Hundwil

Geschichte

Hundwil is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland.HistoryHundwil is first mentioned in 921 as Huntwilare.GeographyHundwil has an area, of 24.1km2. Of this area, 58.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 31.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (7.1%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).Hundwil was a capital of the former district Hinterland. It lies on the road between Herisau and Appenzell. The Landsgemeinde square and the Kronenplatz, as well as the Protestant church are listed as heritage sites of national significance. It consists of the village of Hundwil, a number of hamlets, numerous individual farm houses and alpine herding camps. Until 1749, the municipality of Stein was part of Hundwil.The Hundwiler Höhi is a recreational destination at 1305m. The most well-known and highest mountain in the area is Säntis (2502m), which is shared with neighbouring municipalities. The valley station Schwägalp also belongs to the extended Hundwil municipality.DemographicsHundwil has a population of 994, of which about 4.9% are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -5.6%. Most of the population speaks German (97.2%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 1.3%) and Portuguese being third ( 0.5%).