Richterswil (Swiss German: Richtischwiil [3][4]) is a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.

During the second Villmergen war, the newly built fortifications above the city, prevented another invasion.

Under the French established Helvetic Republic Richterswil was part of the District of Horgen, and had a higher tax rate than surrounding villages.

As part of this higher tax, during the War of the Second Coalition (1799), it was forced to house French troops.

Following the unsuccessful uprising in 1804 (Bockenkrieg) against Zürich, Richterswil was punished severely.

[6] In 1869 the majority of citizens of Richterswil voted against the new democratic cantonal constitution.

Of the rest of the land, 36.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.9%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

As of 2007[update] 34.8% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.

It includes the sections known as Dorf and Berg (which is part of Samstagern village).