Schaffhausen

**Schaffhausen** is a town in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name. It has a population of about 36,000 as 2016.

The old portion of the town has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the impressive old canton fortress, the _Munot_. A train runs out of town to the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe's largest waterfall, a tourist attraction.

## History

Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins starting in 1045. For a time it was under Habsburg domination, but regained its independence in 1415. It allied itself with Zürich in 1457, and became a full member of the Swiss Confederation in 1501. The first railroad came to Schaffhausen in 1857.

Schaffhausen is in a finger of Swiss land surrounded on three sides by Germany. On April 1, 1944, Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces aircraft which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland. While the United States immediately offered four million dollars in reparations, the raid occurred only a month after the Swiss Air Force had shot down an American bomber.

In 1947 it merged with the former municipality of Buchthalen. In 1964 it merged with the former municipality of Herblingen. Since 2009, Hemmental has been part of the town.

## Industry

Schaffhausen has some well-known industrial companies (Georg Fischer) in piping systems, machine tools and automotives, one internationally-reputed watches manufacturer (IWC), and drug industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos).

## Other websites

- City of Schaffhausen
- Schaffhausen Tourism
- City archives
- U.S. Bombings of Switzerland during World War II

## Infobox (swiss town)

- **subject name**: Schaffhausen
- **image photo**: 1 schaffhausen 2012.jpg
- **image caption**: Schaffhausen in 2012
- **municipality name**: Schaffhausen
- **municipality type**: town, municipality
- **imagepath coa**: Schaffhausen-coat of arms.svg
- **map**: Karte Gemeinde Schaffhausen.png
- **canton**: Schaffhausen
- **iso-code-region**: CH-SH
- **district**: _(None in canton of Schaffhausen)_
- **postal code**: 8200, 8203, 8207, 8208, 8231 Hemmental
- **municipality code**: 2939
- **area**: 41.85
- **elevation**: 403
- **elevation description**: Bahnhofstrasse
- **website**: www.stadt-schaffhausen.ch
- **mayor**: Peter Neukomm
- **mayor asof**: January 2017
- **mayor party**: SP
- **mayor title**: Stadtpräsident
- **list of mayors**: List of mayors of Schaffhausen
- **parliament name**: #Parliament, Grosser Stadtrat
- **parliament number of members**: 36
- **executive name**: #Government, Stadtrat
- **executive number of members**: 5
- **places**: Schaffhausen, Breite, Gruben, Buchthalen, St. Niklausen, Herblingen, Hauental, Hemmental
- **neighboring municipalities**: Beringen, Switzerland, Beringen, Büsingen am Hochrhein (Germany, DE-Baden-Württemberg, BW), Büttenhardt, Dörflingen, Feuerthalen (canton of Zürich, ZH), Flurlingen (ZH), Merishausen, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Stetten, Schaffhausen, Stetten, Thayngen
- **twintowns**: Sindelfingen (Germany), Singen am Hohentwiel (Germany), Dobrich (Bulgaria)


## Infobox (former country)

- **native name**: _Reichsstadt Schaffhausen_
- **conventional long name**: Imperial City of Schaffhausen
- **common name**: Schaffhausen
- **era**: Middle Ages
- **status**: City-state
- **empire**: Holy Roman Empire
- **government type**: Republic
- **year start**: 1218
- **year end**: 1501
- **life span**: 1190 or 1218–1330
1415–1501
- **event start**: Gained _Reichsfreiheit_
- **date start**: betw 1190 and
- **event1**: Pledged to House of Habsburg, Habsburgs
- **date event1**: 1330
- **event2**: Bought independence
- **date event2**: 1415
- **event3**: Old Swiss Confederacy#Associates, Associate member of
Old Swiss Confederacy, Swiss Confederacy
- **date event3**:  
1454
- **event end**: Joined Old Swiss Confederacy, Switzerland
- **event post**: Peace of Westphalia, Swiss independence
recognised
- **date post**:  
1648
- **p1**: All Saints' Abbey (Switzerland)
- **image p1**:
- **s1**: Canton of Schaffhausen
- **image s1**:


## Infobox (former country)

- **native name**: _Reichskloster Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen_
- **conventional long name**: Imperial Abbey of All Saints in Schaffhausen
- **common name**: Schaffhausen Abbey
- **era**: Middle Ages
- **status**: Abbey
- **empire**: Holy Roman Empire
- **government type**: Principality
- **year start**: 1080
- **year end**: 1529
- **event pre**: Consecrated (Pope Leo IX, Leo IX)
- **date pre**: 22 November 1049
- **event start**: Pope Gregory VII, Papal grant of
Landgraviate of Nellenburg, Nellenburg lands
- **date start**:  
- **event1**: Gained Hiltensweiler
lands
- **date event1**:  
1122–1389
- **event2**: City became
Old Swiss Confederacy#Associates, Swiss Associate
- **date event2**:  
1454
- **event3**: City joined Old Swiss Confederacy, Switz.
- **date event3**: 1501
- **event4**: Converted to
monastery and
cathedral church
- **date event4**:

1524
- **event end**: Disestablished in
Protestant Reformation, Reformation
- **date end**:  
- **p1**: Landgraviate of Nellenburg
- **image p1**:
- **s1**: Canton of Schaffhausen
- **image s1**: