Ganterschwil

Geschichte

Ganterschwil is a former municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Toggenburg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Bütschwil and Ganterschwil merged to form the new municipality of Bütschwil-Ganterschwil.HistoryGanterschwil is first mentioned in 779 as Cantrichesuilare.GeographyGanterschwil had an area, of 8.1km2. Of this area, 63.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 26.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).The former municipality is located in the Toggenburg Wahlkreis in a high plateau between the Thur and Neckar rivers. It consists of the village of Ganterschwil and the hamlets of Äwil, Anzenwil, Bleiken, Ötschwil and Tobel as well as scattered individual farm houses.Coat of armsThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or on a Base Vert a Woodpecker of the same and in chief sinister a Mullet Sable.DemographicsGanterschwil had a population of 1,196., about 7.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, 7 are from Germany, 12 are from Italy, 30 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 5 are from Austria, 1 person is from Turkey, and 16 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -2%. Most of the population speaks German, with Albanian being second most common and Italian being third . Of the Swiss national languages, 1,069 speak German, 3 people speak French, 4 people speak Italian, and 4 people speak Romansh.