Editing Horgen

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox Swiss town
 | subject_name		= Horgen
 | image_photo          = Horgen - Zimmerberg - Höhronen - ZSG Helvetia 2015-09-09 17-45-43.JPG
 | municipality_type	= municipality 
 | imagepath_coa    = CHE Horgen COA.svg
 | imagepath_flag	= CHE Horgen Flag.svg
 | canton		= Zurich
 | iso-code-region 	= CH-ZH
 | district		= [[Horgen (district)|Horgen]]
 |coordinates = {{coord|47|15|39|N|8|35|51|E|display=inline,title}}
 | postal_code		= 8810
 | municipality_code	= 0295
 | area			= 30.75
 | elevation		= 408|elevation_description= 
 | population		= {{Swiss populations NC|CH-ZH|0295}} | populationof = {{Swiss populations YM|CH-ZH}} |  popofyear = {{Swiss populations Y|CH-ZH}} 
 | website		= www.horgen.ch
 | mayor		= Theo Leuthold|mayor_asof=2014|mayor_party=SVP
 | mayor_title	= |list_of_mayors	= 
 | places		= Horgenberg, [[Sihlbrugg Station]], Sihlwald, [[Hirzel]]
 | demonym		= 
 | neighboring_municipalities= [[Wädenswil]], [[Hausen am Albis]], [[Langnau am Albis]], [[Oberrieden]], [[Thalwil]]
 | twintowns		= 
|}}

'''Horgen''' is a [[Municipalities of Switzerland|municipality]] in the district of [[Horgen (district)|Horgen]] in the [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]] of [[Zurich (canton)|Zürich]] in [[Switzerland]].

It is one of the larger towns along the south bank of the [[Lake of Zurich]].

On 1 January 2018 the [[List of former municipalities of Switzerland|former municipality]] of [[Hirzel]] merged into the municipality of Horgen.

== History ==
Horgen is also the type-site of Switzerland's middle [[Neolithic]] [[archaeological culture]]. The settlement there, the so-called ''Horgner Kultur'' ([[Horgen culture]]), produced examples of a type of crude pottery with parallels to the [[Seine-Oise-Marne culture]] of northern France.  Horgen is first mentioned in 952  as ''Horga''.<ref name=HDS/>

==Geography==
[[File:Zürichsee - Horgen IMG 0745.JPG|thumb|left|Horgen harbour]]
[[File:Horgen - Sust - ZSG Helvetia 2015-09-09 17-36-38.JPG|thumb|left|So-called ''Sust'' (warehouse) and museum in Horgen]]
[[File:ETH-BIB-Horgen aus 800 m-Inlandflüge-LBS MH01-001788.tif|thumb|Aerial view from 800&nbsp;m by [[Walter Mittelholzer]] (1919)]]
Horgen has an area of {{convert|21.1|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.  Of this area, 27.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.9% is forested.  Of the rest of the land, 20.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).<ref name=SFSO/>  {{as of|1996|alt=In 1996}} housing and buildings made up 12.5% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (7.9%).<ref name=StatZurich/>  Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 1.6% of the area.  {{as of|2007}}, 16% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.<ref name=StatZurich/>

The large municipality stretches from the shores of [[Lake Zurich]] (elevation {{convert|408|m|ft|abbr=on}}), near [[Wädenswil]] over the Zimmerberg-Plateau where the decentralized village of Horgenberg is found (elevation {{convert|660|m|ft|abbr=on}}), though the [[Sihl Valley]] (''Sihltal''), to the peak of the [[Albis]] chain (elevation {{convert|915|m|ft|abbr=on}}).  It includes the villages of Horgen, Arn and Horgenberg.

Until 1773, Horgen included the now separate municipalities of [[Oberrieden]] and Hirzel.  The Sihl forest (''Sihlwald'') became part of the city of [[Zürich]] in 1803.  However the Horgen city council refused to acknowledge this until 1877.

==Demographics==
Horgen has a population (as of {{Swiss populations date|CH-ZH}}) of {{Swiss populations|CH-ZH|0295}}.{{Swiss populations ref|CH-ZH}}  {{as of|2007}}, 27.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.  {{as of|2008}} the gender distribution of the population was 49% male and 51% female.  Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 10.7%.  Most of the population ({{as of|2000|lc=on}}) speaks German  (79.9%), with Italian being second most common ( 5.7%) and Albanian being third ( 2.8%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the [[Swiss People's Party|SVP]] which received 35.6% of the vote.  The next three most popular parties were the [[Social Democratic Party of Switzerland|SPS]] (18.9%), the [[Free Democratic Party of Switzerland|FDP]] (15.8%) and the [[Christian Social Party (Switzerland)|CSP]] (9.7%).

The age distribution of the population ({{as of|2000|lc=on}}) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 64.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.2%.  In Horgen about 73% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory [[Education in Switzerland#Secondary|upper secondary education]] or additional higher education (either university or a ''[[Fachhochschule]]'').  There are 7850 households in Horgen.<ref name=StatZurich/>

Horgen has an unemployment rate of 3.6% as of February 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arbeitslosenzahlen |url=https://www.zh.ch/de/wirtschaft-arbeit/zuercher-wirtschaftszahlen/arbeitslosigkeit.html#-98854965 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Kanton Zürich |language=de}}</ref>  {{as of|2005}}, there were 213 people employed in the [[Primary sector of the economy|primary economic sector]] and about 39 businesses involved in this sector.  2017 people are employed in the [[Secondary sector of the economy|secondary sector]] and there are 167 businesses in this sector.  6892 people are employed in the [[Tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary sector]], with 623 businesses in this sector.<ref name=SFSO>[http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/regionen/02/key.html Swiss Federal Statistical Office] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105172441/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/regionen/02/key.html |date=2016-01-05 }} accessed 07-Aug-2009</ref>  {{as of|2007}} 56.5% of the working population were employed full-time, and 43.5% were employed part-time.<ref name=StatZurich>[http://www.statistik.zh.ch/internet/justiz_inneres/statistik/de/daten/gemeindeportraet.html Statistics Zurich] {{in lang|de}} accessed 4 August 2009</ref>

{{as of|2008}} there were 5924 [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]] and 6170 [[Protestant Reformation|Protestants]] in Horgen.  In the 2000 census, religion was broken down into several smaller categories.  From the {{as of|2000|alt=census}}, 39.3% were some type of Protestant, with 36.9% belonging to the [[Swiss Reformed Church]] and 2.4% belonging to other Protestant churches.  33.6% of the population were Catholic.  Of the rest of the population, 7% were Muslim, 9.5% belonged to another religion (not listed), 4.2% did not give a religion, and 11.7% were atheist or agnostic.<ref name=StatZurich/>

The historical population is given in the following table:<ref name=HDS>{{HDS|000096|Horgen}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! year
! population 
|-
| 1467
|  67 households
|-
| 1634
|  1,175
|-
| 1654
|  1,560
|-
| 1780
|  2,837
|-
| 1836
|  2,886
|-
| 1850
|  4,844
|-
| 1900
|  6,883
|-
| 1930
|  9,320
|-
| 1950
|  10,118
|-
| 1970
|  15,691
|-
| 2000
|  17,432
|-
| 2010
|  18,935
|-
|2020
|23,073
|}

== Transportation==
[[File:Horgen - Bahnhof 2011-07-23 17-35-04 ShiftN.jpg|thumb|The bus and railway stations at Horgen]]
[[File:FS Meilen & Schwan & Zürisee IMG 0853.jpg|thumb|Ferry ships «Meilen», «Schwan» and «Zürisee» at Horgen]]
The [[A3 (Switzerland)|A3 motorway]] passes through the municipality and has a junction in the south of the town.<ref name=chmap>{{cite map | publisher = Swiss Confederation | title = map.geo.admin.ch | url = http://map.geo.admin.ch/?selectedNode=node_ch.swisstopo.gg25-gemeinde-flaeche.fill1&Y=686275&X=234225&zoom=5&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&layers=ch.swisstopo.gg25-gemeinde-flaeche.fill&layers_opacity=1&layers_visibility=true&lang=en | access-date = 2011-12-02}}</ref>

The municipality of Horgen is served by three railway stations. Of these two are relatively close to each other in the lakeside part of the municipality, while the other is some distance away from the centre of the town in the [[Sihl Valley]]:<ref name=chmap/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zvv.ch/zvv-assets/fahrplan/pdf/sbahn.pdf |title=S-Bahn trains, buses and boats |publisher=ZVV |access-date=2 January 2021 |date=13 December 2020 }}</ref>
* [[Horgen railway station|Horgen]] is on the [[Lake Zurich left bank railway line|Lake Zurich left bank line]] and is served by [[Zurich S-Bahn]] lines [[S2 (ZVV)|S2]] and [[S8 (ZVV)|S8]]. The station is in the town centre and adjacent to the lake.
* [[Horgen Oberdorf railway station|Horgen Oberdorf]] is on the [[Thalwil–Arth-Goldau railway|Thalwil–Arth-Goldau line]], and is served by the [[S24 (ZVV)|S24]]. Horgen Oberdorf station is some {{convert|0.9|km}} uphill from Horgen station.
* [[Sihlwald railway station|Sihlwald]] is on the [[Sihltalbahn]] and is the terminus of the [[S4 (ZVV)|S4]]. Sihlwald station is in the Sihl Valley, about {{convert|4|km}} north of the closed [[Sihlbrugg railway station|Sihlbrugg station]]. The Sihtalbahn continues to Sihlbrugg station, but this stretch of line no longer carries regular passenger service.

The [[Zimmerberg bus line]] (''Zimmerbergbus''), provided by the [[Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn]] (SZU), connects the [[Zimmerberg]] region and parts of the Sihl Valley.

In the summer there are regular boats to [[Zürich-Bürkliplatz]] as well as along the lake to [[Rapperswil]], run by the [[Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft]]. The [[Horgen–Meilen ferry|Horgen–Meilen car ferry]] connects Horgen and [[Meilen]] across the width of Lake Zurich, and one of the line's ships carries the name [[Horgen (ship, 1991)|''Horgen'']].

== Reformed Church ==
[[File:Kirche Horgen Innenraum.JPG|thumb|Reformed Church: transverse oval interior]]
The Horgen Reformed Church by architect Johann Jakob Haltiner, consecrated in 1782, is one of the most important Swiss buildings of [[Church architecture#The Reformation and its influence on church architecture|Protestant church architecture]]: The [[transept]] became the main church while the [[nave]] was omitted, similar to the church of [[Wädenswil]] (1767). The transverse oval central church, a bold solution, is based on a circle with a diameter of 17 m. In the main axis, two circles abut each other in the floor plan, which are connected with arc segments of circles of twice the diameter. The determination of the room height can in turn be traced back to circles with a diameter of 17 meters. Haltiner consistently leads this curved floor plan into the roof. The stucco was made by Andreas Moosbrugger at the same time. In 1865 the church received its first stained glass paintings and in 1874 the two fresco paintings on both sides of the pulpit. The first organ from 1884 was replaced by the current one in 1961.

== Notable people ==
* [[Adele Duttweiler]] (1892–1990), wife of [[Gottlieb Duttweiler]] and philanthropist
* [[Ernst Sieber]] (1927–2018), pastor, social worker, writer and former politician who founded [[Sozialwerke Pfarrer Sieber]]
* [[Hoyte van Hoytema]] (born 1971), cinematographer
* [[Jacob Wipf]], politician
*[[Steve Lee (singer)|Steve Lee]] (1963–2010), musician, former singer of [[Gotthard (band)|Gotthard]]
*[[Andy Schmid]], Professional Handballer

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
* {{Official website|http://www.horgen.ch/}} {{in lang|de}}
* {{HDS|000096|Horgen}}
* {{HDS|12606|Horgen Culture}}
* {{HDS|9422|Horgen (Vogtei)}}

{{Municipalities of the district of Horgen}}
{{Lake Zurich navbox}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Horgen| ]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Cities in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the canton of Zürich]]
[[Category:Stone Age Europe]]
[[Category:Populated places on Lake Zurich]]