SCHAFFHAUSEN, Fr. Schaffhouse, the capital of the Swiss canton of that name, situated on rising ground above the right bank of the Rhine, and 31 m. by rail W. of Constance. In 1920 it had 20,064 inhabitants (18,872 German-speaking), while there were 14,023 Protestants, 5,811 Roman Catholics, and 39 Jews. The population (1930 census) was 21,118. The spot is first men tioned in 1045, "Villa Scafhusun," while in 1050 we hear of the "ford" there across the Rhine.
About 1050 the counts founded here the Benedictine monastery of All Saints, which henceforth became the centre of the town. Perhaps as early as 1190, certainly in 1208, it was an imperial free city, while the first seal dates from 1253. The powers of the abbot were gradually limited and in 1277 the emperor Rudolf gave the town a charter of liberties. The Habsburgs held the town from 1330 to 1415, its freedom being finally purchased in 1418, while from 14" the trade gilds ruled the town. In 1454 it made an alliance with six of the Swiss confederates, by whom it was re ceived as an "ally," being finally admitted a full member in 1501.
The Reformation was adopted in 1524, finally in 1529. The town
suffered much in the Thirty Years' War from the passage of Swedish and Bavarian troops.
Schaffhausen is a city of contrasts, mediaeval architecture of the true Swabian type and modern manufactures mingling curiously together. The chief ancient building in the town is the Munster (now Protestant) of All Saints, formerly a Benedictine mon astery. It was consecrated in 1052, and is a specimen of the sternest and plainest Romanesque. Close to it is deposited the famous I sth-century bell that suggested Schiller's Song of the Bell and the opening of Longfellow's Golden Legend. The castle of Unnoth, above the town, dates in its present form from the second half of the 16th century.
There are a number of factories in the town, while at Neu hausen, its suburb, are aluminium, as well as railway rolling stock works. Industrial development has been furthered by the works for the utilization of the forces in the Rhine, now the property of the town ; since I 900 they have been worked by electricity.