Cham is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. Location Cham is located on the northern shore of Lake Zug, northwest of the cantonal capital of Zug. Surrounding Cham, Steinhausen is to the east, Hünenberg is to the west, Lake Zug is south, and Maschwanden and Knonau in the Canton of Zürich are to the north. The town has an area of . The train station is located above sea level and the highest point in town is above sea level. The town is located at the mouth of the Lorze river, with two sections (Kirchbühl and Städtli) located on both sides of the river. Cham also includes a number of smaller villages; Enikon, Lindencham, Friesencham, Hagendorn, Rumentikon, Niederwil, Oberwil and Bibersee. Cham has an area, , of . Of this area, 63.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 21.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). History The shores of Lake Zug were populated at least 6000 years ago with several sites in Cham. A number of finds in the village of Oberwil in Cham show that there were a number of middle and late Bronze Age settlements in Cham. In 1944–45 a large, unique Roman watermill with multiple waterwheels was found in the village of Hagendorn. A Roman warehouse from the same era has been discovered in the village of Heiligkreuz. The city's name, Cham, means 'village' and refers to a large Celtic settlement on the shore of Lake Zug. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, there was also an Alamannic settlement, but only place names remain. The first mention of the town (as Chama) occurred on 16 April 858 when King Louis the German gave the town to his daughter, Hildegard, the abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey in Zürich. The town was administered by a variety of nobles and bailiffs over the following centuries. In 1360 the town was granted a charter as well as the rights to hold a market and enroll citizens. This charter, granted by Charles IV, was given to Gottfried von Hünenberg as the ruler of the city. The Habsburgs, attempting to maintain their influence in the region following the loss of Zug to the Swiss Confederation in 1364, bought part of the town in 1366 and completely bought the Hünenberg family