Birwinken is a municipality in the district of Weinfelden in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
History
Birwinken is probably first mentioned in 822 as Wirinchova. In 1275 it was mentioned as Birbichon.
In the 14th century, Birwinken and Dotnacht formed a distant part of the Herrschaft of Spiegelberg near Weingarten. Due to its location away from the rest of the Herrschaft it was sold to a number of other owners, before it was sold by the Muntprat family of Constance, in 1640, to the city of Zurich. The low court of Birrwinken became part of the property of the Vogt of Weinfelden in 1649. Through the court, the village remained tied to Weinfelden until 1798. Between 1803 and 1816 it was a district capital.
The village church is mentioned no later than the 12th century. By 1400, the parish was under the Augustinian monastery in Constance, and until the Protestant Reformation in 1529, was overseen by a monk. The church became a Reformed parish which included the village of Andwil. The parish remained independent until 1578, when it became a filial church of Langrickenbach. The Catholics in the village belonged to the parish of Berg after 1869.
In the 19th century the village economy add animal husbandry to the traditional agriculture and fruit growing. In 1878 a weaving and three embroidery factories provided 165 jobs. However, the decline of the textile industry in the 20th century and village's remoteness led to high levels of emigration. Due to the emigration, the village never developed much industry and has remained a mostly agricultural village. In 1990, 63% of the population worked in agriculture.
Geography
Birwinken has an area, , of . Of this area, or 76.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 16.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.5% of the total area while housing and buildings made up less than 0.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.2%. Parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.0%. Out of the forested land, 14.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 63.3% is used for growing crops, while 12.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Weinfelden district, on the southern slope of the Bodenseerücken mountains about east of Berg. It consists of the villages of Birwinken, Andwil, Happerswil-Buch, Klarsreuti and Mattwil.
Demographics
Birwinken has a population () of . , 7.3% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 8.1%. Most of the population () speaks German (96.9%), with Albanian being second most common ( 0.8%) and Italian being third ( 0.4%).
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.0% male and 49.0% female. The population was made up of 614 Swiss men (47.1% of the population), and 51 (3.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 595 Swiss women (45.6%), and 44 (3.4%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 11 live births to Swiss citizens and births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 9 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 2 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 2 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 4 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 4 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 28 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 5 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.6%.
The age distribution, , in Birwinken is; 161 children or 12.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 199 teenagers or 15.4% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 130 people or 10.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 138 people or 10.6% are between 30 and 39, 228 people or 17.6% are between 40 and 49, and 190 people or 14.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 114 people or 8.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 77 people or 5.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 54 people or 4.2% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 5 people or 0.4% who are 90 and older.