows to form the Untersee, bordering with Konstanz in Germany. It is halfway between Schaffhausen and Rorschach on a slightly southward-dipping west-east axis. It consists of the villages of Bernrain, Egelshofen, Emmishofen and Kurzrickenbach.

Heritage sites of national significance

The Former Augustinian Chorherrenstift of St Ulrich, the former granary and wine press at Seeburgscheune and Seeburg Castle are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The Untersee region is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

• St. Ulrich

• Seemuseum

• Seeburg Castle

Religion

From the 2000 census, 12,755 or 74.45% of the population were Christian. Of those 6,339 or 37.0% were Roman Catholic, while 5,313 or 31.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 13 Old Catholics (or about 0.08% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland there are 632 individuals (or about 3.69% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 458 individuals (or about 2.68% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There were 11 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who were Jewish, and 2,064 (or about 12.06% of the population) who are Islamic. There are 111 individuals (or about 0.65% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 1,532 (or about 8.95% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 645 individuals (or about 3.77% of the population) did not answer the question.

Transportation

Kreuzlingen is a rail node, and also the northern terminus of the A7 motorway in Switzerland.