Ottenbach (Zurich)

Geschichte

Ottenbach is a municipality in the district of Affoltern in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.HistoryOttenbach is first mentioned in 831 as in loco vocato marcha Hotumbacharia. In 1169 it was mentioned as Arnoldus de Ottonbac.GeographyOttenbach has an area of 5km2. Of this area, 56.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 20.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 19.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).It is located near the Reuss River on the border with the Canton of Aargau.SightsOttenbach owns a small hydro power plant with original equipment of 1920 which is still running for guided visits. It produced current for operating looms of the silk weaving factory A.F. Haas & Co. until 1975.DemographicsOttenbach has a population of., 7.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 5.5%. Most of the population speaks German (93.6%), with Italian being second most common ( 1.7%) and English being third ( 1.0%).In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 34.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (20%), the FDP (15.5%) and the Green Party (11.2%).