Freienbach

Freienbach is a municipality of about 16,500 inhabitants in Höfe District in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. It is first mentioned in 972 as Friginbach. The municipality lies on Lake Zürich, including its upper section known as the Obersee, and stretches from the lake shore at 406 metres up to the Etzel mountain at 1,098 metres. It consists of the villages of Freienbach, Pfäffikon (not to be confused with Pfäffikon in the canton of Zürich), Wilen, Bäch and Hurden, which lies on the Hurden Peninsula, together with the two islands of Lützelau and Ufenau. The territory covers about 13.8 square kilometres, with 40.7 percent farmland, 23.8 percent forest and 31 percent built up. The population grew by 23.8 percent in the ten years to 2020, German is spoken by nearly nine in ten residents, and in 2007 about 23 percent were foreign nationals.