Rheineck

Geschichte

Rheineck is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.HistoryRheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as castellum Rinegge. In 1218 it was mentioned as Rinegg. An older reference from the Tabula Peutingeriana which mentioned Ad Rhenum is now considered to refer to St Margrethen.GeographyRheineck has an area, of 2.2km2. Of this area, 34.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 51.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (6.3%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).The municipality is located in the Rorschach region on the left bank of the Alter Rhein, an old channel of the Rhine, which is also the Austrian border. It is about 4km south of Lake Constance. It is a regional center for the Appenzeller foot hills and the lower Rhine valley. As it is located in the narrows between the hills and the Rhine, it has been strategically important for centuries.Coat of armsThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules three Fishes Azure nainaint in band on a Bend wavy ArgentDemographicsRheineck has a population of., about 34.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, 49 are from Germany, 318 are from Italy, 460 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 101 are from Austria, 42 are from Turkey, and 111 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -1.6%. Most of the population speaks German (82.2%), with Italian being second most common ( 6.1%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 4.1%). Of the Swiss national languages, 2,655 speak German, 7 people speak French, 196 people speak Italian, and 7 people speak Romansh.