FRAUENFELD  , the

capital of the Swiss canton of Thurgau, 27 M. by rail N.E. of Zurich or 144 m . W. of Romanshorn . It is built on the Murg stream a little above its junction with the Thur . It is a prosperous commercial town, being situated at the meeting point of several routes, while it possesses several industrial establishments, chiefly concerned with different branches of the iron trade . In 1900 its population (including the neighbouring villages) was 7761, mainly German-speaking, while there were 5563 Protestants to 2188 Romanists . Frauenfeld is the artillery depot for North-East Switzerland . The upper town is the older part, and centres round the castle, of which the tower dates from the loth century, though the rest is of a later period . Both stood on land belonging to the abbot of Reichenau, who, with the count of Kyburg, founded the town, which is first mentioned in 1255 . The abbot retained all manorial rights till 1803, while the political powers of the Kyburgers (who were the " protectors" of Reichenau) passed to the Habsburgs in 1273, and were seized by the Swiss in 1460 with the rest of the Thurgau . In 1712 the town succeeded Baden in Aargau as the meeting-place of the Federal Diet, and continued to be the capital of the Confederation till its transformation in 1798 . In 1799 it was successively occupied by the Austrians and the French . The old Capuchin convent (1591—1848) is now occupied as a vicarage by the Romanist priest .

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