Winterthur

Sister cities

• Yverdon-les-Bains
• Plzeň
• Ontario, California
• Hall in Tirol
• La Chaux-de-Fonds

History

Vitudurum was a vicus in what is now Oberwinterthur during the Roman era (first century BC to third century AD). It was fortified into a castrum at the end of the third century, apparently in reaction to the incipient Alamannic invasion. There was an Alamannic settlement on the site in the seventh century. In a battle near Winterthur in 919, Burchard II of Swabia asserted his control over the Thurgau within the Duchy of Swabia against the claims of Rudolph II of Burgundy. The counts of Winterthur, a cadet branch of the family of the counts of Bregenz, built Kyburg castle in the tenth century. With the extinction of the counts of Winterthur in 1053, the castle passed to the counts of Dillingen. Winterthur as a city (presumably on the site of a pre-existing village) was founded by Hartmann III of Dillingen in 1180, shortly before his death in the same year. From 1180 to 1263, Winterthur was ruled by the cadet line of the House of Kyburg. When the counts of Kyburg became extinct in the male line in 1263, Winterthur passed to the House of Habsburg, who established a comital line of Neu-Kyburg in 1264 and granted city rights to Winterthur in the same year. From 1415 until 1442 Winterthur was reichsfrei (subject only to the Holy Roman Emperor). However, in the Old Zürich War they lost this freedom and came back under the control of the Austrian Habsburgs. Needing money, in 1467, the Habsburgs sold Winterthur to the city of Zurich. While it was under the leadership of Zurich, Winterthur's economic freedom was restricted. It lost many of its market rights and the right to trade in some goods. This ended in 1798, when Napoleonic troops took the town. On 27 May 1799, it was the site of the Battle of Winterthur between elements of the French Army of the Danube and elements…

Geography

Winterthur is located at an elevation of . The city is located in a basin south and east of the river Töss before it meets the High Rhine after 10 kilometers. The Eulach, a small river, flows from the town's east end through the middle of the town to meet the Töss at the west exit of the city. Because of this the town is colloquially also called "Eulachstadt". Zurich lies about southwest of Winterthur. , Winterthur has an area of ; 24.8% is used for agricultural purposes, 40.4% is forested, 33.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and 1.1% is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). housing and buildings made up 21.9% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (9%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 0.6% of the area. , 27.6% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.

Most-observed species

• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  42,339
• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  21,302
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  17,613
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  14,775
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  11,769
• Narrow-leaved Ragwort

  Senecio inaequidens DC. · Magnoliopsida
  8,421
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,765
• hedgehog

  Erinaceus europaeus Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  7,513

Most recent

• M 3.7 — 2026-04-26
  4 km N of Quarten, Switzerland
• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 4.2 — 2024-06-04
  2 km NNW of Unteriberg, Switzerland
• M 3.4 — 2022-10-16
  Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
• M 3.8 — 2022-09-01
  2 km WSW of Sevelen, Switzerland
• M 4 — 2022-07-09
  2 km NNE of Grosselfingen, Germany