Birmensdorf, Zürich

Birmensdorf
Coat of arms
Birmensdorf
Location of Birmensdorf Sorry no file found, please edit the map section of the infobox with the correct map image file name.
Coordinates:
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Zurich
District	Dietikon
Area
• Total	11.43 km2 (4.41 sq mi)
Elevation	518 m (1,699 ft)
Population (Dec 2014)
• Total	6,167
• Density	540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Postal code	8903
SFOS number	0242
Surrounded by	Aesch bei Birmensdorf, Berikon (AG), Bonstetten, Oberwil-Lieli (AG), Rudolfstetten-Friedlisberg (AG), Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wettswil am Albis
Website	www.birmensdorf.ch SFSO statistics

Birmensdorf is a municipality in the district of Dietikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.

History

Birmensdorf is first mentioned in 876 as Piripoumesdorf.

Geography

Birmensdorf church

Birmensdorf has an area of 11.5 km² (4.4 sq mi). Of this area, 41% is used for agricultural purposes, while 38.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). In 1996 housing and buildings made up 12.8% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (7.3%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 0.4% of the area. As of 2007 14.1% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.

The municipality is located in the Reppischtal. It includes the hamlet of Landikon and numerous scattered farm houses. The village of Birmensdorf includes the former hamlets of Wullikon, Schüren, Güpf, Uf Dorf and Risi.

The Wüeribach stream empties into the Reppisch near Birmensdorf.

Demographics

Birmensdorf has a population (as of 31 December 2014) of 6,167. As of 2007, 19.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. As of 2008 the gender distribution of the population was 49.8% male and 50.2% female. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 13.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (87.1%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.6%) and French being third ( 1.4%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (16%), the FDP (12.7%) and the CVP (9.5%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 67.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Birmensdorf about 80.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). There are 2508 households in Birmensdorf.

Birmensdorf has an unemployment rate of 2.38%. As of 2005, there were 78 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 440 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 66 businesses in this sector. 1270 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 188 businesses in this sector. As of 2007 43.6% of the working population were employed full-time, and 56.4% were employed part-time.

As of 2008 there were 1738 Catholics and 2227 Protestants in Birmensdorf. In the 2000 census religion was broken down into several smaller categories. From the 2000 census, 46.5% were some type of Protestant, with 44.6% belonging to the Swiss Reformed Church and 1.9% belonging to other Protestant churches. 30.1% of the population were Catholic. Of the rest of the population, 0% were Muslim, 5.2% belonged to another religion (not listed), 3.2% did not give a religion, and 14% were atheist or agnostic.

The historical population is given in the following table:

year	population
1634	460
1749	848
1836	1,082
1850	1,096
1900	1,101
1950	1,480
2000	5,451

Transport

Birmensdorf railway station is a stop of the Zürich S-Bahn on the lines S9 and S15. It is an 18 minute ride from Zürich Hauptbahnhof.

The municipality is located on the A3 motorway.

External links

• Birmensdorf Online Official website (German)
• Birmensdorf in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

• Birmensdorf (ZH, Vogtei) in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.