Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen is a town in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name. It has a population of about 36,000^[3] as 2016.

Schaffhausen
Municipality
Schaffhausen in 2012
Coat of arms
Location of Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen Show map of Switzerland Schaffhausen Show map of Canton of Schaffhausen
Coordinates: 47°42′N 8°38′E
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Schaffhausen
District	(None in canton of Schaffhausen)
Government
• Executive	Stadtrat with 5 members
• Mayor	Stadtpräsident (list) Peter Neukomm SPS/PSS (as of January 2017)
• Parliament	Grosser Stadtrat with 36 members
Area [1]
• Total	41.85 km2 (16.16 sq mi)
Elevation (Bahnhofstrasse)	403 m (1,322 ft)
Population  (31 December 2018)[2]
• Total	36,587
• Density	870/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	8200, 8203, 8207, 8208, 8231 Hemmental
SFOS number	2939
Localities	Schaffhausen, Breite, Gruben, Buchthalen, St. Niklausen, Herblingen, Hauental, Hemmental
Surrounded by	Beringen, Büsingen am Hochrhein (DE-BW), Büttenhardt, Dörflingen, Feuerthalen (ZH), Flurlingen (ZH), Merishausen, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Stetten, Thayngen
Twin towns	Sindelfingen (Germany), Singen am Hohentwiel (Germany), Dobrich (Bulgaria)
Website	www.stadt-schaffhausen.ch Profile (in German), SFSO statistics

Imperial City of Schaffhausen Reichsstadt Schaffhausen
1190 or 1218–1330 1415–1501
Status	Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Schaffhausen
Government	Republic
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Gained Reichsfreiheit	betw 1190 and 1218
• Pledged to Habsburgs	1330
• Bought independence	1415
• Associate member of     Swiss Confederacy	1454
• Joined Switzerland	1501
• Swiss independence     recognised	1648
Preceded by Succeeded by All Saints' Abbey (Switzerland) Canton of Schaffhausen

Imperial Abbey of All Saints in Schaffhausen Reichskloster Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen
1080–1529
Status	Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Schaffhausen
Government	Principality
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Consecrated (Leo IX)	22 November 1049
• Papal grant of     Nellenburg lands	1080
• Gained Hiltensweiler     lands	1122–1389
• City became     Swiss Associate	1454
• City joined Switz.	1501
• Converted to     monastery and     cathedral church	1524
• Disestablished in     Reformation	1529
Preceded by Succeeded by Landgraviate of Nellenburg Canton of Schaffhausen

The old portion of the town has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the impressive old canton fortress, the Munot. A train runs out of town to the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe's largest waterfall, a tourist attraction.

History

Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins starting in 1045. For a time it was under Habsburg domination, but regained its independence in 1415. It allied itself with Zürich in 1457, and became a full member of the Swiss Confederation in 1501. The first railroad came to Schaffhausen in 1857.

Schaffhausen is in a finger of Swiss land surrounded on three sides by Germany. On April 1, 1944, Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces aircraft which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland. While the United States immediately offered four million dollars in reparations, the raid occurred only a month after the Swiss Air Force had shot down an American bomber.

In 1947 it merged with the former municipality of Buchthalen. In 1964 it merged with the former municipality of Herblingen. Since 2009, Hemmental has been part of the town.

Industry

Schaffhausen has some well-known industrial companies (Georg Fischer) in piping systems, machine tools and automotives, one internationally-reputed watches manufacturer (IWC), and drug industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos).