A view into a greenhouse with potted flowers
Hofen has only few workplaces, therefore the majority of the people work out of the village in Thayngen or Schaffhausen. Despite the local trade would be presented here.
A view into a greenhouse with potted flowers
The Weber family, resident in the Kaserne, have conducted a market garden for 60 years already as a family concern. A wide range of potted plants and cut flowers are cultivated. The official shop is in Schaffhausen, though flowers and seedlings can be bought on the spot as well. The business occupies at both locations Hofen and Schaffhausen: 5 florists, 1 gardener, 4 apprentices and 6 temporary workers.
The farm owned by the family of Ueli Fuchs is the last farm of Hofen. It carries on agriculture and cattle breeding. Fresh milk is directly available from the farm.
Explosive welding sleeve before (above) and after (below) mounting
Peter Hofer is the owner of a small factory which produces sleeves for the explosive-welding process. This special technology is used to join overhead cables. The clay-mine of the former brick-factory »Lättgrueb« serves as a test ground with a demolition chamber. The products are predominantly exported to Sweden and Finland. Furthermore the Hospex Ltd. gives licences of different special welding processes world-wide. The number of employees varies between 2 and 4 depending on the order situation.
In the village's centre, Vreni Jost runs a small dairy and grocer's shop. The main goods are groceries and dairy products. In the past, fresh milk was also available.
Annually, there is a small fair, called »Chilbi« for young and old, a celebration of the national anniversary on the 1st August, an open-air concert of the brass band from the German neighbouring village Büsslingen and a New Year party. Most of these events are organised by members of the Samaritan Club Unterer Reiat. These parties are always good occasions to foster the cohesion among the inhabitants and the relationship to the neighbouring villages far over the national boundary.
Hofen once had two restaurants, the »Schweizerbund« and the »Hirschen«. Whereas the Schweizerbund closed its door a long time ago, the Hirschen reopened its doors for the customers after a break for two years. The new landlord, Sepp Kathriner from Thayngen offers a comprehensive assortment for fair prices to his guests. A garden restaurant, a cosy room and a little indigenous room invite for a visit. Young and old people like meeting on the evening in the »Hirschen« for a off-time beer or the gymnastics clubs of the Unterer Reiat quench their thirst with Sepp. The Hirschen's home specialities are »Innerschwyzer Älplermagroni« (overbaken pasta meal) as well as Centre Swiss cheese slices.
In the canton Schaffhausen a law of the building inassurance lays down that each community must have its own fire brigade. Therefore until 1994 each male inhabitant was obliged to join the fire brigade from his 16th birthday. Thanks to great commitment on the part of the fire brigade's committee and the willingness to maintain a voluntary fire brigade, the law for a voluntary fire brigade was approved at the community assembly on 4th June in 1994. As the only community with such a ruling inside the canton, Hofen can be proud!
Owing to the small size and the limited funds, several tasks are managed by the four Unterer Reiat communities Altdorf, Bibern, Hofen and Opfertshofen together. In addition, an association of communities was founded consisting of the district Reiat and the four communities Bargen, Merishausen and Hemmental.
All children of the Unterer Reiat attend the primary school in the central school Unterer Reiat (Zentralschulhaus) which is situated in the middle of the four villages. Three teacher who work full-time and two teachers who work part-time teach the pupils in double classes. Gymnastics take place in the multipurpose hall which belongs to the area. The approval for building the schoolhouse was given with the cantonal vote in the year 1963 with 12,560 yes votes to 1318 no votes. The finished buildung was officially opened in October 1965.
The multipurpose hall Unterer Reiat from the south side
The multipurpose hall offers spacious premises for local club events
Originally, the hall was designed as a sports hall for the schoolchildren and for the local sports club. In the course of the years, the desire for a multipurpose hall for public events became stronger and when a renovation of the hall was unavoidable at the beginning of the nineties, the desire became a reality. In the years 1994/95 the hall was completely rebuilt and enlarged. On 1st August 1995 the building was officially opened with a common national anniversary of the four Reiat villages. This project could be realised as a very economical variant thanks to the enormous commitment of the authorities, some federal contributions and a lottery fund. Moreover the local clubs foster this project with voluntary work and financial contributions. Several events were organised in favour of the new multipurpose hall.
Pleasurable atmosphere in the swimming pool Unterer Reiat
Just beside the central school house, there is a small swimming pool, which is owned by the four Reiat communities. It is a very cosy swimming pool nestling among hills and woods, ideal for a refreshment during the summertime. It is a good alternative to Thayngen's swimming pool which is often hopelessly overcrowded. No wonder it has become an insider tip in the meantime. Above all families with small children appreciate this tranquil place.
There is a lot of lively club activity in spite of the small population. 14 local associations testify to this fact:
Portrait of the gymnastics club Unterer Reiat
A very important position has the gymnastics club inside the Unterer Reiat. The club is well known in the whole canton because of its outstanding evening performances and top results in Korbball (a Swiss kind of basketball).
Otto Uehlinger, a native of the Reiat, composed a song about the Reiat called »Räietlied«. If there is a sound card in your computer and the file extension *.MID (MIDI music files with MIME type audio/midi) of your browser is installed and configured properly, you can listen to its melody after a mouse click on these words directly! In the original this song is sung by a mixed choir in four parts in Reiat dialect. Accompanying song text, written in dialect.