# Ruggell

Ruggell (German pronunciation: ; dialectal: Ruggäll) is a municipality of Liechtenstein. It is the northernmost and lowest elevated municipality. As of 2019, it has a population of 2,322.

## History

Ruggell has an ancient history, with evidence of human activity preceding the Bronze Age. Recorded history begins with ties related to the Abbey of Saint Gall in Switzerland. The name comes from Old Romansh runcaglia, meaning "clearing". It is most known for conservation areas and the historic St. Fridolin's Parish Church.
Ruggell had 397 inhabitants in 1784. A bridge across the Rhine (to Salez in Sennwald, Switzerland) was built in 1929.

## Administration

Ruggell is administered by the mayor and a 8-person municipal council, elected every four years since 1975. The incumbent mayor is Christian Öhri, since 2023.

### List of mayors (1864–present)

List of mayors (1864–present) :
| Name | Term | Party |
| Makarius Büchel | 1864–1867 | — |
| Sebastian Heeb | 1867–1870 | — |
| Makarius Büchel | 1870–1873 | — |
| Sebastian Heeb | 1873–1876 | — |
| Rudolf Ignaz Öhri | 1876–1879 | — |
| Sebastian Heeb | 1879–1882 | — |
| Rudolf Ignaz Öhri | 1882–1885 | — |
| Chrysostomus Büchel | 1885–1891 | — |
| Franz Josef Hoop | 1891–1894 | — |
| Chrysostomus Büchel | 1894–1900 | — |
| Franz Josef Hoop | 1900–1912 | — |
| August Büchel | 1912–1918 | — |
| Andreas Eberle | 1918–1921 | — |
| Johann Büchel | 1921–1930 | CSVP |
| Franz Xaver Hoop | 1930–1939 | FBP |
| Josef Öhri | 1939–1945 | FBP |
| Ernst Büchel | 1945–1951 | FBP |
| Andreas Hoop | 1951–1966 | VU |
| Hugo Öhri | 1966–1983 | FBP |
| Anton Hoop | 1983–1999 | VU |
| Jakob Büchel | 1999–2007 | VU |
| Ernst Büchel | 2007–2015 | FBP |
| Maria Kaiser-Eberle | 2015–2023 | FBP |
| Christian Öhri | 2023– | FBP |

## Geography

While Liechtenstein is known as a largely mountainous country, Ruggell is largely flat and is situated along the Rhine River, where the international borders with Switzerland and Austria meet. On 13 August 2003, Ruggell had a temperature of 37.4 °C (99.3 °F), which is the highest temperature recorded in Liechtenstein.

## Flora and fauna

On the north side of the Eschnerberg mountain is located the roughly 90-hectare nature reserve Ruggeller Riet, rich in fauna and especially in flora. The great biodiversity of the Ruggeller Riets includes peat moss, moor grass, Kleinseggenrieder and bogrush. At the end of May to June, the siberian iris blooms in the large parts of the nature reserve. 736 plant and 1,631 animal species occur in the Ruggeller Riet, among them the white stork and the Eurasian curlew, which has disappeared as a breeding bird since 1997.
The Ruggeller are popularly called "Lättaknätter". The loamy soil that occurs here is called "Lätta". In the past peat was used to heat houses during cold season. This ancient tradition has increasingly disappeared in recent years.

## Sport

Municipality is famous for FC Ruggell, one of the best teams in the country, although it plays in the sixth division of Switzerland. In other sporting areas cycling, field hockey, skiing, and other winter sports stand out. In addition, the town of Ruggell has one of the four sports halls of Liechtenstein; the others are in Schaan, Vaduz, and Balzers.

## Notable people

* Klaus Tschütscher (born 1967) a politician from Liechtenstein, twelfth Prime Minister of Liechtenstein 2009–2013, lives in Ruggell.
* Marcel Tschopp (born 1974 in Ruggell) a Liechtensteiner orienteer and track athlete, specializing in the marathon; was Liechtenstein's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics
* Benjamin Büchel (born 1989 in Ruggell) international footballer who plays for FC Vaduz.