Eschlikon

Geschichte

Eschlikon is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.HistoryEschlikon is first mentioned in 1280 as Aeslikon. During the Middle Ages, most of Eschlikon (except for the farms of a few free peasants) belonged to the monastery of Magdenau and Heiliggeistspital in St. Gallen. Eschlikon was part of the high courts of Tuttwilerberg. From the Late Middle Ages until 1798 it was the home of the Swiss Confederation Governor in Thurgau or his appointed Vogt.The village church was originally part of the Sirnach parish. In 1529, the majority of the population converted to the new religion during the Protestant Reformation. The Reformed majority separated from Sirnach parish in 1936, and formed a new parish with Münchwilen, Oberhofen, St. Margaret and Wallenwil. The catholic population belongs to the parish of Sirnach.In addition to farming, viticulture and peat extraction, cattle and dairy farming became a major industry in the 2nd half of the 19th Century. Through the 18th to 20th Centuries various branches of the textile industry grew into the village economy. After the linen industry, cotton mills opened in the 19th Century. Between 1870-1930, embroidery and knitwear production were important in the local economy. Between 1898-1962 the Weibel brick factory operated. In 1875, the citizens of a municipality opened a bank to provide loans, cattle loans and savings. However, the bank failed in 1912, which severely damaged the municipality. Between 1864-1973 the regional newspaper Volksblatt vom Hörnli was published in Eschlikon. Since the mid-20th Century a number of new industrial and commercial enterprises (such as metal goods factory Spring, with 200 employees) have settled in the formerly small rural village and changed its character.