Schaffhausen, Switzerland

Schaffhausen is the northernmost town in Switzerland and is one of the few Swiss towns north of the High Rhine (the border between Germany and Switzerland), along with Basel, the small town of Stein am Rhein, Neunkirch and Eglisau (Canton Zurich). Schaffhausen lies southeast of the Randen, at the mouth of the Durach, which comes from the north, into the Rhine.

The old town has numerous Renaissance buildings. Schaffhausen was given the nickname of oriel town because of the 300 oriels that are present. Outside the original town walls, but now in the middle of the town due to expansion, is the Munot, a 16th century fortress. Southwest of the town, but no longer within the town limits, is the Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe. Of the 41.78 km² municipal area, 19.9% belongs to the building zone, 29.1% is used for agriculture and 51% is forested.

Neighboring communities

Since the incorporation of Hemmental in 2009, the town of Schaffhausen borders 13 municipalities in the canton of Schaffhausen, the canton of Zurich and Germany.

Urban quarters

The city of Schaffhausen consists of the following quarters:

City districts according to the Federal Statistical Office:

Postal codes

Schaffhausen is part of the routing circle 8 of the Swiss postal code system.

Climate

Schaffhausen is located on the edge of the Central Plateau and in the temperate climate zone. The town lies in the rain shadow of the Black Forest, Randen and the Reiat. The Black Forest in particular keeps out the rainy westerly winds.

The annual mean temperature is 8.8 °C, whereby the coldest monthly mean temperatures are measured in January with 0.0 °C and the warmest in July with 18.9 °C. The average monthly mean temperature here is around 82 frost days and 22 ice days. On average, around 82 frost days and 22 ice days are to be expected here. There are around 45 summer days on average over the year, while there are normally 8.2 heat days. The MeteoSwiss weather station is located at an altitude of 438 m above sea level.

36,641 people live in the city of Schaffhausen (as of the end of 2019).

With its size, the city of Schaffhausen ranks 15th in the Swiss city ranking.

The city of Schaffhausen forms the centre of the canton of Schaffhausen. The Schaffhausen agglomeration also includes the northern Zürcher Weinland, the district of Diessenhofen in the canton of Thurgau and the German town of Büsingen. Approximately 100,000 inhabitants live in the Schaffhausen agglomeration.