Widnau (St. Gallen)

Geschichte

Widnau is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.HistoryIn 1883 the municipality was created when it separated from Diepoldsau.GeographyWidnau has an area, of 4.2km2. Of this area, 34.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 59.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (4%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).It is on the Austrian border and has a border crossing via the Wiesenrainbrücke, a bridge over the Rhine. This road bridge also carries a track of the International Rhine Regulation Railway, a now preserved rail line formerly used in the management of the Rhine.Coat of armsThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or a bar wavy Azure base seme of Tufts Vert and overall a Willow pollarded of the last eradicated and trunked Gules.DemographicsWidnau has a population of., about 25.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, 153 are from Germany, 205 are from Italy, 685 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 246 are from Austria, 165 are from Turkey, and 322 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 12.9%. Most of the population speaks German (88.0%), with Albanian being second most common ( 2.8%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.7%). Of the Swiss national languages, 6,574 speak German, 22 people speak French, 117 people speak Italian, and 8 people speak Romansh.