Urnäsch

History

In 831 AD a part of Urnäsch known as Färchen was first mentioned. In the 10th century, Urnäsch was part of the administrative district Herisau. From the 14th century onwards, Urnäsch was part of the Rhode Hundwil, and thus part of the bailiwick of St. Gallen. The first official mentioning of the municipality's entirety as “Urnäschen” occurred in 1344, when the village was sold to the German Earl Werdenberg, although the municipality already had a strong and independent agenda. It became part of the Schwäbischer Städtebund in the same year as the so-called Lendlyn, which further reaffirmed their independent position. In 1401, Urnäsch joined the Bund together with St. Gallen. At that time, Urnäsch was still a part of the Rhode Hundwil. From 1401 to 1429, Urnäsch was on the forefront of the Appenzell wars. After the battles in Vögelinsegg (1403) and Stoss (1405) the land gained independence as part of Appenzell. Until 1414, Urnäsch’s population had to go to church in the faraway municipality of Herisau. In the same year, a new church was built in Urnäsch, and thereby the municipality obtained its independence in 1417 when the church was inaugurated. In 1480, Hundwil and Urnäsch split. In 1525, Urnäsch joined the Reformation. Since the Landteilung in 1597, Urnäsch has been part of Appenzell Ausserrhoden as one of the six outermost Rhoden and was regularly the meeting place of the Kleiner Rat. Since the second half of the 19th century, the separation of church and state became more common, until the Swiss constitution of 1908 declared them to be fully separated from each other. Interestingly, Urnäsch's constitution only removed the term “Kirchhöri” as its description, which includes both church and government, in the year 2000.

Geography

Urnäsch has an area, , of . Of this area, 53.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 41.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The elevation of the village is . The lowest elevation is the Murbach which is , while the highest point is the Petersalp which is .

Most-observed species

• Indian Balsam

  Impatiens glandulifera Royle · Magnoliopsida
  21,289
• Japanese Knotweed

  Reynoutria japonica Houtt. · Magnoliopsida
  8,438
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  7,965
• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  5,299
• Canadian Goldenrod

  Solidago canadensis L. · Magnoliopsida
  4,697
• Early Goldenrod, Tall goldenrod, Giant goldenrod

  Solidago gigantea Aiton · Magnoliopsida
  3,889
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,838
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  2,594

Most recent

• M 3.7 — 2026-04-26
  4 km N of Quarten, Switzerland
• M 4.2 — 2024-06-04
  2 km NNW of Unteriberg, Switzerland
• M 3.8 — 2022-09-01
  2 km WSW of Sevelen, Switzerland
• M 4 — 2020-10-25
  5 km ESE of Ennenda, Switzerland
• M 3.6 — 2020-08-08
  5 km SE of Gramais, Austria
• M 3.8 — 2018-02-01
  4 km N of Innerbraz, Austria