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{{Infobox Swiss town
| subject_name         = Alpthal
| image_photo          = Kleiner Mythen.jpg
| municipality_type    = municipality and village
| imagepath_coa        = Alpthal-blazon.svg|pixel_coa=
| canton               = Schwyz
| iso-code-region      = CH-SZ
| district             = [[Schwyz District|Schwyz]]
|coordinates          = {{coord|47|4.2|N|8|42.9|E|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code          = 8849
| municipality_code    = 1361
| area                 = 22.90
| elevation            = 996 |elevation_description=Kirche Alpthal
| population           = {{Swiss populations NC|CH-SZ|1361}} | populationof = {{Swiss populations YM|CH-SZ}} |  popofyear = {{Swiss populations Y|CH-SZ}}
| website              = www.alpthal.ch
| mayor                = |mayor_asof=|mayor_party=
| mayor_title= |list_of_mayors=
| places               = Eigen, Alpthal, Brunni, Holzegg
| demonym              =
| neighboring_municipalities= [[Einsiedeln, Switzerland|Einsiedeln]], [[Oberiberg]], [[Rothenthurm]], [[Schwyz]]
| twintowns=
|}}
'''Alpthal''' is a village and [[Municipalities of Switzerland|municipality]] in [[Schwyz District]] in the [[canton of Schwyz]] in [[Switzerland]]. Besides the village of Alpthal, the municipality includes the ski resort of '''Brunni''', and settlement of '''Eigen'''.<ref name=swtopo>{{cite map | publisher = Swiss Confederation | title = map.geo.admin.ch | url = https://s.geo.admin.ch/657f002b0d | accessdate = 3 July 2015}}</ref>
==History==
Alpthal is first mentioned in 1018 as ''Albetal''. A branch of the [[Camino de Santiago]] pilgrimage route connected [[Einsiedeln]] with [[Schwyz]] via Alpthal and the [[Haggenegg]].<ref name=HDS_Alpthal>{{cite web | url = http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F725.php | title = Alpthal | language = French | work = [[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]] | date = 30 June 2009 | accessdate = 5 July 2015}}</ref>
Winter tourism first came to Alpthal in 1950, with the opening of the [[aerial tramway|cable car]] from Brunni to the [[Holzegg]]. Brunni acquired its first [[ski lift]] in 1964, and the Brunni-Haggenegg ski area was commissioned in 1974.<ref name=HDS_Alpthal/>
==Geography==
[[File:Alpthal.jpg|thumb|right|The river Alp flows through the Alptal, seen from the Grosser Mythen. The nearest settlement is Brunni, with Alpthal in the mid-distance. Then Trachslau, the larger town beyond is Einsiedeln.]]
[[File:ETH-BIB-Alpthal, Holzegg, Mythen, Urneralpen, Berneralpen aus 1000 m-Inlandflüge-LBS MH01-003692.tif|thumb|Aerial view from 1000&nbsp;m by [[Walter Mittelholzer]] (1923)]]
The village of Alpthal is located in the upper reaches of the Alptal, the valley of the river [[Alp (river)|Alp]] upstream from Einsiedeln. Also within the municipality of Alpthal are the popular ski resort of Brunni, {{convert|3.3|km|mi|abbr=on}} higher up the valley, and the settlement of Eigen, {{convert|2.1|km|mi|abbr=on}} down the valley. To the north and beyond Eigen, the Alp flows through the village [[Trachslau]] and further through the town of [[Einsiedeln]] some {{convert|7|km|mi|abbr=on}} beyond. To the west, south and east the municipality is surrounded by the peaks of the [[Nüsellstock]], [[Näbikenfirst]], [[Grossbrechenstock]], [[Kleiner Mythen]], [[Grosser Mythen]], [[Rotenfluh]], [[Furggelenstock]] and [[Gschwändstock]]. The [[Haggenegg]], between the Kleiner Mythen and the Grossbrechenstock, and the [[Holzegg]], between the Grosser Mythen and Rotenfluh, both cross towards [[Schwyz]]. Both Mythen and Hagenegg belong however to the municipality of Schwyz.<ref name=swtopo/>
The municipality has an area, {{as of|2006|lc=on}}, of {{convert|22.9|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Of this area, 32.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 62.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).<ref name=SFSO/>
==Transport==
[[File:Alpthal bahn.jpg|thumb|right|The Brunni to Holzegg cable car]]
The sole road access to the municipality is from the town of Einsiedeln in the form of a road following the Alp as far as Brunni. Hiking trails, only passable on foot in summer, cross both the [[Haggenegg]] and the [[Holzegg]] to the town of [[Schwyz]]. A [[Aerial tramway|cable car]] also links Brunni with the summit of the Holzegg, operating in both summer and winter.<ref name=swtopo/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bergbahnen.org/seilbahn/950/de/daten.php | title = 15-PB Brunni-Holzegg (Alpthal) | work = www.bergbahnen.org | language = German | accessdate = 2015-07-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.brunnialpthal.ch/SeilbahnHolzegg.aspx | title = Seilbahn Brunni-Holzegg | work = www.brunnialpthal.ch | language = German | accessdate = 2015-07-03}}</ref>
[[PostBus Switzerland]] operates a near-hourly bus service from [[Einsiedeln railway station]] to Alpthal and Brunni. At Einsiedeln connection is made with [[Zurich S-Bahn]] services [[S13 (ZVV)|S13]], to [[Wädenswil]], and [[S40 (ZVV)|S40]], to [[Rapperswil]], with onward connections available to [[Zürich]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf_fields/2015/60.554.pdf | title = Einsiedeln–Alpthal–Brunni (Brunni-Linie) | publisher = Bundesamt für Verkehr | accessdate = 3 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.zvv.ch/zvv-assets/fahrplan/pdf/liniennetzplan_zvv_2015.pdf | title = S-Bahn trains, buses and boats | publisher = ZVV | accessdate = 3 July 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150704074610/http://www.zvv.ch/zvv-assets/fahrplan/pdf/liniennetzplan_zvv_2015.pdf | archive-date = 2015-07-04 |url-status = dead| df =  }}</ref>
==Demographics==
[[File:Alpthal01.JPG|thumb|right|Building in Alpthal]]
Alpthal has a population (as of {{Swiss populations date|CH-SZ}}) of {{Swiss populations|CH-SZ|1361}}.{{Swiss populations ref|CH-SZ}}  {{as of|2007}}, 4.9% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 28%.  Most of the population ({{as of|2000|lc=on}}) speaks German  (97.8%), with Albanian being second most common ( 1.8%) and Portuguese being third ( 0.4%).<ref name=SFSO>[http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/regionen/02/key.html Swiss Federal Statistical Office] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105172441/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/regionen/02/key.html |date=2016-01-05 }} accessed 28-Aug-2009</ref>
{{as of|2000}} the gender distribution of the population was 52.4% male and 47.6% female. The age distribution, {{as of|2008|lc=on}}, in Alpthal is; 128 people or 28.8% of the population is between 0 and 19. 131 people or 29.4% are 20 to 39, and 106 people or 23.8% are 40 to 64. The senior population distribution is 51 people or 11.5% are 65 to 74. There are 25 people or 5.6% who are 70 to 79 and 4 people or 0.90% of the population who are over 80.<ref name=SZ>[http://www.sz.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d2/d25265/d1556/p2298.cfm Canton Schwyz Statistics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609200356/http://www.sz.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d2/d25265/d1556/p2298.cfm |date=2011-06-09 }} {{in lang|de}} accessed 27 August 2009</ref>
{{as of|2000}} there are 172 households, of which 55 households (or about 32.0%) contain only a single individual. 15 or about 8.7% are large households, with at least five members.<ref name=SZ/>
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the [[Swiss People's Party|SVP]] which received 66.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the [[Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland|CVP]] (17.2%), the [[Free Democratic Party of Switzerland|FDP]] (9.4%) and the [[Social Democratic Party of Switzerland|SPS]] (4.5%).<ref name=SFSO/>
In Alpthal about 59.5% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory [[Education in Switzerland#Secondary|upper secondary education]] or additional higher education (either university or a ''[[Fachhochschule]]'').<ref name=SFSO/>
Alpthal has an unemployment rate of 0.66%. {{as of|2005}}, there were 48 people employed in the [[Primary sector of the economy|primary economic sector]] and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 14 people are employed in the [[Secondary sector of the economy|secondary sector]] and there are 5 businesses in this sector. 46 people are employed in the [[Tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary sector]], with 12 businesses in this sector.<ref name=SFSO/>
From the {{as of|2000|alt=2000 census}}, 385 or 86.5% are [[Roman Catholic]], while 34 or 7.6% belonged to the  [[Swiss Reformed Church]]. There are 8 people (or about 1.80% of the population) who are [[Islam]]ic. 10 (or about 2.25% of the population) belong to no church, are [[Agnosticism|agnostic]] or [[Atheism|atheist]], and 8 individuals (or about 1.80% of the population) did not answer the question.<ref name=SZ/>
The historical population is given in the following table:<ref name=HDS>{{HDS|725|Alpthal}}</ref>{{Citation needed | reason = Previous cite does not currently contain all the dates in the table below, and is itself undated, so previous content cannot be verified from an archive|date=July 2015}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! year
! population
|-
| 1850
|  390
|-
| 1900
|  406
|-
| 1950
| 312
|-
| 1960
| 307
|-
| 1970
| 325
|-
| 1980
| 335
|-
| 1990
| 369
|-
| 2000
| 445
|-
| 2005
| 511
|-
| 2007
| 529
|-
|}
==Weather==
Alpthal has an average of 161.9 days of rain per year and on average receives {{convert|2096|mm|in|abbr=on}} of [[Precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]]. The wettest month is June during which time Alpthal receives an average of {{convert|249|mm|in|abbr=on}} of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 16.2 days. The driest month of the year is January with an average of {{convert|129|mm|in|abbr=on}} of precipitation over 16.2 days.<ref name=MeteoSchweiz>{{cite web|url=http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/web/de/klima/klima_schweiz/tabellen.html |title=Temperature and Precipitation Average Values-Table, 1961-1990 |accessdate=8 May 2009 |publisher=Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology - MeteoSwiss |language=German, French, Italian |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627163841/http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/web/de/klima/klima_schweiz/tabellen.html |archive-date=27 June 2009 |df= }}, the weather station elevation is 1031 meters above sea level.</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Alpthal}}
* {{HDS|725|Alpthal}}
* [http://en.skiliftbrunni.ch Skilift Brunni] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106071232/http://en.skiliftbrunni.ch/ |date=2020-01-06 }}
{{Municipalities of the district of Schwyz}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Municipalities of the canton of Schwyz]]