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THURGAU (Fr. Thurgovie)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 900 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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THURGAU (Fr. Thurgovie) , one of the cantons of See also:north-eastern See also:Switzerland, bordering on the See also:Lake of See also:Constance and the See also:Rhine as it issues from that lake. Its See also:total See also:area is 390.4 sq. m., of which 326.9 sq. m. are reckoned as" productive " (forests covering 69.3 sq. m. and vineyards 4.4 sq. m.); of the " unproductive " portion. most (59: sq. m.) consists of the cantonal See also:share of the Lake of Constance. The See also:canton is partly made up of the central portion of the valley of the Thur (which rises in the See also:Toggenburg), with its affluent the Murg, and partly of the level stretch along the See also:west See also:shore of the Lake of Constance and See also:left See also:bank of the Rhine. See also:Low ranges of wooded hills See also:separate the lake from the Thur valley and the latter from that of the Murg, as well as from the cantons of See also:Zurich and of St See also:Gall, the highest point in the canton being situated at its See also:southern extremity, and forming the See also:northern slope (3271 ft.) of the Hornli (3727 ft.), itself wholly in Zurich. The small outlying See also:district of See also:Horn is an " See also:enclave " in the canton of St Gall, because it was acquired in 1463 by the See also:bishop of Constance, who incorporated it with the bailiwick of Arbon, the See also:fate of which it has followed. In 1798 the See also:lower portion of the Stammheim glen was given to Zurich, as well as the Diessenhofen region to See also:Schaffhausen, but the latter region came back to Thurgau in 1800. The See also:main railway See also:line from See also:Winterthur to See also:Romanshorn (with a See also:branch to St Gall) runs right through the canton, while on its north edge is the See also:direct line along the left bank of the Rhine from Constance to Schaffhausen. A network of well-made roads traverses the canton in every direction, some of them being now served by public motor cars. It is a prosperous region, the See also:population being mainly engaged in See also:agriculture, and in See also:cotton-See also:spinning, which is often combined with it at See also:home. The orchards are so splendid that Thurgau has been called " the See also:garden of Helvetia." The vineyards produce a number of highly esteemed wines (the best known is the red Bachtobler), which are said to retain their strength for eight or ten years, this being attributed to the See also:influence of the See also:east See also:wind to which the vines are much exposed. In 1900 the population was 113, 221, of whom 110,845 were See also:German-speaking, 1867 See also:Italian-speaking and 332 See also:French-speaking, while there were 77,210 Protestants, 35,824 Romanists and 113 See also:Jews.

Its See also:

capital is See also:Frauenfeld (q.v.), while other important places are Arbon (pop. 5677), Kreuzlingen (4732), practically a suburb of Constance, and Romanshorn (q.v.), the See also:chief See also:port of the canton on the Lake of Constance. Till 1814 it was in the See also:diocese of Constance, and since 1828 in that of See also:Basel. The canton is divided into eight administrative districts, which comprise 212 communes. In 1869 the very advanced existing constitution was adopted, by which the " initiative " (or right of 2500 See also:electors to compel the cantonal See also:assembly to take any subject into See also:consideration), and the " obligatory See also:referendum," taking See also:place twice a See also:year (by which all See also:laws passed by the cantonal assembly, and all See also:financial resolutions involving a capital See also:expenditure of 50,000 francs or an See also:annual one of 1o,000, must be submitted to a popular See also:vote), were introduced. The cantonal See also:government consists of a legislative assembly or Grossvat (one member to every 250 electors, or fraction over 125) and a Regierungsvat or executive See also:council of five members, both elected directly by the See also:people and holding See also:office for three years; 5000 electors can at any See also:time See also:call for a popular vote on the question of the dismissal of either one or the other. Further, to show the very democratic See also:character of the (1869) constitution, it may be added that members of both houses of the Federal assembly are in Thurgau elected direct by the people, and hold office for three years. The " communes " in Thurgau are of no less than eleven or twelve varieties. The See also:division of the lands, &c., of the old " burgher communes " between them and the new communes, consisting of all residents (with whom See also:political See also:power rests), was carried out (1872) in all the 212 communes; but there are still 38 See also:gilds or corporations with See also:special rights over certain forests, &c. The Thurgau originally took in all the See also:country, roughly speaking, between the See also:Reuss, the Lake of See also:Lucerne, the Rhine and the Lake of Constance; but many smaller districts (Zurichgau, Toggenburg, See also:Appenzell, St Gall) were gradually carved out of it, and the See also:county was reduced to about the See also:size of the See also:present canton when in 1264 it passed by the See also:gift of the last See also:count of Kyburg to his See also:nephew See also:Rudolph of See also:Habsburg, chosen See also:emperor in 1273. In 1415 the count, See also:Duke See also:Frederick of See also:Austria (a Habsburg), wasput under the See also:ban of the See also:empire by the emperor See also:Sigismund for having aided See also:Pope See also:John See also:XXIII. to See also:escape from Constance, and the county was overrun, Sigismund in 1417 mortgaging to the See also:city of Constance the appellate See also:jurisdiction in all See also:civil and criminal matters (" Landgericht " and " Blutbann ") arising within the county, which he had declared to be forfeited in consequence of Frederick's conduct. In 146o some of the Confederates, now becoming very eager for conquests, overran and seized the county.

Winterthur was saved, but in 1461 Frederick's son, Duke Sigismund, had perforce to cede the county to the Confederates. Henceforth it was ruled as a " subject district " by seven members of the See also:

LeagueSee also:Bern occupied in the west, not being admitted to a share in the government till 1712, after one of the See also:wars of See also:religion. It was only in 1499 that the See also:Confederation (then consisting of ten members) obtained from the emperor (the claims of Constance being passed over in silence) the supreme jurisdiction, through the See also:mediation of the duke of See also:Milan, but there were still 103 See also:minor jurisdictions belonging to various lords spiritual (particularly the bishop of Constance, the See also:abbot of St Gall and the abbot of See also:Reichenau) and temporal, which went on till 1798 and greatly limited the power of the Confederates. Thurgau had hoped, but in vain, to be admitted in 1499 a full member of the Confederation. - At the time of the See also:Reformation many of the inhabitants became Protestants, and See also:bitter quarrels ensued between the See also:Protestant and See also:Catholic (the latter having a large See also:majority) members of the Confederation who had rights over Thurgau, with regard to the See also:toleration of the new doctrines in the " subject districts " such as Thurgau. By the first See also:peace of Kappel (1529) the majority in each " See also:commune " was to See also:settle the religion of that " commune," but by the second (1531, after See also:Zwingli's See also:death) both religions were to be allowed See also:side by side in each " commune." Thurgau thus became a " canton of parity," as it is to this See also:day. Its rulers, however, continued to See also:watch each other very closely, and See also:Kilian Kesselring, one of the chief military commanders in Thurgau, was in 1633, on suspicion of having connived at the advance of the Swedes through Thurgau on Constance, seized by the Catholic cantons and severely punished. In 1798 Thurgau became See also:free, and was one of the nineteen cantons of the Helvetic See also:republic, being formally received (like the other " subject lands ") as a full member of the Swiss Confederation in 1803 by the See also:Act of Mediation. It was one of the very first cantons to revise, in 1830, after the See also:July revolution in See also:Paris, its constitution in a very liberal sense, and in 1831 proposed a revision of the Federal Pact of 1815. This failed; but the new Federal constitutions of 1848 (of which one of the two drafters was See also:Kern of Thurgau) and 1874 were approved by very large majorities. In 1848 almost all of the convents in the canton were suppressed, one only (that of the Dominican nuns at St Katharinenthal) surviving till extinguished in 1869 by the new cantonal constitution, which also forbade the erection of any new religious houses. In 1849 the cantonal constitution was revised and the See also:veto introduced, by which the people might reject a See also:bill passed by the cantonal assembly.

The See also:

castle (See also:modern) of Arenenberg, above the western See also:arm of the Lake of Constance, belonged to the See also:Napoleonic See also:family from 1817 to 1843, and was repurchased by them in 1855. It contains many See also:relics of See also:Napoleon III., whose widow, the ex-empress See also:Eugenie, in 1906 presented it (with See also:provision for annual masses in the See also:chapel) to the canton of Thurgau, which has converted it into an agricultural See also:college. AuTHoRITJES.—Beitrage (Thurg.)zur vaterland. Geschichte (published by the Cantonal Hist. See also:Soc. ; from 1861) ; J. }See also:Merlin, Gesch. d. See also:Kant. Thurgau,1798-1849(1872) ; and Der Kant. Thurgau,1849-1869 (1876) ; H. Hasenfratz, See also:Die Landgrafschaft vor der Revolution von 1798 (Frauenfeld, 1908) ; K. See also:Kuhn, Thurgovia sacra (3 vols. in 5 parts, 1869-1883) ; J.

A. Pupikofer, Der Kanton Thurgau (St Gall and Bern, 1835); and Geschichte See also:

des Thurgaus (to 183o; 2nd ed., 3 vols., 1884—1889); J. R. Rahn, Die mittelalt. Kunstdenkmaler d. Cant. Thurgau (1899) ; " Thurgauische Rechtsquellen," in the Zeitschrift f. schweiz. Recht (1852), vol. i. (W. A.

End of Article: THURGAU (Fr. Thurgovie)

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