Wil


Wil is a town and political municipality in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It has a small-town character and is an important center for the west of the canton, lower Toggenburg and Hinterthurgau. Wil had a population of 25,176 by the end of 2024. With 74,550 inhabitants, the agglomeration of Wil is the second-largest conurbation in Eastern Switzerland. The former political municipality of Bronschhofen has been part of the town of Wil since 1 January 2013. For more than 500 years, the prince-abbots of St. Gallen resided in the "Hof" of Wil; Wil is also called "Abbots Town" and is the third largest city in the canton of St. Gallen, after St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona.
In 1984, Wil was awarded the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.

Geography

Since the merger in 2013, Wil now has an area of. Based on the 2004/09 survey, but including the post-merger area, about 50.1% of the total land is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 30.1% is settled and 0.9% is unproductive land. During the two decades from 1979/85 to 2004/09, the amount of land that is settled has increased by and the agricultural land has decreased almost by the same ratio, by.
Before the merger, Wil had an area,, of. Of this area, 32.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 53.4% is settled and the remainder is non-productive.
The former municipality of Bronschhofen had an area,, of. Of this area, 65.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.1% is forested. Of the remaining land, 12% is settled and the remainder is non-productive. It consisted of the villages of Bronschhofen and Rossrüti as well as the hamlets of Maugwil, Trungen and Dreibrunnen.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and Sable, a Snail shell Or above a letter W of the First.

Demographics

Wil has a population of. , 27.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 3 years the population has changed at a rate of 3.13%. In 2000, of the foreign population, 272 were from Germany, 776 were from Italy, 1,876 were from ex-Yugoslavia, 135 were from Austria, 309 were from Turkey, and 578 from another country. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2013, was 11.2 while the death rate was 7.5 per thousand residents.
Before the merger, in 2011, Bronschhofen had a population of 4,654.
Most of the population speaks German, with Albanian being the second most common and Italian being the third most common language. Of the Swiss national languages, 13,943 speak German, 60 people speak French, 488 people speak Italian, and 26 people speak Romansh.
, children and teenagers make up 19.7% of the population, while adults are 62.6% and seniors make up 17.7%.
there were 2,829 people who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 4,034 people who were part of a couple without children, and 7,421 who were part of a couple with children. There were 954 people who lived in single parent home, while there were 79 people who were adult children living with one or both parents, 90 people who lived in a household made up of relatives, 174 who lived in a household made up of unrelated people, and 811 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 31.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP, the SP and the FDP.
In Wil, about 69.2% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education. Out of the total population in Wil,, the highest education level completed by 3,538 people was Primary, while 6,179 have completed their secondary education, 2,158 have attended a Tertiary school, and 818 are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.

Heritage sites of national significance

The Baronenhaus at Marktgasse 73, the Dominican Abbey of St. Katharina, the Hof and the pilgrimage church Maria Dreibrunnen are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.
The old town center of Wil is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Transport

It is a railway node, being located on the train line from Zürich-Winterthur to St. Gallen and connected with lines to Frauenfeld, Weinfelden-Konstanz and Wattwil - Nesslau or Rapperswil.

Sport

The soccer club FC Wil play in the Swiss Challenge League.

Economy

, there were a total of 14,138 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 163 people worked in 54 businesses in the primary economic sector. The secondary sector employed 3,213 workers in 247 separate businesses. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 10,762 jobs in 1,456 businesses. In 2013 a total of 2.0% of the population received social assistance.
there were 3,873 residents who worked in the municipality, while 4,695 residents worked outside Wil and 6,368 people commuted into the municipality for work.

Religion

From the, 8,817 or 53.8% are Roman Catholic, while 3,561 or 21.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 6 individuals who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 473 individuals who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 265 individuals who belong to another Christian church. There are 10 individuals who are Jewish, and 1,433 who are Islamic. There are 116 individuals who belong to another church, 1,138 belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 573 individuals did not answer the question.

Crime

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the Swiss Criminal Code, in Wil was 62.9 per thousand residents. This rate is about one and a half times greater than the cantonal rate, but very similar to the national rate. During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 10.2 per thousand residents and the rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 3 per thousand. Both of which were very close to the national rate.

Mayor

On 1 January 2013, Susanne Hartmann became the first female mayor not only of Wil-Bronschhofen but in the entire canton of St. Gallen. Hartmann announced her candidacy in April 2012. Despite all forecasts the result of the elections was a landslide victory for Susanne Hartmann.

Notable people