Uster, The Canton of Zürich, Switzerland

History | Geography | Demographics | Wakker Prize | Education | Transport

🇨🇭 Uster is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich.

It is the third largest town in the canton of Zürich, and is one of the twenty largest towns in Switzerland. Uster is located next to a lake, called Greifensee.

The official language of Uster is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.

The town of Uster received the Wakker Prize in 2001.

History The village of Riedikon was first mentioned in year 741, while Uster was first mentioned in 775, as Ustra villa. The toponym has been explained as reflecting Old High German *ustrâ or *uster-aha "voracious [river]" by Boesch (1978). First mentioned in 1099, the donation of the St. Andreas Church was given by the House of Rapperswil as a spacious three-naved country church. The Burg Uster (castle) was first mentioned in 1267, as being in the possession of the Freiherr von Bonstetten. On 7 January 1300 Elisabeth von Rapperswil sold the pledge of the reign Greifensee to the knight Hermann II. von Landenberg, including the Greifensee castle, the town and the lake of the same name, and a larger number of farms, as well as the pastoral rights (Kirchrecht) in Uster. In 1438 the church rights (Kirchrecht) were sold to the Rüti Abbey. The church was considered as a part of the so-called "Laubishof" estate that possibly was located at the nearby plateau where the Uster Castle is situated.

During the Old Zürich War, in May 1444, the Old Swiss Confederacy laid siege to the nearby town of Greifensee, held by about 70 defenders, most of them inhabitants of the Amt Greifensee, and a few Habsburg and Zürich soldiers. The town was captured after four weeks, on May 27, and all but two of the surviving 64 defenders were beheaded on the next day, including the leader, Wildhans von Breitenlandenberg. Even in times of war, mass execution was widely considered a cruel and unjust deed. On May 29, the Castle of Greifensee and the city walls were broken.

Among many other transfers of lands and goods, on 25 April 1448 Beringer von Landemberg von Griffensee confirmed, with permission of his sons Hug and Beringer dem Jungen that at the place where all his ancestors have been buried, a long list of money, goods and lands have to be transferred to the church as a benefice. In 1473 the church comrades, based on an older Jahrzeitbuch (Latin: libri anniversariorum) which now is lost, created a new one which is among the best preserved of the Canton of Zürich. With the dissolution of the monastery Ruti during the Reformation in Zürich its rights fell on the government of the city of Zürich in 1525. In 1824 the new Reformed church was consecrated.

On 22 November 1830 about 10,000 men of the Canton of Zurich gathered near Uster and demanded a new constitution. This assembly, known as the Ustertag, together with other assemblies in Switzerland led to the Restoration and the creation of the Swiss Federal State.

Geography Uster has an area of 28.5 km² (11.0 sq mi). Of this area, 44.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 27.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 26.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.3%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). In 1996 housing and buildings made up 18.4% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (7.8%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 0.4% of the area. As of 2007 22.2% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.

Demographics As of 2007, 21.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.As of 2008 the gender distribution of the population was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 14.2%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (85.0%), with Italian being second most common (4.5%) and Albanian being third (1.7%).

Wakker Prize Uster received the Wakker Prize from the Swiss Heritage Society in 2001 for the city's efforts to maintain an identity within the anonymous Swiss Agglomeration around Zurich. The Society noted that developed land was clearly separated from the neighboring farming land. They praised the efforts that the city had made to integrate old and new buildings and to build with harmonious architectural styles.

Education Primarschule Uster serves primary school children, while Sekundarschulverwaltung Uster serves students at the secondary school level. The Bildungszentrum Uster includes three institutions: Berufsfachschule Uster (vocational school), Kantonsschule Uster (gymnasium), and Höhere Fachschule Uster.

The Japanese School in Zurich, Switzerland's sole primary and junior high Japanese international day school, is located in Uster.

The Stadt- und Regionalbibliothek Uster and the Stadtarchiv und Kläui Bibliothek are located in the city limits. The Bibliothek Nänikon is located in Nänikon, also in the city limits.

Transport The municipality of Uster is served by two railway stations, both of which are served by trains of the Zurich S-Bahn. Uster railway station is in the centre of the city, and is served by lines S9, S14, S15 and S5. Nänikon-Greifensee railway station is on the border with adjoining municipality of Greifensee, and is served only by lines S9 and S14. Uster is a 14-minute ride (S5) from Zürich Hauptbahnhof when travelling on the fastest trains.

Europe/Zurich/Canton_of_Zurich 
<b>Europe/Zurich/Canton_of_Zurich</b>
Image: Adobe Stock Branimir #216985145

Uster has a population of over 35,337 people. Uster also forms the centre of the wider Uster District which has a population of over 135,234 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Uster see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns - Sister Cities Uster has links with:

🇩🇪 Prenzlau, Germany
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Uster is: -171.283,-47.35

Locations Near: Uster 8.71667,47.35

🇨🇭 Meilen 8.633,47.267 d: 11.2  

🇨🇭 Winterthur 8.717,47.483 d: 14.8  

🇨🇭 Hinwil 8.85,47.3 d: 11.5  

🇨🇭 Horgen 8.6,47.267 d: 12.8  

🇨🇭 Freienbach 8.75,47.2 d: 16.9  

🇨🇭 Zürich 8.533,47.367 d: 13.9  

🇨🇭 Bülach 8.533,47.517 d: 23.1  

🇨🇭 Zug 8.515,47.166 d: 25.5  

🇨🇭 Frauenfeld 8.896,47.556 d: 26.6  

🇨🇭 Affoltern am Albis 8.45,47.283 d: 21.4  

Antipodal to: Uster -171.283,-47.35

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 17078.8  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16337.4  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16287.9  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 16152.8  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12382.6  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12301.6  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12288.7  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 12283.7  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 12283.2  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 12263.8  

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