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SCHAFFHAUSEN (Fr. Schaffhouse)

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 312 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SCHAFFHAUSEN (Fr. Schaffhouse) , the most northerly of the Swiss cantons, and the only one wholly (excepting the small See also:hamlet of See also:Burg, a suburb of See also:Stein) See also:north of the See also:Rhine. It is divided into three detached portions by the See also:grand-duchy of See also:Baden, which surrounds it on all sides See also:save that of the Rhine, which separates it from the cantons of See also:Thurgau and of See also:Zurich: by far the largest See also:part is the region near the See also:chief See also:town, Schaffhausen, while to the See also:south is the small isolated See also:district of Rtidlingen and Buchberg (See also:purchased in 1520), and to the See also:east the more extensive See also:tract around the old town of Stein on the Rhine (ceded by Zurich in 1798). Within the territory of Schaffhausen are two " enclaves," belonging politically to Baden—the See also:village of Busingen (just east of the chief town) and the See also:farm of Verenahof, near Biittenhardt. The See also:total See also:area of the See also:canton is 113.5 sq. m., of which 108.4 sq. m. are classed as " productive " (forests covering 46 sq. m., and vineyards 4 sq. m.). The See also:main portion of the canton consists of the gently inclined See also:plateau of the Randen (its highest point, c. 3000 ft., is at its north edge) that slopes towards the Rhine, and is intersected by several See also:short glens, separated by rounded ridges. The most important of these glens is that of the Klettgau, to the See also:west of the chief town. There are only intermittent torrents in the canton, apart from the broad stream of the Rhine, which, about 12 m. below the town, forms the celebrated Falls of the Rhine (first mentioned about 1122), which are rather rapids (only 6o ft. in height) than a cascade proper, though the See also:mass of See also:water is very See also:great. The See also:direct railway See also:line from See also:Constance to See also:Basel, along the right and (generally) non-Swiss See also:bank of the Rhine, passes through the canton for some 16 m., while there is a See also:branch line (entirely within the canton) from Schaffhausen to Schleitheim (1o1 m.), and two lines join the chief town with the Swiss territory to the south, Zurich being thus 29 M. or 351 M. distant. In 1900 the See also:population was 41,454, of whom 40,290 were See also:German-speaking, while 34,046 were Protestants, 7403 Romanists and 22 See also:Jews. The inhabitants are devoted chiefly to See also:agriculture (particularly See also:fodder stuffs and fruits) and to See also:wine-growing (Hallauer is the best-known red wine).

There are See also:

tile factories in the Reiath region (N.E. of the See also:capital). The canton is divided into six administrative districts, which comprise See also:thirty-six communes. The cantonal constitution See also:dates in its main features from 1876. The legislature or Grossrat is composed of members elected for four years in the proportion of one to every 500 (or fraction over 250) of the population, but only communes with more than 25o inhabitants See also:form See also:separate electoral circles, the smaller being See also:united for electoral purposes with their greater neighbours. The executive or Regierungsrat of five members is also elected for four years by a popular See also:vote, as are the two members of the Federal Standerat and of the Federal Nationalrat. One thousand citizens have the right of " initiative " as to legislative projects and important See also:financial matters as well as to the revision of the cantonal constitution. Since 1895 the " obligatory See also:referendum " for all legislative projects has prevailed, as well as a curious institution (formerly existing in several cantons) by which the legislature can consult the See also:people on certain questions involving. principles and not merely on fully drafted legislative projects. The taxes are very small, while the See also:property of the canton is the most considerable in See also:Switzerland, so that from a financial point of view Schaffhausen is the most favoured in the See also:country, and till recently it had no public See also:debt at all. The numerous forests are well managed and bring in much See also:money. The canton arose from acquisitions made at various dates from 1461 to 1798 by the town, which at the See also:time of the See also:Reformation obtained See also:possession of the outlying estates of the ecclesiastical See also:foundations then suppressed. The most interesting spot in the canton is the little town of Stein, with its See also:Benedictine monastery (1005–1526), now a sort of See also:medieval museum, and the See also:castle of Hohenklingen towering above it. (W.

A. B.

End of Article: SCHAFFHAUSEN (Fr. Schaffhouse)

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SCHAFFLE, ALBERT EBERHARD FRIEDRICH (1831-1903)

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