Hauptwil-Gottshaus is a municipality in Weinfelden District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The municipality was created in 1996 by a merger of Hauptwil and Gottshaus. The Wakker Prize was bestowed on Hauptwil in 1999 for the preservation of its architectural heritage. History Hauptwil was first mentioned in 1413 as Hoptwill. Gottshaus was first mentioned in the second half of the 13th century. Hauptwil By no later than 1377 Hauptwil was part of the fief granted by the Bishop of Constance and the Abbey of St. Gall to Welter von Blidegg of the Ryff family. In 1561 it went to the Freiherr von Hallwyl. Then, between 1664 and 1798 it was owned by the Gonzenbach family, who by 1600 already owned several properties and held the low justice right in Hauptwil. The Catholic part of the population has always belonged to the parish of Bischofszell. Reformed services were held at the castle chapel by 1667 by the Gonzenbach family for the village. The Reformed chapel became a filial church to the parish church in Bischofszell in 1861. Then, in 1886 a Reformed church was built in the village. The Brunschweiler family, who owned a large factory in town, were active in the early 19th-century Evangelical Baptist movement, which they encouraged to grow in the town. In 1880 about 10% of the inhabitants belonged to this church, and currently there is still a Bund Freier Evangelischer Gemeinde (a type of free church) community in Hauptwil The Gonzenbach family had made their money in the textile industry, so after their arrival, the farming village evolved into a textile producing factory settlement. The industrialization was beneficial by providing wages and easy access to water power (five artificial ponds were built). In 1664 Hauptwil was given the right to hold a market. The Castle was built in 1664-65, and in 1661-71 approximately forty new manufacturing buildings and worker housing were built. At the end of the 18th century the Brunschweiler family of Erlen settled in Hauptwil. During a stagnation in the textile industry, they built up the dyeing industry in the village. The opening of the railway line Sulgen-Gossau in 1876 further expanded the local economy. Next to the textile industry in importance, agriculture remained important in the village. Towards the end of the 19th century, the village made the transition from orchards and crops to livestock and dairy farming. The first dairy