Ernetschwil

Geschichte

Ernetschwil is a former municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Rieden and Ernetschwil merged into the municipality of Gommiswald.HistoryErnetschwil is first mentioned in 885 as Eidwarteswilare.GeographyErnetschwil had an area, of 10.3km2. Of this area, 67.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 20.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (4.8%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).The former municipality is located in the See-Gaster Wahlkreis in the mid-foothills on the southern slope of the Ricken Pass. Throughout the Middle Ages the area consisted of scattered settlements without a central village. It consists of the hamlets of Ernetschwil, Freudwil, Häblingen, Gebertingen, Hof (until the 16th Century known as Lügenschwil), Ricken, Schümberg and Schwarzholz.Coat of armsThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure three Mullets Argent one and two.DemographicsErnetschwil had a population of 1,434., about 6.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, 23 are from Germany, 7 are from Italy, 7 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 5 are from Austria, and 14 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 17.8%. Most of the population speaks German, with Italian being second most common and French being third . Of the Swiss national languages, 1,261 speak German, 4 people speak French, 5 people speak Italian, and 1 person speaks Romansh.