Horgen

Horgen is the principal town of the district of Horgen in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland. The inhabitants are called Horgner. The western village of Horgenberg belongs also to the municipality.

Understand
Situated along the south bank of the beautiful Lake of Zurich, often maliciously called Pfnüselküste, the principal town offers numerous activities and combines traditions with modern elements. The historical village core with many fountains and squares invites to stay and a vast number of old buildings tell the long history from the palafitte settlement to today's character of a bubbly provincial town. The municipality has very good connections to the public transport system and provides an excellent location between the cities of Zurich and Rapperswil. Some hotels and a great selection of shopping facilities wait for tourists, in addition, restaurants of all kinds have settled in this lovely environment.

History
The roots of Horgen go back to the prehistoric times of lake dwelling. Even a whole culture was named after the village due to some exciting discoveries! Originally, the place was called Horga what means something like Out of the swamps. In medieval times, the hamlet benefited from its favorable location on a mule track and was used as a trading center for the wares of merchants. After the Reformation, it momentary became turbulent because of conflicts with the Catholic inland and everything culminated in the War of Bocken at the time of Napoleon. Ever since those events, it stayed mostly calm, only the construction of the railway attracted attention because of some complications. Today, Horgen is prised with the label Energiestadt and is a lively place at the lake.

Neighbouring municipalities
At the north, Horgen borders Oberrieden, Langnau a.A. as well as Thalwil, at the west Hausen a.A. and finally at the south Wädenswil and Hirzel. However, with the last village, there is a scheduled unification that is expected to come into force in the year 2018. In the east of Horgen is the lake of Zurich, on the other bank lies a municipality called Meilen.

By train
Horgen has three railway stations that are all operated by the Zürcher Verkehrsbund (ZVV). The biggest and most important one is the one that is located next to the lake; it is served by the trains S2 and S8 from the commuter railway system. In another station called Horgen Oberdorf stops the line S24 and in the last one, namely Sihlwald, the S4.The ride time until the main station amounts to 18 or maximal 24 minutes. In any case, the fare for a simple ride adds up to 8.40 CHF, as long you stay in the second class.

By plane
The nearest bigger airport is the one in Kloten which operates many international routes. It is the biggest airdrome of Switzerland. From the underground station, trains run constantly to Horgen and the surrounding villages.