Maschwanden


Maschwanden is a village in the district of Affoltern in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.

History

Maschwanden is first mentioned in 1189 as Maswondon. The Baron of Eschenbach owned a castle and the village, near the current municipality, at that time. However, in 1308 Walter von Eschenbach was present at the regicide of King Albert I of Germany near Windisch. In response to the murder, in 1309 the castle and village were both destroyed and never rebuilt. The ruins were located on a hill south-west of the modern village, which mostly consisted of gravel and was carried off during the 19th and 20th century.

Geography

Maschwanden has an area of. Of this area, 61.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 24.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 8.3% is settled and the remainder is non-productive.
The municipality is located on the east banks of the Reuss River near the confluence of the Lorze River into the Reuss.

Demographics

Maschwanden has a population of. , 4.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 12.8%. Most of the population speaks German , with Portuguese being second most common and Italian being third.
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 45% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social [Democratic Party of Switzerland|SPS], the Christian [Social Party (Switzerland)|CSP] and the Green Party.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers 19 years and younger make up 27.5% of the population, while adults 20 to 64 years old make up 59.3% and seniors over 64 years old make up 13.2%. About 81.4% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education.
Maschwanden has an unemployment rate of 0.36%. , there were 61 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 24 businesses involved in this sector. 12 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 4 businesses in this sector. 49 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 19 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
yearpopulation
1470c. 120
1634339
1786507
1850578
1900493
1920424
1950470
1970400
2000553