Jona - History

History

The river Jona flows through the municipality in the Lake Zürich. The river's name was first mentioned in 834 AD, the municipality Jona was named much later. It is assumed that the name originates as either Celtic Jauna (the cold one) – Jona river is still largely determined by forest area – or, as Indo-Eurepean yamam, meaning stream. Latest interpretations say that the Indo-European word jeu roughly means to move, followed by the Old High German name Jouna . In 1350, Rapperswil and its castle was widely destroyed by Rudolf Brun, and the Herrschaft Rapperswil – Rapperswil and some surrounding villages including Jona – was acquired by the Habsburg family.

After 1803's Act of Mediation, Rapperswil and Jona joined the canton of St. Gallen, and the former Herrschaft Rapperswil was splitten into the municipalites Rapperswil and Jona. Jona, as municipality, was established in 1803 around the former boundaries of the city of Rapperswil, comprising the small rest of the former Herrschaft Rapperswil and the villages of Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen and Wurmsbach.

In the early 19th century, Jona river's hydropower was used for a larger number of watermills along the small river. As a renewable source, the river was important for industrialization of the rapidly growing village.

On January 1, 2007, the municipalities of Rapperswil and Jona merged to form a new political entity: Rapperswil-Jona has a population of 25,777 (December 2007). This makes it the second largest town in the canton after the capital St. Gallen itself.