Speicher

Speicher may refer to:

Speicher (Verbandsgemeinde)

Speicher is a Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") in the district Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Speicher.

The Verbandsgemeinde Speicher consists of the following Ortsgemeinden ("local municipalities"):

Coordinates: 49°56′13″N 6°38′17″E / 49.937°N 6.638°E / 49.937; 6.638

Speicher, Switzerland

Speicher is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, in Switzerland.

History

Speicher is first mentioned in 1309 as Spicher. The name originated in the Middle Ages, during the heyday of the Abbey of Saint Gall. At that time the village church served as a granary of the monastery. The first battle of the Appenzell Wars was fought at the village of Vögelinsegg, near Speicher in 1403. A monument to the battle, a pointing Appenzell farmer with a morning star, was built in 1903 on the ridge of Vögelinsegg.

A right of way had to be blasted through the rock at Vögelinsegg to lay the track for the Trogenerbahn in 1900.

Geography

Speicher has an area, as of 2006, of 8.2 km² (3.2 sq mi). Of this area, 54.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 16.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

The municipality is located in the former District of Mittelland. Until the 1950s the municipality was lightly settled with scattered farm houses and two small settlements, Speicher and Speicherschwendi. Both have expanded into larger villages since then.