Braunau is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
History
Braunau is first mentioned in 762 as Pramacunauia, when it was owned by the Abbey of St. Gall. It was acquired when the Abbey acquired land in the Toggenburg. Initially it was ruled as a fief of the Abbey by the Heitnau family, until 1228 when it went to the Knights Hospitaller Commandry of Tobel. It was under their rule until 1798.
Originally, it was part of the Affeltrangen parish, however, St. Michael's Chapel, belonged to the Märwil parish at sometime before 1228. In 1529, most of the population converted during the Protestant Reformation. The remaining Catholics became part of the Tobel parish, while the Reformed members joined the Märwil parish. In 1806-07 a church was constructed, and in 1810 the village separated from Märwil. In 1861 it formed an independent parish.
The regulations () of 1519 regulated the daily life in the village. Grain was grown in a three-field system. Starting in the mid-19th Century, cattle and dairy farming with cheese production and fruit production became common. In the early 19th Century cotton and linen weaving entered the village as a cottage industry. Since about 1895 timber industry has been in the village with some carpentry and a sawmill.
Until 1998 it was part of the municipality of Tobel.
Geography
Braunau has an area, , of . Of this area, or 68.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 25.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.2% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 0.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.6%. Out of the forested land, 21.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 61.6% is used for growing crops, while 7.0% is used for orchards or vine crops.
The municipality is located in the Münchwilen district. It consists of the village of Braunau and the hamlets of Beckingen, Hittingen, Oberhausen and 17 other settlements.
Demographics
Braunau has a population () of , 6.7% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of %. Most of the population () speaks German(98.0%), with Russian being second most common ( 0.5%) and English being third ( 0.3%).
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.2% male and 51.8% female. The population was made up of 306 Swiss men (45.3% of the population), and 20 (3.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 325 Swiss women (48.1%), and 25 (3.7%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 12 live births to Swiss citizens and births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 5 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 7 while the foreign population decreased by 1. There were 3 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 5 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 3 non-Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was a decrease of 10 and the non-Swiss population change was a decrease of 1 people. This represents a population growth rate of -1.6%.
The age distribution, , in Braunau is; 89 children or 13.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 110 teenagers or 16.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 68 people or 10.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 92 people or 13.6% are between 30 and 39, 120 people or 17.7% are between 40 and 49, and 80 people or 11.8% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 71 people or 10.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 31 people or 4.6% are between 70 and 79, there are 16 people or 2.4% who are between 80 and 89.