Schaffhausen (German: [ʃafˈhaʊzn̩] ⓘ; Alemannic German: Schafuuse; French: Schaffhouse [ʃa.fuz]; Italian: Sciaffusa; Romansh: Schaffusa), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 36,000 as of December 2016.

The old town has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the old canton fortress, the Munot.

One of the lines connects the town with the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe s largest waterfall, a tourist attraction.

Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins from 1045.

[6] About 1050 the counts of Nellenburg founded the Benedictine monastery of All Saints, which became the centre of the town.

The powers of the abbot were gradually limited and in 1277 the Emperor Rudolf I gave the town a charter of liberties.

Then, in 1415 the Habsburg Duke Frederick IV of Austria sided with the Antipope John XXIII at the Council of Constance, and was banned by the Emperor Sigismund.

As a result of the ban and Frederick's need of money, Schaffhausen was able to buy its independence from the Habsburgs in 1418.

The town was heavily damaged during the Thirty Years' War by the passage of Swedish (Protestant) and Bavarian (Roman Catholic) troops and the very important bridge was burnt down.

[8] Schaffhausen is located in a finger of Swiss territory surrounded on three sides by Germany.

On 1 April 1944, Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces, which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland due to navigation errors.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent a personal letter of apology to the mayor of Schaffhausen and the United States quickly offered four million US dollars in reparations.

Its area expanded again in 1964 when Herblingen was absorbed and for a third time in 2009 when Hemmental joined the municipality.

[12] Schaffhausen shares an international border with the German village of Büsingen am Hochrhein, an exclave entirely surrounded by Switzerland.

The wettest month is July during which time Schaffhausen receives an average of 95 mm (3.7 in) of rain.

The driest month of the year is February with an average of 59 mm (2.3 in) of precipitation over 8.4 days.

[13] The City Council (de: Stadtrat) constitutes the executive government of the town of Schaffhausen and operates as a collegiate authority.

It is composed of five councilors (German: Stadtrat/Stadträtin), each presiding over a department (Referat), which each consists of several administrative districts.

In the mandate period January 2017 – December 2020 (Amtsdauer) the City Council is presided by Stadtpräsident Peter Neukomm.

The regular election of the City Council by any inhabitant valid to vote is held every four years.

Any resident of Schaffhausen allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Council.

Any resident of Schaffhausen allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the Grand City Council.

The parliament holds its meetings in the Kantonsratsaal (Cantonal Council Hall) am Kornmarkt.

[18] The last regular election of the Grand City Council was held on 27 November 2016 for the mandate period (German: Legislatur) from January 2017 to December 2020.

[22] Of the foreign population, (as of 2008[update]), 21% are from Germany, 13.3% are from Italy, 8.8% are from Croatia, 13.3% are from Serbia, 6% are from Macedonia, 9% are from Turkey, and 28.6% are from other countries.

The regional bus services 21–25, lines 630 and 634 and all night bus services (designated with N#) all depart from the forecourt of Schaffhausen railway station: Departing from Schifflände, there are regular boat trips on the River Rhine (High Rhine) to Stein am Rhein and Kreuzlingen (Lake Constance) offered by Schweizerische Schifffahrtsgesellschaft Untersee und Rhein (URh) during warmer seasons.

There are only two listed religious buildings, the former Benedictine All Saints Abbey and the Church of St.

[37] Schaffhausen hosts some well-known industrial companies like Georg Fischer (piping systems, machine tools and automotives), an internationally reputed manufacturer of watches (IWC), pharmaceutical industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos) and BB Biotech (biotechnologies).

Tyco International, Garmin, Aptiv (purely for tax purposes), and cyber protection company Acronis are also incorporated in Schaffhausen.