Schaffhausen (Canton) - Schaffhausen (Kanton)

The Canton of Schaffhausen is the northernmost canton of the Switzerland, it is practically completely north of the Rhine and is surrounded by German territory. The national borders are somewhat confusing, the German village becomes one Büsingen on the Upper Rhine as an enclave on the Rhine surrounded by Swiss territory, on the other hand there are villages Buchberg and Rudlingen, which are referred to as the "lower part of the canton", separated from the German and cantonal-Zurich area in a loop of the Rhine without direct contact with the rest of the canton.

background

Schaffhausen is the northernmost of the Swiss cantons. The canton includes the area that was under the control of the city of Schaffhausen, which was proclaimed a free imperial city under the Staufers. The canton developed around the city of Schaffhausen, which was first mentioned in a document around 1045 when it was granted the right to mint; The city developed around the monastery of All Saints, which was directly imperial under the Staufers. The city-state joined the Swiss Confederation in 1501 at the same time as Basel was the twelfth place; In 1529 the canton joined the Reformation. With the Helvetic Republic under Napoleon, the city-state was enlarged by additional areas to form today's canton.
During the Second World War, the canton of Schaffhausen feared a German invasion due to its exposed location north of the Rhine, by farmers who cultivated land on both sides of the Rhine and trains of the Reichsbahn, which ran the line through the canton To sing - Schaffhausen - Waldshut - Basel cross-border contacts arose. With the long, barely-guarded "green border" to Germany, which was repeatedly the target of Jews willing to emigrate and other persecuted people, with the support, but also in some cases, of betrayal by border residents, there were repeated escapes from the Reich territory. At the end of the Second World War there was a violation of neutrality through the probably erroneous American bombing of the city of Schaffhausen and various places in the canton. the roofs were marked with large Swiss crosses.

Today almost half of the canton's inhabitants live in the area of ​​the city of Schaffhausen, the surrounding villages are rural. Agriculture with arable farming and, above all, viticulture and tourism, with the towns on the Rhine and the Rhine Falls as the center of attraction, have the greatest economic importance in the canton. Due to the lower real estate prices and the proximity to the border, a number of international corporations have settled, which after the decline of the metalworking industry in Schaffhausen and Neuhausen are also offering jobs for expatriates.

Geographically, the canton orients itself in the west-east direction on the course of the Rhine, which today has more tourist significance than significance as a trade route. In the north, in the hinterland of the city of Schaffhausen, lies the Randen hill range. The easternmost foothills of the Jura range reach a height of 915 m and, with the rain shadow, which is also caused by the nearby Black Forest, contributes to the fact that the canton has little rainfall and longer periods of sunshine, so that not only vines but also southern vegetation thanks to the mild climate can thrive along the Rhine.

Regions

• Schaffhausen - Capital of the canton of Schaffhausen
• Stone at the Rhein - Medieval town at the transition from the Untersee to the Upper Rhine
• Klettgau - The canton's sun room and wine-growing region
• Beets - Foothills of the Jura massif
• Reiat - area around Thayngen
• Buchberg - Rudlingen, the "lower part of the canton" is an exclave of the canton

in neighboring Germany is the region of

• Southern Black Forest

places

• Capital Schaffhausen
• Stone at the Rhein
• Neuhausen am Rheinfall with the Rhine Falls
• Hallau in Klettgau
• Neunkirch, Small town in Klettgau

Other goals

Rhine Falls in Neuhausen. The Neuhausers claim that the Rhine Falls are the largest waterfalls in Europe. When it comes to the amount of water, you are right.

language

German. Swiss German is spoken locally with the Schaffhausen dialect, and a traditional dialect has been preserved in Schleitheim in particular.

getting there

By plane

The nearest international airport with worldwide connections is that of Zurich (ZRH), from the airport train station using a direct S-Bahn connection or by car to Schaffhausen it takes about 40 minutes.

By train

Of Winterthur, Zurich Airport and Zurich HB S-Bahn connections run to Schaffhausen at least every hour Basel (Badischer Bahnhof) with the Deutsche Bahn in 1 1/4 hours to Schaffhausen, or from Basel SBB via Zurich, the journey takes 1 3/4 hours, is significantly longer, is more expensive and the trains are a little more punctual.
Of Stuttgart to Schaffhausen with the ICE in around 2 hours.

By car

Schaffhausen is on the motorway A4 Winterthur - Schaffhausen - Thayngen / Bargen, from the Winterthur Nord junction you go on the A1 further east (towards St. Gallen) or west (Zurich - Bern - French-speaking Switzerland).
From Stuttgart via the A81 until after To sing and then continue on the A4 towards Schaffhausen.
Of Freiburg on the B31 through the Southern Black Forest towards Schaffhausen. On the B34 can be reached through the Klettgau Waldshut, the route continues along the Upper Rhine to Basel.
The Schaffhausen - Zurich route can be reached via the A4 - Winterthur - A1 - Zurich, alternatively via Eglisau (signposted from Neuhausen as "via German territory") and then via the A51 past Bulach and Zurich Airport. Both routes are at risk of congestion in the morning and early evening hours and you then need 75 instead of 45 minutes.

mobility

The whole region is very well served by public transport. The SBB connect Schaffhausen with Winterthur, Zurich Airport and Zurich.

The Hochrheinbahn through the Klettgau via Waldshut to Basel and the line to Thayingen - To sing are served by Deutsche Bahn.

Along the Rhine after Stone at the Rhein - Kreuzlingen / Constancy goes with the "Thurbo".

Some caution is advised when choosing a ticket and the validity of zone tickets and day passes, if in doubt, ask because in Switzerland fines are charged even when using a route with an invalid ticket (caution: even if the endpoints are the same, the price may vary depending on Intermediate station ("via" means "over" at the machine) vary and the ticket will be considered invalid if, for example, you have obtained a Schaffhausen - Zurich ticket via Winterthur and are thus on the train to Zurich via Bülach " Ask about the train station!).

Option 1: explore Schaffhausen and the region by bike.

Option 2: the Rhine can be sailed by ship (Easter to mid-October, depending on the water level).

Tourist Attractions

In the city Schaffhausen

• Munot. The medieval fortress of Schaffhausen.last change: not specified

In Neuhausen am Rheinfall

• Rhine Falls. The largest waterfall in Europe in terms of quantity.last change: not specified

In the "Upper Canton"

• Stone at the Rhein. With the well-preserved old town center.last change: not specifiedType is group designation

activities

• hike, e.g. along the Rhine and in the hilly area of ​​the Rand

Anabaptist Path SH: the Anabaptist Path was along the routes across the Beets on which the baptist from the area of ​​the city of Schaffhausen in the 16th century. opened for their secret worship meetings.

• Cycle is very popular in the flat canton of Schaffhausen, especially along the Upper Rhine; a network of cycle paths runs through Schaffhausen and Neuhausen.
• swim in the Rhine and the various bathing establishments. The people of Schaffhausen like to go a little up the Rhine and let themselves drift with the current down the river. For longer stretches it is best to take a swimming aid ("noodle") or a waterproof garment bag with you. Because of the whirlpools in certain places, it is best to stick to the places where the locals swim and only venture into the water as a good swimmer. Fatalities occur again and again when tourists want to swim across the Rhine in a drunk state ...
  

There is an absolute bathing ban below the boat house of the Schaffhausen canoe club to the power station and below the river bath from Flurlingen to the Rhine Falls and there is a ban on recreational boats.

• horse riding: especially in Klettgau, especially in Guntmadingen, which, according to a saying, has more horses than inhabitants, there are numerous riding stables.
• in winter there is often only a little snow on the Beets is then the Cross-country skiing"Randenspur" trail prepared; in Hallau and Opfertshofen are in good snow conditions Ski lifts in operation, the relatively short pistes are popular with young people - the canton of Schaffhausen is not a winter sports destination.
• Ice skating is possible in winter on the artificial ice rink in the KSS Schaffhausen, ice surfaces are often released on a meadow near Thayngen.

• the city of Schaffhausen is the best place to visit for cinema or theater performances.
• in autumn at the time of the grape harvest there are numerous in Klettgau Trotting festivals and Autumn Sundays Partly celebrated with parades and market stalls from sellers of local products with wine tasting opportunities.

kitchen

• In most of the villages in the canton there is at least one inn, in the villages the "parish hall" is often the inn of the place where the parish meeting was held in the "Säli".
• There is a larger selection of gourmet restaurants in Schaffhausen and also along the promenade along the banks of the Rhine in Stein am Rhein (and in the canton Thurgau belonging town Diessenhofen.
• the Klettgau is a wine-growing region, the local red wine is made in various places "Pinot Noir" served and also offered for sale, thanks to the increased efforts of the winemakers, several wines were awarded and have successfully rejected the image of the sour country wine in the past twenty years.

nightlife

• the nightlife takes place in the clubs of the city of Schaffhausen or even more in Zurich, 40 minutes away.

security

The security situation is harmless, only in the night and early morning hours there can be harassment and theft in the nightlife district of Schaffhausen and around the train station.

There is a danger on the Rhine from swimmers who are under the influence of alcohol or who overestimate themselves, and from careless boat drivers and rubber boat captains: here, too, it should be pointed out that alcohol can have fatal consequences even when driving a boat, it has already been mentioned in the Schaffhausen newspapers the introduction of breath alcohol controls for motorboat drivers discussed.

Apart from occasional waves of burglaries by criminal tourists, who can enter almost unhindered, the proximity to the border does not lead to any significant problems. Since you are suddenly standing at a border crossing on hikes or boat tours, it is advisable to always carry your identity card or ID card with you. This also applies to the connection to Zurich, which is used on the route via Neuhausen - Jestetten - Lottstetten - Rafz leads over German territory. At customs, particular attention is paid to foreign exchange smuggling and customs violations (import of meat and dairy products and alcoholic beverages into Switzerland only permitted in small quantities) Duty allowance is 300.- Fr.

Practical advice

Telecommunications:

• Telephone booths are rare in the country, and some can still be found at the post office or train station. Cell phone coverage is largely seamless thanks to the networks of all operators. One problem is the proximity to the border, as the signal from German telephone companies is sometimes stronger than that from Swiss providers. In order not to be confronted with high roaming costs, it is advisable to switch off automatic (data) roaming - otherwise, for example in the case of an automatic Android update during a hike in the border area, the costs are so high that you could have made a city flight . With a little luck, German travelers can still access their home network with a flat rate near the border.
• Open WLAN is rarely found in Switzerland, the free WLAN access in MacDonalds is well known; Holders of a Swisscom mobile phone subscription (no prepaid offers) can surf the web for free at SBB train stations.

Health care:

• During the day during the regular opening times of the general practitioner’s practice, there is an emergency service for the regions Schaffhausen-Neuhausen, Klettgau and Reiat-Thayngen organized, it is best to ask at the nearest doctor's office.
• 47.71218.63481  General practitioner emergency practice, Cantonal Hospital, 8208 Schaffhausen. Tel.: 41 (0)52 634 34 00. In the evenings and on weekends, the emergency service in the canton is regulated centrally. The family doctors from the canton of Schaffhausen work in rotation at the family doctor's emergency practice at the cantonal hospital in Schaffhausen, who works next door to the hospital emergency unit and cares for patients who do not need immediate hospital care.Open: weekdays 6:00 pm-10:00pm, weekends 9:00 am-10:00pm.last change: not specifiedType is group designation
• 47.71188.63542  Cantonal Hospital Schaffhausen, Geissbergstrasse 81, 8208 Schaffhausen, Germany. Tel.: 41 (0)52 634 34 34. The emergency ward of the cantonal hospital is on standby 24 hours a day; during peak times, patients are triaged between the emergency ward and the general practitioner's emergency practice according to their need for hospital in order to keep the waiting times acceptable.Open: 24-hour emergency room.last change: not specified

climate

The climate corresponds to that of southern Germany - the Lake Constance area with cool winters, in which there is only occasional snow for a few days, and moderately warm summers with temperatures of up to 25-30 ° C, which in the canton of Schaffhausen in the rain shadow of the Randen and Black Forest can sometimes turn out dry. The Rhine water temperatures allow bathing from June to September and can reach 21-23 ° C.

trips

• to the Lake Constance
• to Winterthur or Zurich

literature

Web links