History of the Canton of Aargau

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Aargau canton coat of arms

The history of the canton of Aargau is about the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, founded in 1803, and its various predecessor territories.

The settlement of the area can be traced back to 150,000 years, the first historically tangible inhabitants were the Helvetii . The Romans ruled for a little more than 400 years, until the beginning of the 4th century, with the town of Augusta Raurica and the legionary camp of Vindonissa being of great importance. The remaining Gallo-Roman population was gradually assimilated by immigrating Alemanni . In the second half of the 8th century, the area name Aargau was created as a Gau in the Franconian Empire . Parts of today's canton area belonged to the Frickgau , the Sisgau and the Zürichgau .

In the Middle Ages, various noble families ruled over areas in Aargau. These included the Lenzburger , the Kyburger and the Zähringer . The Habsburgs , who rose to one of the most powerful ruling dynasties in the Holy Roman Empire through succession , achieved the greatest importance . Their power base shifted to Austria towards the end of the 13th century . However, their home country Aargau was lost in 1415 when it was conquered by the Confederates .

The confederates divided the territory among themselves. The largest part in the west, the Bernese Aargau , was subject to the city of Bern , smaller areas came to the cities of Lucerne and Zurich . Two areas became common rulers , which were under the common administration of the places involved in the conquest: the county of Baden and the free offices . Only the Fricktal remained Austrian property. Due to the rulership structures, the individual areas now developed differently. Another separation resulted from the Reformation , which was able to prevail in the Bernese Aargau and in parts of the county of Baden.

As a result of the French invasion and the establishment of the Helvetic Republic , the canton of Aargau (which only included the western part) and the canton of Baden were created in 1798, and four years later the canton of Fricktal . In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the merger of the three cantons into the canton of Aargau. Despite its internal turmoil, the new state developed into a liberal pioneer and triggered several developments that contributed to the establishment of the modern federal state in 1848. Although Aargau is the fourth largest canton in Switzerland in terms of population, it is primarily perceived as an energy and transit canton and shows it is difficult to assert itself as an independent region between the centers of Basel , Bern and Zurich.

Map of the canton of Aargau

Prehistoric time

Formation of the natural landscape

The canton of Aargau has a strong natural structure. The northern part of the canton was shaped by the mountainous formation of the Jura , the southern part in the central plateau was shaped by the glacier movements of the Ice Ages . The Riss Ice Age , which reached its peak around 140,000 years ago, covered almost the entire area of ​​today's canton, with the exception of the western Fricktal around Rheinfelden and some Jura peaks that protruded from the Arctic Ocean.

During the Würm Ice Age , glaciation was much less (only the southeastern part of the canton was covered by ice), but it had a lasting impact on the landscape. The Reuss Glacier and the Linth Glacier , which reached their greatest thickness around 20,000 years ago, left behind numerous boulders that were moved from the Alpine region into the plain. The former extent of these glaciers is still clearly recognizable today from the terminal moraines at Killwangen , Mellingen , Othmarsingen , Seon , Staffelbach , Würenlos and Zetzwil . The rock masses left behind by the Seon moraine dammed Lake Hallwil , which at the end of the Ice Age was about twice as large as it is today and shrank back to its present size within a few thousand years due to the filling of the former lake basin with sediments. The rivers deposited extensive gravel fields in the valleys in front of the glaciers , which form important aquifers .

Stone age

The oldest archaeological finds in the canton of Aargau were all made in the western part of the Fricktal, which had always remained free of ice. In Zeiningen a 150,000-year-old was hand ax found in stone a 50,000 year old stone ax of a Neanderthal . Towards the end of the Würm Ice Age (around 10,000 years ago) people hunted reindeer and wild horses. At Magden there was a rest area that was used several times. When the vegetation gradually recaptured the moraine and gravel areas after the glaciers had retreated, a moor landscape emerged which was later displaced by extensive forests . Hunters, fishermen and gatherers settled on the rivers and lakes as well as on the high terraces of the great valleys.

The oldest traces of sedentary farmers in Aargau date from 4500 to 4200 BC. BC, from the area around Wettingen and Würenlos . From around 3500 BC A grave field with 16 stone box graves comes from the Goffersberg near Lenzburg . At the same time, several lakeside settlements were built on Lake Hallwil. There were other settlements near Untersiggenthal , Mönthal and Suhr . In Sarmenstorf and Spreitenbach significant tombs dating back to 2400 were archaeologically v. Discovered.

Bronze age

From the transition period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age (2400 to 1800 BC) there are only a few finds in Aargau, including a double grave near Zurzach that was discovered in 1986 . Between 1600 and 1200 BC The population increased; people no longer only lived in the river valleys and on the shores of Lake Hallwil, but increasingly moved to higher altitudes where they were better protected. The most famous site of discovery from this time is a fortified hill settlement on the Wittnauer Horn near Wittnau , which was inhabited for several centuries up to the Latène period . Another such settlement was on the Chestenberg .

Iron age

The Iron Age begins with the Hallstatt Period around 750 BC. Numerous larger and smaller burial mounds date from this period , mainly in Freiamt . The Reuss valley was an important north-south trade route at that time. At Unterlunkhofen is the largest grave complex of that era that has been discovered in Switzerland up to now; it consists of no less than 63 burial mounds. Other important grave finds come from Reinach , Schupfart , Seon and Wohlen .

Roman sources report that at the beginning of the 1st century BC The Helvetii had settled in the Central Plateau. This Celtic tribe probably immigrated from southern Germany. Larger Helvetic settlements were in Mellingen and Baden . In his De bello Gallico , Julius Caesar mentioned twelve fortified cities ( oppida ) . It is not certain whether the settlement on the Windisch plateau was one of them . Another Celtic tribe, the Rauriker , lived in the Basel region and in the Fricktal .

The Helvetii, led by Orgetorix , were repeatedly threatened by Germanic tribes in the north. Therefore they decided to give up their settlements and move southwest to the lower reaches of the Garonne . However, Roman troops under Julius Caesar's command stopped in 58 BC. At Bibracte the advance. The Helvetii had to return, rebuild their villages and towns and recognize the domination of the Romans.

Roman rule

Theater in Augusta Raurica

A few years later the Romans began to settle areas of their own accord. The city of Augusta Raurica (today Kaiseraugst ) in the extreme northwest of today's canton Aargau was founded around 45 BC. With this settlement an important traffic route to Gaul should be secured. The development was initially concentrated west of the Violenbach in the area of ​​the canton of Basel-Landschaft and expanded to Aargau soil around a hundred years later.

Due to the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC BC and the civil war that followed, further settlement stalled for around three decades. To secure the Augustan Alpine campaigns , the Romans built around 15 BC. A small military station on a plateau near the confluence of the Aare , Reuss and Limmat rivers. This was expanded to the legionary camp Vindonissa (today Windisch ) in 14 AD . Two important Roman roads also crossed here . To supply the camp, villae (manors) were built across the whole of Aargau ; the best known were near Möhlin , Oberentfelden and Zofingen (see Villa rustica (Zofingen) ).

There were also three vici (village settlements): The Aquae Helveticae (today Baden ), located a few kilometers east of Vindonissa on the Limmat, dates back roughly to the time the camp was founded. It was known far and wide for the hot water springs and thermal baths , but also as an important craft settlement. Tenedo (today Bad Zurzach ) was a street village on the Rhine, which was settled from the second quarter of the 1st century and served as a bridgehead for an important river crossing. The vicus Lindfeld near Lenzburg (the name has not been passed down at that time, it is assumed that Lentia ) existed from the second quarter of the 1st century. A theater with 4,000 seats was the focal point of a religious center.

The Legio XIII Gemina was stationed in the Vindonissa camp until the year 44 , which was then replaced by the Legio XXI Rapax . In 69, the four-emperor's year, the Helvetic militia stationed in Tenedo supported Emperor Galba and attacked a courier department. Thereupon the legionaries allied with Vitellius carried out a punitive action under Caecina's command. In a wide area around Vindonissa they devastated and plundered manors and settlements. After he came to power, Vespasian ordered the transfer of the 21st Legion to Lower Germany and the stationing of the Legio XI Claudia in Vindonissa.

The military left the camp in 101, leaving a guard post of Legio VIII Augusta . Vindonissa was transformed into a civilian settlement that included an amphitheater with 11,000 seats. The 2nd century was a relatively peaceful and uneventful time. Trade flourished; Raw materials and luxury goods were imported mainly from Italy, southern France and Spain. Producers in Aargau exported food such as grain, meat, honey and cheese, mainly to Italy. The craft was also diverse: there were pottery and blacksmiths in Baden, Kaiseraugst, Windisch and Lenzburg, brickworks in Hunzenschwil , Kaisten and Kölliken and stone quarries in Mägenwil and Würenlos .

This long period of peace ended in the 3rd century with the invasions of the Alemanni . Attacks in the years 213 and 233 could initially be repulsed. But in the year 259 the Alemanni finally broke through the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes and marched through the Central Plateau , plundering and destroying. The Roman troops had to retreat across the Alps and only regained control of the area south of the Rhine in 277 , which was now the northern border of the Roman Empire. The battle of Vindonissa , in which the Romans defeated the Alemanni, is recorded for the year 298 . Numerous forts and watchtowers were built to defend the border, and the Vindonissa legionary camp was reoccupied. In the 4th century there were repeated attacks by the Alemanni. The border fortifications on the Rhine were last expanded between 369 and 371. Between 401 and 406, the Romans finally withdrew across the Alps. The severely decimated population huddled in the fortified places and became impoverished, the infrastructure fell apart.

Early middle ages

Settlement by the Alemanni

Almost a century after the Romans left, the Alemanni began to settle in Aargau . They originally wanted to move to western France, but in 497, after a lost war, they had to recognize the rule of the Franks and turn south. Between 507 and 536 the southern part of the Aargau was under the control of the Ostrogoths until they were also ousted by the Franks. Around the middle of the 7th century the Franconian dynasty of the Merovingians increasingly lost its influence and the Alemanni formed an independent duchy . In 746 the Alemanni were finally subjugated by the Carolingians and the duchy dissolved.

Based on the endings of the current place names, the founding time of the individual villages can be roughly derived. Places with the ending "ach" (e.g. Mandach , Rüfenach , Zurzach ) are of pre-Germanic origin and are derived from the Gallo-Roman word ending "acum". The Alemannic endings suggest three phases of settlement: In the 6th century, places with the ending “ingen” emerged. These settlements were mostly named after the head of the family; Villmaringen (today Villmergen ) means z. B. «with the people of Villmar». From the late 6th to the 8th centuries, places with the endings “ikon” or “iken” emerged. These are shortened forms of "inghofen" and designate a courtyard. Dottikon therefore means "at the courts of the men of Toto". After the 8th century, villages with the ending “wil” or “schwil” emerged (e.g. Dättwil , Waltenschwil ). This ending denotes a hamlet. Other endings such as “büren”, “dorf”, “heim”, “stetten” or “hausen” appeared around the turn of the millennium.

Apart from numerous graves with grave goods, there are only a few archaeological traces, as the Alemanni built all the houses out of wood. Their economic and social order shaped the life of the residents of Aargau well into the 19th century. Their language evolved into Swiss German over time .

The Aar Gau

Aargau in the 8th century
Aargau in the 10th century

For administrative purposes, the Carolingians divided the empire into districts , which were ruled by counts . The name Aar-Gau appeared for the first time, in 768 as "pagus Aregaua" and in 778 as "pagus Aragougensis". The Aargau comprised the area between Aare , Reuss , Pilatus , Lake Brienz and Lake Thun . Only about half of today's canton area belonged to it.

North of Windisch , in Switzerland's moated castle , three districts of the Franconian Empire collided. If you crossed the Aare, you came to the Augstgau . The Reuss formed the border with Thurgau ; the name of the municipality of Turgi still reminds of this demarcation. After the division of the empire in 843, the border between the central and eastern empires ran along the Aare. After the dissolution of the Middle Empire in 870, the entire canton was in the Eastern Empire. Around 900 the Burgundians conquered Aargau.

In the 10th century the Gaue were reduced in size, there was a division into Unteraargau and Oberaargau. The north-western part of today's canton was in the Frickgau and partly in the Sisgau , the part east of the Reuss in the Zürichgau . In 1033 the whole area of ​​Switzerland fell to the Holy Roman Empire . It was not until the 14th century that the term Aargau began to establish itself as a landscape designation for the other areas.

Christianization

The Christianity had in Aargau at the time of the Romans very slowly spread. The first religious communities are only detectable from the early 4th century. The Holy Verena , from Thebes (Egypt) came, moved to the former Roman fort Tenedo ( Zurzach ) where it until her death in 344 healed the sick and helped the poor. Zurzach then developed into a place of pilgrimage . Augusta Raurica was mentioned as the seat of a bishop in 346 (the seat of the diocese was moved to Basel in the 7th century ). Vindonissa was also the seat of a bishopric in the 6th century, but was then replaced by the diocese of Constance . Initially, Christianity was only able to gain a foothold in the old Gallo-Roman fort towns, while the Alemannic immigrants remained largely pagan. Only the top elite of the Alemanni allowed themselves to be Christianized at the beginning, following the example of the Merovingians. The Christian faith could only finally establish itself at the end of the 7th century.

High Middle Ages

The aristocracy in Aargau

The exact age of the first castles is difficult to estimate. The history of Alt-Homberg Castle in the Fricktal goes back at least to the 10th century. The largest and most important castle in Aargau, Lenzburg Castle , was built in the early 11th century and was first mentioned in a document in 1036. It was the ancestral seat of the Counts of Lenzburg , who ruled in the Seetal ; a second center of power was around Baden with Stein Castle .

The Lenzburger died out in 1173. Emperor Barbarossa personally regulated the succession at Lenzburg Castle and gave a large part of the lands to his son, Count Palatine Otto of Burgundy . But after his death in 1200, the Kyburgers were able to enforce their inheritance claim and oust the Hohenstaufen from Aargau. After the Zähringers died out in 1218, the Kyburgs rose to become the most powerful aristocratic family in Aargau, but also died out in 1264.

Other important noble families with extensive possessions in Aargau were the Counts of Frohburg , the Barons of Regensberg and the Barons of Klingen . There were also dozens of lower local noble families, of which the Hallwylers were the most important.

The nucleus of the Habsburg Empire

The Habsburg

The greatest competitors of the Kyburgs for supremacy in the foothills of the Alps were the counts (later dukes) of Habsburg . They probably came from a branch of the Etichonen in Alsace and were able to acquire large areas there as well as in Breisgau and Frickgau . In the 10th century they settled in Altenburg near Brugg and made self-employment the center of their activities. Not far from Altenburg, Radbot had the "Habichtsburg" (later Habsburg ) built around 1020 and made it his new ancestral home. In 1108 his grandson Otto II was the first to call himself "von Habsburg", as evidenced by documents.

Due to clever marriage connections, it was mostly the Habsburgs who took over the inheritance when another noble family died out and thus expanded their possessions. In 1223 they came into the inheritance of the Alt-Homberg family and thus gained control of the strategically important Bözberg Pass . In 1232 the Habsburg-Laufenburg sideline split off. The Laufenburgers only owned relatively insignificant areas around Laufenburg and in Obwalden . This line became impoverished and died out in 1386 with the sale of the last holdings to the main line.

Under Rudolf I , the Habsburgs rose to become a major European power. The Kyburger, who in turn had inherited the Zähringer and Lenzburger, died out in 1264. The Habsburgs took over their inheritance and replaced it as the largest territorial power in northern Switzerland. After Rudolf's election as German king in 1273, the power of the Habsburgs shifted to Austria . But they also expanded in the home countries: In 1291, for example, the Alsatian monastery Murbach sold the rulership rights over several villages in Aargau, the monastery of St. Leodegar in Lucerne and numerous villages in central Switzerland for 2,000 silver marks .

The confederates began to harass the Habsburgs more and more in their home countries. The Habsburg expansion policy suffered a first setback in 1315 after the lost battle at Morgarten . In 1351 Zurich troops moved through the Ostaargau. They devastated Baden and Siggenthal and destroyed Freudenau Castle , the conflict culminated in the Battle of Dättwil . When the Guglers marched through the Central Plateau in 1375, in contrast to its western neighbors, Aargau got off relatively lightly. However, the city of Lenzburg was razed for tactical reasons and rebuilt a little later. The defeat in the Battle of Sempach on July 9, 1386 brought about a significant weakening of the Aargau land nobility . In addition to Duke Leopold III. around 400 nobles allied with him fell. Due to the resulting power vacuum, a shift in the influence of the Habsburgs to the east became increasingly apparent.

Foundation of towns and monasteries

Kaiserstuhl in 1548
Königsfelden Monastery in 1669

Around 1100 there was not a single city in Aargau. Then, however, a wave of city foundings began, which peaked between 1230 and 1240 when no fewer than six cities emerged. The initiative to found the city came from nobles who wanted to strengthen their domain and create new sources of income.

The first town in Aargau was Rheinfelden , which was founded by the Zähringers between 1130 and 1140. In the early 13th century, the Counts of Frohburg followed with the establishment of Zofingen . The first Habsburg cities were Brugg (after 1200) and Laufenburg (before 1207). Four cities of the Kyburg family emerged within ten years: Baden and Mellingen around 1230 and Aarau and Lenzburg around 1240. The Habsburg city of Bremgarten (around 1230) and Klingnau were also founded at this time . The exact founding date is only known from Klingnau: This city was founded on December 26th, 1239 by the barons of Klingen. The last to follow were the Habsburg cities of Meienberg (after 1250) and Aarburg (after 1300) as well as Kaiserstuhl (approx. 1254), the only city founded by the Regensbergers in the Aargau area.

Some places got stuck in their development. The best-known example is Zurzach : The place had an urban design, was thanks to the Zurzach trade fair a nationally important economic center and thus overshadowed all Aargau cities. However , it was not granted city ​​rights , as there were already three cities in the immediate vicinity that were under the control of the Bishop of Constance (Klingnau, Tiengen , Waldshut ). Biberstein received a curtain wall in 1399, but had neither market nor city rights and sank to a village. Meienberg was destroyed by the Confederates in 1386 after the Battle of Sempach and has remained a small farming village to this day. Kaiserstuhl has grown only marginally since it was founded. No town in Aargau has succeeded in establishing a larger territory of its own. The reasons for this were the relatively late founding, limited city rights and powerful rulers.

In addition to nobles and cities, various monasteries also exercised secular power. These have also been centers of art and knowledge for centuries. Between the 11th and 14th centuries, thirteen monasteries and three canons' monasteries were built on Aargau soil . The most important abbeys were Muri (1027, Benedictine ), Wettingen (1227, Cistercian ) and Königsfelden (1309, Franciscan ). Monasteries outside Aargau also had a great influence, in particular Sankt Blasien and Säckingen and the diocese of Constance. The Order of St. John (Biberstein, Leuggern , Rheinfelden) and the Order of Teutonic Knights ( Beuggen , Hitzkirch ) also had large possessions .

Conquest of the Aargau

Territorial division of the Aargau after the conquest by the Confederates

The latent tensions between the German King Sigmund and the Austrian Duke Friedrich IV erupted in 1415 at the Council of Constance , when Friedrich was one of the three then reigning Popes, Johannes XXIII. , helped to escape the city. Sigmund saw this as an opportunity to harm his adversary. He urged the neighbors of the Habsburgs to take their lands in the name of the empire.

The Confederates were given the task of occupying Aargau, although they had only signed a peace treaty with Austria three years earlier. Bern showed the least scruples and immediately let troops march on. Zurich and the towns of central Switzerland initially hesitated because of the peace treaty, but went nonetheless so as not to have to leave everything to the Bernese. Only Uri did not take part in the campaign.

Zofingen fell into the hands of the Bernese on April 18. Six days later, Aarau , Brugg , Lenzburg and the Habsburgs were conquered, mostly without much resistance. Lucerne besieged Sursee and subjugated the Michelsamt and the offices of Meienberg and Richensee . Zurich occupied the Freiamt Affoltern and the Kelleramt . After Mellingen's surrender , the people of Zurich united with the troops from Lucerne, Glarus , Schwyz , Unterwalden and Zug . Together they forced the surrender of Bremgarten on April 24th . The villages in the area around Villmergen voluntarily joined Lucerne.

The Siege of Baden, woodcut from the Stumpfschen Chronik (1548)

The siege of Baden began on April 25 , where the troops of the Austrian bailiff Burkart von Mansberg offered resistance. The defenders gave up the city on May 3 and withdrew to Stein Castle . The Bernese, who were already on their way back, were asked for support on May 9th. On May 11, von Mansberg signed an armistice. After the defenders surrendered on May 18, the castle was immediately razed.

During the campaign, Duke Friedrich had reconciled with King Sigmund, who demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities and the return of the conquered territories. Only the confederates did not adhere to it. When Zurich acquired the pledge of the bailiwick of Baden and the cities of Baden, Mellingen, Bremgarten and Sursee on July 22nd, this problem was resolved from a formal legal point of view. Zurich took the five places Lucerne, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug and Glarus into the pledge on December 18, 1415, Bern on May 1, 1418. The Habsburg house archive, which was located in Stein Castle, was transferred to Lucerne and first Returned to the Habsburgs in 1474. In the same year, the Habsburgs finally renounced all territorial claims with the " Eternal Direction ".

With the conquest of Aargau, the Confederates de facto took over the rule of the country. Since they had not agreed before the campaign, they were divided for more than ten years in the division of the conquered areas. Bern finally prevailed and was allowed to keep all conquered areas in Unteraargau (the so-called Bernese Aargau ). Zurich was awarded the cellar office and the Freiamt Affoltern, Lucerne the Michelsamt. However, Lucerne had to return the offices of Richensee and Meienberg as well as the area around Villmergen to the joint property in 1425.

From the common property, an area strip an average of 15 kilometers wide, the Confederates created two common lords , the Free Offices and the County of Baden . The conquest did not initially have any major impact on the everyday life of the residents of Aargau. The confederates only took over those sovereign rights that had previously belonged to the Habsburgs. In some villages the change only affected the high jurisdiction , while the lower jurisdiction initially remained in the hands of towns, local nobles or monasteries.

Development in the individual domains

Bernese Aargau

Senior offices in the Bernese Aargau 1732–1798
Aarau in 1612

Only in the Bernese Aargau did the territorial situation change fundamentally. The Bernese succeeded in gaining new areas in the Jura and securing the Bözberg and Staffelegg passes . In 1460 they conquered the rule of Schenkenberg , during the Waldshut War in 1468 the rule of Wessenberg with the villages of Hottwil and Mandach . In 1499 the Biberstein dominion was occupied during the Swabian War. In 1502 the lower court Urgiz was bought with the village of Densbüren . With the purchase of the Bötzberg rule (consisting of Bözen , Effingen and Elfingen ) in 1514, the Bernese expansion policy came to an end.

Over the course of more than three hundred years, the Bernese succeeded in almost entirely buying up or usurping the rights of local rulers. The influence of the nobility sank to a minimum by the 18th century. The Bernese Aargau slowly developed into a state of modern character. At the beginning, the area was administered by a single bailiff from Aarburg . The bailiwicks of Lenzburg (1442), Schenkenberg (1460), Biberstein (1499), Königsfelden (1528) and Kasteln (1732) were added later. The four “municipal cities” Aarau , Brugg , Lenzburg and Zofingen had the right to self-government and their own jurisdiction . The tight administration promoted economic development: at the beginning of the 18th century, the Bernese Aargau was the most industrialized area in Switzerland.

The Old Zurich War also had an impact on the Bernese Aargau. On July 30, 1444, Brugg was looted and burned down by Habsburg nobles during the so-called “Brugger Mordnacht”. In February 1499, during the Swabian War, an Austrian army marched through the Schenkenberg office and plundered. They received support from farmers in the Mettauertal . In retaliation, the Bernese, together with the Freiburgers, devastated the villages north of the Staffelegg down to Frick .

Free offices

The Landvogtei of the Free Offices 1435–1798

The free offices were a common rule and consisted of the former Habsburg administrative districts of Meienberg , Muri and Richensee as well as the northeast part of the Lenzburg office . The six ruling places of Glarus , Lucerne , Schwyz , Unterwalden , Zug and Zurich occupied the influential office of bailiff alternately for two years each. The governor did not have a permanent residence, but only appeared three times a year to settle the serious court cases and collect taxes. From 1532 (one year after the victory of the Catholic towns in the Second Kappel War ), Uri also provided governors. The cellar office southeast of Bremgarten was conquered by Zurich, which only took over the high jurisdiction, while the lower jurisdiction remained in the possession of the city of Bremgarten.

The competences in the judiciary and the manors were very fragmented. The most important landlord, largest economic factor and holder of the lower jurisdiction in most places was the Muri monastery . This Benedictine abbey was the richest monastery in Switzerland at the end of the 17th century. Other court lords and landlords were the Hermetschwil monastery , the cities of Bremgarten, Mellingen , Lucerne and Zug as well as individual local nobles. The Merenschwand office had belonged to Lucerne since 1394 and was not part of the free offices.

Since the authorities changed every two years, the administration was far less well trained than, for example, in the Bernese Aargau, the subjects could afford more than anywhere else and were almost never called up for military service. The ruling places were mostly only interested in the tax revenue and otherwise cared little about the area. From 1562 a land clerk residing in Bremgarten took care of the few administrative tasks. But the negligent control also had disadvantages: The Freiamt was a reservoir for beggars and tramps from all over the Confederation. The economy barely developed because the security of investments was not guaranteed. On June 3, 1653, the decisive battle in the Swiss Peasants' War took place in Wohlenschwil , in the extreme northwest of the Free Offices . The rebellious farmers from the Bernese and Lucerne subject areas were subject to the Zurich troops here.

Baden County

The Landvogtei Baden 1415–1798
Diet in Baden in 1531

The county of Baden was a common rule that was administered by all seven places that had been involved in the campaign of 1415. From 1443 Uri was also included in the administration. Each place provided a bailiff for two years, who resided in the bailiff's castle in Baden . The governor only had the financially lucrative lower jurisdiction in individual villages, so that the county of Baden was initially more of a loss for the Confederation. Important court lords and landlords were the monasteries Wettingen and St. Blasien , the Johanniterkommende Leuggern and the diocese of Constance . The cities of Baden , Bremgarten and Mellingen were largely autonomous and only belonged administratively to the County of Baden.

Over the centuries, the federal bailiffs were able to gradually take over the rights of secular and spiritual rulers. The development in the villages of the eastern Limmat Valley was faster : Zurich soon had almost unlimited powers, provided the court lords and recruited troops. Today these communities belong without exception to the canton of Zurich, Altstetten is even a district of Zurich.

The administration of the jointly conquered areas made more frequent agreements between the individual places necessary. For this purpose, the delegates met from 1415 onwards for the daily statutes , which took place in the Baden town hall . There were also diaries in other cities, but Baden was particularly popular because of the baths and the distractions associated with them. The most important transactions, which affected the entire Swiss Confederation, were negotiated exclusively in Baden. B. from 1426 the decrease of the annual accounts of all common lords, but also decisions about war and peace.

The proximity to Zurich also resulted in an involvement in the Old Zurich War. Baden, Mellingen and Bremgarten had allied themselves with Zurich in 1444 and stood against the Swiss Confederation. As a result, the other confederates besieged these three cities and recaptured them. During the Swabian War, the villages in the parish of Leuggern (located in the northwest of the county) were looted and partly burned down.

Fricktal

The Fricktal was not conquered by the Confederates in 1415 and remained in the possession of the Habsburgs as part of Upper Austria . The Upper Austrian provincial bailiff first resided in Ensisheim in southern Alsace . After the conquest of Alsace by France in 1651, the Fricktal was ruled from Freiburg im Breisgau ; in contrast to today , the Rhine did not form a political border. Administratively, the Fricktal was divided into the cameramen Rheinfelden and Laufenburg , which from 1752 belonged to the Oberamt Breisgau . The area was not structured uniformly. Numerous villages were directly under the Austrian administration, while in others nobles and clergy had individual rights of rule, especially the lower jurisdiction. The most important landowner and the greatest economic power was the Säckingen women's monastery .

Compared to the other areas, the Fricktal suffered much more from armed conflicts. In the Old Zurich War, Bern , Basel and Solothurn besieged the city of Laufenburg without success. Rheinfelden allied itself with Basel in 1445, but in 1449 had to submit to Austrian rule again after a siege lasting several months. In 1469 the Habsburgs pledged the Fricktal to Burgundy in order to raise money for war compensation after the Waldshut War. After the devastating verlaufenen for Burgundy Burgundy wars Habsburg gained 1,477 regain control.

Battle of Rheinfelden, copper engraving by Matthäus Merian

In the Swabian War of 1499, farmers from the Mettauertal plundered through the neighboring villages in the Bernese Aargau with Austria's tolerance. As a counter-reaction, the villages north of the Staffelegg were devastated by the people of Bern and Freiburg . In the Rappenkrieg (1612 to 1614), the Fricktal farmers defended themselves unsuccessfully against a tax increase. Between 1633 and 1638 the Fricktal was one of the few areas in today's Switzerland that was directly affected by the Thirty Years' War . Swedish, French and Austrian troops marched through the region. In 1638 there was the battle of Rheinfelden , which ended with a victory for the Reformed side. In the end, more than a third of all houses in the Fricktal were destroyed and the impoverished population needed decades to cope with the consequences of the war.

During the Palatinate War of Succession , French troops marched through the Fricktal until they were stopped by the Confederates. In 1689 the Austrian government had to flee into exile in Klingnau for a year and a half . During the War of the Spanish Succession , the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War , the Fricktal was not involved in combat operations, but the population suffered from high war taxes, which severely impaired economic life. The Josephine reforms by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II brought about a gradual improvement in living conditions.

Confessional division

Reformation chaos

After the Reformation had finally prevailed in Zurich in 1523 , Huldrych Zwingli and like-minded people began to spread the new teaching in the County of Baden , initially in those villages in the Limmat Valley that were completely under Zurich control and were thus largely beyond the influence of the governor. In the vicinity of Aarau and in the free offices , too , individual priests began to spread the Reformation ideas.

The central Swiss towns of Lucerne, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Uri and Zug decided to retain Catholicism in 1524 and tried to enforce this claim in the common lordships. For this purpose they organized the Baden Disputation in 1526 . The German theologian Johannes Eck convinced the clergy from Baden and the surrounding area to stick to the old faith, while Johannes Oekolampad campaigned in vain for the cause of the Reformation. But the Reformation gained more and more supporters , especially in the Zurzach region and in the lower Freiamt around Wohlen and Bremgarten .

Bern initially behaved neutrally and was undecided, especially since the majority of the subject areas spoke out in favor of the old faith in an official survey. However, under pressure from the guilds, the Small Council of Bern decided to hold a religious discussion. At the Bern disputation in January 1528, the supporters of the Reformation prevailed, whereupon the Small Council consistently introduced the new denomination in all Bernese subject areas, including in Bern Aargau . Bern abolished all monasteries and confiscated all property of clergymen. The cities in particular benefited from this measure, as the monasteries had previously been strong economic competitors.

There was now a narrow Catholic strip of territory between Bern and Zurich, in which, however, half of the parishes had already converted to the new denomination. Finally, in June 1529, the First Kappel War broke out , which, however, remained largely without fighting. In the First Peace of the Land , the Reformed places enforced that every congregation was free to choose their faith. But after the Second Kappel War of 1531, from which the Catholic towns emerged victorious, the old conditions were rigorously restored in accordance with the Second Land Peace . The county of Baden and the free offices were recatholized , sometimes with the use of force. Only in Zurzach and Tegerfelden was a Reformed majority able to maintain itself, as was the case in the communities in the eastern Limmat Valley. The villages Gibstorf , Birmenstorf and Würenlos remained religiously mixed. Heinrich Bullinger , the city pastor of Bremgarten, had to flee to Zurich and succeeded the late Ulrich Zwingli.

The Fricktal , which was under Austrian rule, remained largely unaffected by these events. Small Reformed minorities in Rheinfelden and Laufenburg were re-Catholicized or over time emigrated to Basel .

Inner contradictions and conflicts

After the turmoil of the Reformation, the contrast between the individual regions in Aargau deepened. In the Catholic areas the grievances that had ultimately led to the Reformation were only gradually remedied after the Council of Trent in 1563. A religious renewal followed, which found its expression in the construction of splendid baroque churches and the increase in pilgrimages . The Muri monastery developed into a center of baroque art . Between 1588 and 1650, four Capuchin monasteries (Baden, Bremgarten, Laufenburg, Rheinfelden) and one of the Capuchin nuns (Baden) were built in Aargau . The other monasteries also experienced an upswing, in 1701 the Muri monastery received the status of a prince abbey.

For more than a century, people in Aargau used two different calendars. The reformed places refused to be the 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. introduced Gregorian calendar apply. The resulting mutual disregard for the holidays repeatedly led to serious tensions. The difference of ten days was not evened out until 1701, when the Reformed towns also adopted the improved calendar. The number of public holidays on which it was not allowed to work increased more and more over time. Because of the resulting lower productivity, the Catholic areas fell behind economically. Because of the fragmentation of political responsibilities, no one in the common lords did anything to improve the situation. Only in the Fricktal did the Habsburgs attempt to counteract this by introducing a state church. Under Maria Theresa and Joseph II , numerous public holidays were abolished and pilgrimages lasting several days were prohibited. However, since the controls were rather careless, the residents of the Fricktal practiced their traditional customs in secret.

First battle of Villmergen

The sectarian tensions that had built up were released in 1656 in the First Villmerger War . After the authorities of the Schwyz estate had expelled numerous Reformed people, handed them over to the Inquisition or executed them, Zurich declared war on the Catholic towns. But the campaign was badly organized: the allied Bernese troops were defeated by the Central Swiss on January 24th in the First Battle of Villmergen . The peace treaty concluded on March 7th confirmed the situation that had existed since 1531. In Baden, Stein Castle , which was destroyed in 1415, was rebuilt as a fortress.

Second battle of Villmergen

The conflict broke out again in 1712 when the Reformed residents of Toggenburg revolted against the Prince Abbot of St. Gallen . The Second Villmerger War initially took place mainly in eastern Switzerland, but then shifted to the west. In May, the Bernese Mellingen occupied the Zurich Bremgarten . In the " Staudenschlacht " near Fischbach-Göslikon on May 26th, the Bernese troops were able to free themselves from an ambush by central Switzerland. Four days later, together with the people of Zurich, they besieged Baden, attacked the Stein fortress and finally destroyed it. Finally, on July 25, the decisive Second Battle of Villmergen took place . It ended with a devastating defeat for Central Switzerland against the Bernese.

The power relations in the common rulers changed fundamentally. The free offices were divided into a lower and an upper half. The dead straight dividing line led from the church in Oberlunkhofen to the gallows in Fahrwangen and also divided the village of Boswil in half. In the upper offices, the Catholic places were allowed to have a say, but in the lower offices only the Reformed places Bern, Zurich and Glarus ruled in a ratio of 7: 7: 2. In the county of Baden the Catholic places were now completely excluded from power; here Bern, Zurich and Glarus ruled in the same proportion. The Reformed Church of Baden was built in 1714 from the remains of the razed fortress Stein , which deeply humiliated the Catholic people of Baden.

After 1712, Baden's importance as a conference venue declined markedly and only a few meetings took place, as the Catholics refused to debate the administration of the common lordships at the place of their defeat. The 1714 by Emperor Karl VI. and King Louis XIV of France in "neutral" Baden, on the other hand, brought diplomats from all over Europe to the spa town. It led to the Peace of Baden on September 7, 1714, which was signed by Prince Eugene of Savoy and Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars and, together with the peace treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt, ended the War of the Spanish Succession .

Situation of the Jews

In the Middle Ages, Jews lived in many Swiss cities. However, they were not allowed to practice any handicrafts or own any land, so that they were only allowed to trade and lend money. When the interest ban on Christians fell, the Jews had become bothersome competition. They were driven out of the cities and mainly settled in the common lordships, where they were directly subordinate to the governor. From 1696 they had to buy an expensive protection and umbrella letter every 16 years. From 1776 onwards, all Jews in Switzerland were allowed to live exclusively in the Surbtal communities of Endingen and Lengnau in the north of the county of Baden. Since they were only allowed to stay in the two villages during the night, their radius of action was severely limited, which left them with practically only the Zurzach trade fair as a source of income.

Revolution and upheaval

Harbingers of revolution

In the second half of the 18th century, the residents of Aargau began to be more tolerant of followers of the other denomination. At least the Bernese Aargau and the Austrian Fricktal slowly transformed into a modern state. While cotton processing expanded in the Bernese Aargau (especially through the establishment of India printing plants ), straw weaving emerged in the Free Offices .

The ideas of the Enlightenment fell on fertile soil, especially in the Bernese Aargau. From 1761, representatives of the intellectual and economic elite of the Confederation met in Schinznach-Bad to exchange ideas, and the Helvetic Society was founded a year later . More and more schools and libraries were opened in the reformed areas. Since the educational system in Catholic places with the exception of the monasteries was practically non-existent, the Catholics met the new ideas with suspicion, even rejection. The representatives of modern thought were regarded as hostile to religion.

From 1789 on, only a minority of wealthy merchants and educated city dwellers sympathized with the ideas of the French Revolution . When more and more French refugees reported atrocities from 1791, the rejection increased, especially among the Catholic rural population.

Helvetic Republic

Aargau during the Helvetic Republic 1798–1803

At the beginning of 1798 French troops marched into Switzerland ( French invasion ). On January 30, the residents of Aarau refused to send troops to protect the city of Bern . Bern occupied the renegade city on February 4th, but had to surrender on March 5th after the Battle of the Grauholz . Between March 19 and March 28, the governors withdrew from the common dominions. Trees of freedom were erected and revolution celebrations were held in numerous villages and towns.

On April 12, 1798, Peter Ochs officially proclaimed the Helvetic Republic in Aarau . Due to the revolutionary attitude of the city citizens, Aarau was declared the capital. The former Unteraargau of Canton Aargau arose from the County of Baden and open offices of the Canton of Baden . The western part of the Aarburg district remained with Bern. In the centralized republic, the cantons were merely administrative units. It soon became apparent that Aarau was too small to be able to fully fulfill the functions of the capital, whereupon the government moved to Lucerne on September 20th . Supporters of the old order from Zug and the Free Offices were defeated by the French troops on April 26, 1798 in the battle near Hägglingen .

Numerous Aargau residents played a leading role in the new state. These included Philipp Albert Stapfer , Albrecht Rengger , Johann Rudolf Dolder , John Herzog , Johann Heinrich Rothpletz and from Magdeburg originating Heinrich Zschokke . The Fricktal became a French protectorate as early as 1797 after the Peace of Campo Formio . The doctor Sebastian Fahrländer from Ettenheim in the Ortenau appointed himself governor with the support of the French and established the canton of Fricktal , which joined the Helvetic Republic on August 13, 1802.

In 1799, Aargau became a theater of war in the Second Coalition War between France and Austria. The residents were forced to billet and feed the troops on both sides, which resulted in great material need. On August 16 and 17, 40,000 Austrian soldiers tried unsuccessfully to cross the Aare near Döttingen . In the subsequent artillery duel , the villages of Kleindöttingen and Eien (today's Böttstein municipality ) were completely destroyed.

How coincidentally the cantonal boundaries still valid today came about is shown by the fact that there were no fewer than three different proposals for the demarcation of the boundaries before the final definition:

Partition proposals during the Helvetic Republic

The first constitution of the Helvetic Republic, drawn up by Peter Ochs in January 1798, initially provided for the incorporation of the County of Baden and the Free Offices into the Canton of Zug , which the French refused and which also failed due to fierce resistance from Zug itself. After two coups in 1800, the Malmaison constitution, drawn up by the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte , provided for the cantons of Aargau and Baden to be merged and the lower Fricktal to be ceded to the canton of Basel . In the summer of 1801, activists tried to collect signatures for the reunification of the Bernese Aargau with Bern, but were prevented from doing so by Aargau government troops. After a third coup on October 27, 1801, the supporters of the old order revoked the merger of the two cantons.

According to the second constitution of the Helvetic Republic of 1802, which was drawn up after a further change of power, the cantons of Aargau and Baden were to be merged again. Zug would have received the upper Freiamt and Lucerne the Hitzkirch office , the Fricktal would have remained an independent canton. This constitution could not be implemented, however, because in July 1802 Napoleon, angry about the inability of the Helvetian authorities, allowed the French troops to withdraw from Switzerland.

Civil war-like riots immediately broke out, with opponents of the revolution attacking the supporters of the French. During the Stecklikkrieg in September, a steadily growing procession of impoverished rural residents plundered from Aargau to Bern and forced the Swiss government to flee to Lausanne . On September 21st, the hatred against the Jews erupted because they were considered followers of the new order. In the “Plum War”, a horde of 800 men invaded Endingen and Lengnau and enriched themselves with the belongings of the defenseless victims.

Napoleon's word of power

Napoleon Bonaparte set the final frontier

On September 30, 1802, when the Swiss national crisis reached its peak, Napoleon Bonaparte pretended to act as a mediator between the conflicting parties. Under threat of renewed occupation by French troops, he demanded that a delegation from all the cantons be sent to Paris . This Helvetic Consulta was supposed to negotiate a new constitution. On January 12, 1803, Napoleon decided to finally merge the cantons of Aargau and Baden, which was entirely in keeping with the Aargau delegation led by Philipp Albert Stapfer . After the Fricktaler had successfully resisted the division of this area into a Basel and an Aargau part of a petition, Napoleon ordered the merger of the entire area with the Aargau on February 2nd.

Finally, on February 19, 1803, the members of the Consulta signed the mediation act approved by Napoleon . The centralized Helvetic Republic ceased to exist and was replaced by a loose confederation of states , with Aargau as an independent canton. Napoleon also set the final border: the canton of Aargau received the western part of the Aarburg district and the Merenschwand district in Lucerne , but had to cede the Hitzkirch district to Lucerne and the communities of Dietikon , Hüttikon , Oetwil an der Limmat and Schlieren to Zurich. Aarau was designated the capital.

The new canton

Structure of the state

Napoleon Bonaparte and the canton of Aargau created an artificial structure consisting of four completely different parts of the country, the inhabitants of which had little in common and no common past. In the year it was founded, Aargau had 131,000 inhabitants, of which 67,000 were in the reformed Bernese Aargau and 64,000 in the Catholic areas of Freiamt , Fricktal and Baden . There was no recognized state authority. A completely new state had to be built on this basis.

Government building in Aarau

The new constitution stipulated that almost all power lay with the nine-member Little Council. The Grand Council , the 150-member parliament, was only allowed to adopt or reject laws, but not make any changes to them. Decisive age and wealth limits in the right to vote ensured that only around seven percent of the population were eligible to vote (so-called active citizens). The separation of powers was a foreign concept: the members of the Small Council were also part of the Grand Council and were chosen from among its ranks.

The most urgent tasks were the creation of a legal basis and the development of a cantonal administration (this initially consisted of just 15 civil servants). The government and parliament initially met in Aarau's town hall . Between 1811 and 1823, a former inn in Aarau was expanded into a representative government building. The grand council building , the seat of the cantonal parliament , was inaugurated in 1829. The introduction of new symbols to strengthen the community spirit was also important: Samuel Ringier from Zofingen designed the new canton's coat of arms in 1803 .

Cultural canton

The new canton took on a leading role in Switzerland in the field of culture and education. As early as 1802, the Aarau Cantonal School was founded by a private sponsor , the first grammar school in Switzerland whose teachers did not belong to the clergy. The school was taken over by the canton in 1813, developed into one of the most respected grammar schools in the country due to its liberal attitude and produced numerous well-known politicians and three Nobel Prize winners , including Albert Einstein . Aargau also played a pioneering role in the lower school levels. One of the first higher schools for young women was built in the former Olsberg monastery in 1805, which was considered very progressive at the time. The former Latin schools were also taken over by the canton and converted into the Progymnasium district schools in 1835 . With the purchase of the Zurlauben Collection in 1803, the foundation was laid for the cantonal library in Aarau, which opened in 1807 .

Heinrich Zschokke and numerous fellow campaigners founded the "Society for Patriotic Culture" in 1811. The society, whose members included numerous prominent politicians and business leaders, created a savings fund, supported the founding and equipping of numerous schools and welfare institutions, and promoted general education for the people with early forms of adult education. The numerous activities of the society, which radiate throughout Switzerland, earned the Aargau the nickname “cultural canton”. The idea of ​​supporting charitable causes out of pure patriotism was new at the time and aroused suspicion, especially in conservative circles.

Even more than the cultural society, the supporters of the old order feared the liberal Aargau press, which, unlike other cantons, was allowed to develop freely. From 1804 Heinrich Zschokke published the Swiss Messenger , one of the most widely read newspapers in Switzerland in the 19th century. Paul Usteri founded the Aarauer Zeitung in 1814 , which, however, ceased its publication in 1821 due to numerous protests by foreign nobles and diplomats. Usteri then moved to Zurich and made sure that the Neue Zürcher Zeitung took on the role of Switzerland's leading liberal newspaper. But even afterwards, censorship in Aargau was far less strict than in most other cantons and was completely abolished in 1829.

Threat to continued existence

The "protectorate" of France lasted until 1813. On December 21 of that year, German, Russian and Austrian troops crossed the Rhine and pursued the French troops as they retreated to southern Germany and France. In total, more than 80,000 foreign soldiers marched through northern Aargau. The foreign armies brought in a devastating typhus epidemic . Around 3,000 Austrian soldiers died in the hospitals in Klingnau alone . The population was also partially affected, especially in the Rheinfelden district.

Aristocratic circles, who had regained power in Bern with the help of Napoleon's opponents, demanded the reincorporation of the Aargau as a subject area. Zug laid claim to the upper Freiamt. At the Congress of Vienna , the continued existence of the Canton of Aargau was at stake. The Aargau delegate Albrecht Rengger demonstrated negotiating skills and was able to avert the restoration of the old order. On March 20, 1815, the great European powers assured the continued existence of the young canton. Among other things, the Aargauer was able to count on the support of the Russian Tsar Alexander I , who had a special relationship with Switzerland through his tutor Frédéric-César de La Harpe .

Restoration and regeneration

Conservative forces pushed through a revision of the canton's constitution in 1814 under the influence of the Restoration . The Small Council was expanded from 9 to 13 members, its term of office was extended from five to twelve years and the popular election of the Grand Council was further restricted. Only 48 of 150 councilors could be directly elected by the people. 52 were elected by the Grand Council itself, and an electoral college chose the remaining 50 Grand Councilors. Authorities had to have equal representation , i.e. half Catholics and half Reformed. But despite this constitution, which is undemocratic according to today's understanding, Aargau was considered one of the most liberal cantons in Switzerland. After all, the freedom of establishment and trade were established and all professional privileges abolished.

The government ruled more and more authoritarian, so that people soon began to speak of the “Duchy of Aargau”. This was an allusion to Kleinrat Johannes Herzog , who dominated the government and used to call himself "von Effingen ", although he was not of noble origin. The government's inability to reform led to the formation of an opposition movement in the autumn of 1830. On November 7, around 3,000 to 4,000 people at a meeting in Wohlenschwil called for constitutional changes. The general council elections scheduled for November 17th could only be carried out properly in 26 of 48 constituencies due to the general unrest. Finally, on December 5th and 6th, 1830, the Freiämtersturm took place . Between 5000 and 6000 armed men, led by Johann Heinrich Fischer , moved from Merenschwand and Wohlen to the canton's capital and forced the government to resign in a bloodless revolt.

The new constitution, which came into force in 1831, was the first to be adopted in a referendum. The far-reaching electoral law was relaxed and the people now elected almost all major councils directly. For the first time there were approaches to a separation of powers . The Grand Council (legislative branch) was now allowed to discuss and amend laws, so it was no longer a purely nodding body. The power of the Small Council, now called the Government Council and reduced to nine members, was restricted. Aargau was now one of the pioneers in regeneration .

Religious and Political Conflicts

The rift between Reformed and Catholics widened. The liberal, reformed-dominated government wanted to limit the influence of the Catholic Church, which believers perceived as interference in their way of life. A fierce controversy arose as early as 1829 when Aargau switched from the diocese of Constance to the diocese of Basel against the will of the Catholics . Tensions increased when, in 1834, seven liberal cantons passed the Baden Articles , which called for a national bishopric that was independent of Rome and for greater state supervision over church matters. Priests who did not swear allegiance to the constitution were fined or imprisoned. The canton placed the assets of the monasteries under state supervision, closed the monastery schools and imposed a ban on the further admission of novices .

The constitution of 1831 provided for a total revision within ten years. The constitution drawn up at the end of 1840 hardly differed from the old one and was rejected in a referendum. The Liberals were bothered by parity, the principle that the same number of Reformed as Catholics had to be represented in all authorities. The second draft was in their favor and was accepted on January 5, 1841 with 58%. The approval ranged between 0% in the Catholic constituency of Rohrdorf and 99% in the reformed constituency of Brugg . Conservative Catholic circles did not want to come to terms with the result and instigated unrest in Freiamt and in the Baden region . Government troops quickly suppressed this, and on January 12 the situation was under control again. Only at Villmergen was there a minor battle in which two government soldiers and seven insurgents died.

The Catholic seminary director Augustin Keller gave a hate speech in the Grand Council on January 13th: He described the monasteries as the source of all evil and as masterminds of the conservative attempted coup and demanded their immediate repeal. The government did not accept two requests and, in gross breach of the constitution, confiscated the monastery's assets. The nuns were given eight days' notice, while the monks even had to leave the canton within 48 hours. Some monasteries had already been secularized after the canton was founded , but the ruthlessness of this measure led to the Aargau monastery dispute . This almost resulted in a war with Austria and was not settled until 1843 with the readmission of four women's monasteries.

As a result, the canton of Aargau took part in the front line in the free marches (1844/45) and in the agitation against the Jesuits who had been employed as teachers by the new conservative government of Lucerne . The central Swiss cantons, Valais and Friborg joined forces to form the Sonderbund . The refusal to dissolve this union led to the Sonderbund War in 1847 . Government Councilor Friedrich Frey-Herosé (later Federal Councilor) was Chief of Staff of the Tagsatzung troops . The battle of Geltwil on November 12, 1847 was the only armed conflict in Aargau. After the defeat of the Conservatives, the confederation was dissolved in 1848, making way for the state that still exists today. As a result, denominational tensions slowly decreased, and other problems were now in the foreground.

The fifth constitution of 1852 brought further improvements in the matter of the separation of powers and was no longer controversial among the Catholics. It was not until 1863 that the Jews were fully equated with the other canton citizens; As a result, they migrated to the big cities, where they found better employment opportunities. The old denominational differences flared up again briefly after 1870, when Aargau took on a leading role in the Kulturkampf . Especially in the Fricktal, numerous believers joined the new Christian Catholic Church . The sixth constitution of 1885 ensured a final reconciliation between Reformed and Catholics, included the expansion of popular rights and formed the basis of the state until 1980.

From a farming canton to an industrial canton

Loan for CHF 1000 from the canton of Aargau dated October 1, 1875

In the second half of the 18th century was agriculture since the early Middle Ages practiced Dreifelderwirtschaft gradually through crop rotation has been replaced. The potato cultivation began to prevail. The dissolution of the commons had created a lot of pastureland , which led to an increase in cattle breeding . This process was completed by 1830 and resulted in a never-before-seen increase in productivity. The replacement of the tithe dragged on until 1850. In the second half of the 19th century, the cultivation of grain was replaced by the dairy industry and the cultivation of animal feed , due to the cheap imports that were now possible thanks to the railroad . The last famine occurred in 1816 in the so-called year without a summer and resulted in a large wave of emigration.

Before 1800, early forms of industry had only developed in the Bernese Aargau . Numerous textile factories and trading companies emerged, benefiting from the targeted economic policy of the Bernese rule. The cities of Aarau , Lenzburg and Zofingen in particular benefited from this development. The other small towns in Aargau initially retained their role as market and handicraft centers. In the rest of the canton there was practically only agriculture. At the end of the 18th century there was not a single factory in the county of Baden and in the Fricktal. In Freiamt there was at least a few straw weaving . In 1810 Johannes Herzog had the first mechanical spinning mill built in Aarau. Factories now also sprang up in other places, mainly processing cotton , silk and straw . At the end of the 1830s, the tobacco industry was added in the Wynental and the upper Seetal .

Braid industry in Wohlen around 1900
Entrance to the BBC in Baden around 1900

The straw and wicker industry, whose center was in Wohlen and the rest of Freiamt, developed into the most important branch of industry in the second third of the 19th century and exported its products all over the world. Its importance quickly declined from 1900 when cheaper East Asian products came on the market and almost completely disappeared after 1960. At its peak around 1860, almost 30,000 people were working in the straw industry, most of them working from home .

Favored by the political stability after 1848 and the construction of the railways, new branches of industry were soon added. These included the cement industry in the Aare valley as well as salt mining and breweries in the western Fricktal. The textile industry initially remained by far the most important branch of industry. Almost all factories were dependent on rivers to power them; in 1859 there were only eleven steam engines in the entire canton .

In the Limmattal and Reuss valleys , the metal industry gained a foothold in 1860 , as did the shoe industry on a decentralized basis . As part of the project for the first aargauische hydroelectric power plant in 1892 was in Baden , the Brown, Boveri & Cie. founded. It manufactured generators , turbines and motors and quickly made the Baden region the center of the Swiss electrical industry . From 1890 the mechanical engineering industry began to expand in Aargau.

The first local savings banks were founded in 1812. From 1850 a number of commercial banks emerged, including the "Aargauische Bank" founded in 1854 by the politician and railway pioneer Carl Feer-Herzog , which was converted into the Aargauische Kantonalbank in 1913 . The tourism played - apart from the spas in Baden, Schinznach-Bad and Rheinfelden - no big role. In 1900, 43.4% of all employed persons were employed in agriculture, 42.4% in industry and 14.2% in the service sector .

Expansion of the traffic routes

The rapid economic development of the 19th century would have been unthinkable without well-developed transport links. After the canton was founded, only a few new roads had to be built, but most of them were in a precarious condition. The transport of goods and people was therefore mainly carried out by shipping on the rivers, which was not without danger because of the numerous rapids and shallows that existed at the time. At the beginning, the new canton used a large part of the tax revenue for road construction. The most important projects were the connections from Aarau via Staffelegg to Frick , from Bremgarten via Mutschellen to Dietikon , between Laufenburg and Koblenz and between Lenzburg and Reinach . When the canton took over the postal system in 1804 , there were only ten post offices in the whole of Aargau. The first daily stagecoach course between Aarau and Zurich began operating in 1820. Until the federal government took over the postal service in 1849, the number of post offices increased tenfold.

But only the railroad revolutionized transport. In 1837 private individuals from Zurich presented a project for a line from Zurich via Baden, Koblenz, Laufenburg and Rheinfelden to Basel. But all Swiss rail projects initially failed due to the small states and the turbulent political conditions. On August 7, 1847, the Swiss Northern Railway finally opened the first railway line in Switzerland between Zurich and Baden. Further construction stalled and could only be continued after the northern runway had merged with the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB). This created the routes Baden – Turgi - Brugg (1856), Brugg– Wildegg –Aarau (1858) and Turgi – Koblenz– Waldshut (1859). The west of the canton was opened up by lines of the Swiss Central Railway (SCB): Aarau - Olten - Aarburg - Emmenbrücke (1856) and Aarburg - Bern (1857). The networks of the two largest Swiss railway companies met in Aarau; the basic network was thus completed.

Development of the railway network by 1900

After 1870, a railway boom hit the whole of Switzerland and also the Aargau. The NOB and the SCB founded joint subsidiaries and built the Bözberg line between Brugg and Basel (1875) and the Aargau Southern Railway between Rupperswil and Rotkreuz , where a connection to the new Gotthard Railway was created (1874–1881). There were also the branches Wohlen – Bremgarten (1876) and Hendschiken –Brugg (1882). The NOB built a route along the Rhine, which was opened in two stages (1876 and 1892). The Seetalbahn , founded with British capital, opened the Lenzburg – Lucerne line in 1883 ; the extension to Wildegg followed in 1895, the branch line from Beinwil am See to Beromünster in two stages in 1887 and 1906.

In 1877 the Swiss National Railway (SNB) started operations. The company planned a second east-west main line between Lake Constance and Lake Geneva , which, as a broad-based “Volksbahn”, was to compete with the established “Herrenbahnen” of high finance. In Aargau, the route ran from Würenlos via Wettingen , Lenzburg and Suhr to Zofingen (with a branch from Suhr to Aarau). But as early as 1878 the SNB went bankrupt and was bought by the NOB at a fraction of the value. The communities along the route had invested a lot of money and had to bear heavy financial burdens due to the bankruptcy. In certain cases, debt repayment dragged on well into the 1930s.

population

During the first half of the 19th century, the population had increased by almost 60 percent, mainly because of the high birth surplus (1798: 125,669 inhabitants; 1850: 199,852 inhabitants). This development changed after 1850. For almost 40 years, Aargau was the only canton with a declining population (1888: 193,580 inhabitants). Because of numerous economic crises, many Aargau residents had to leave their canton. Most moved to big cities like Zurich and Basel; about a third emigrated overseas (mostly to the USA ). However, this development varied greatly from region to region. Rural communities were almost exclusively affected by the emigration, especially in the upper Fricktal and Zurzibiet areas (the Baldingen community , for example, lost almost half of its inhabitants). Industrial centers such as Aarau, Baden, Brugg, Rheinfelden or Wettingen, on the other hand, were able to almost double the population. From 1890 onwards there was again a slight increase; in 1900 the population was 206,498.

20th and 21st centuries

Effects of the world wars

The outbreak of World War I caught the population completely unprepared. She reacted by buying hamsters and thus contributed to a massive increase in food prices. The modest price control measures had no effect; coupled with high inflation and long active service , this led to great material hardship in large parts of the population during the course of the war. The Spanish flu broke out in the summer of 1918 . Since the hospitals were insufficient to care for the numerous sick people, 20 regional emergency hospitals were set up. Although the cantonal government issued a ban on assembly, around 750 people had died of the flu in Aargau alone by May 1919, and around a tenth of the population fell ill. The state strike in November 1918 was particularly followed in the industrial center of Baden . The cantonal government feared a revolutionary overthrow and deployed 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers to protect those willing to work, to set up checkpoints and to stop any outbreaks of violence. After three days, the national strike ended without incident.

In response to the state strike, right-wing conservative groups founded vigilante groups in various municipalities without a legal basis. Eugen Bircher united these in the Aargau Patriotic Association , which at times had over 15,000 members and had a significant influence on the anti-communist Swiss Patriotic Association . The consequences of the global economic crisis made themselves felt in Aargau in the form of company closures and rising unemployment figures. The cantonal government reacted with numerous employment programs, which mainly included infrastructure construction. Under the impression of the National Socialist seizure of power in the neighboring German Reich, the National Front tried to gain a foothold from 1933. She organized rallies, published propaganda newspapers and founded local groups. In the 1937 Grand Council elections, however, she only won one seat and soon disappeared into oblivion.

Switzerland was far better prepared for the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 than it was a quarter of a century earlier. In order to repel a possible German attack, the 5th Division covered the Aargau border area and occupied positions in the Jura, along the Rhine and on the Limmat line . In the summer of 1941 it was withdrawn in accordance with the Réduit strategy and relocated to the Alpine region. Food was rationed from the beginning of the war. As part of the “ cultivation battle ”, arable land in Aargau was expanded by 113% through clearing, amelioration and conversion of lawns. In 1945 arable land made up 42% of the cultivated land, compared to 23% at the beginning of the war. In order to continue importing urgently needed raw materials, Switzerland was forced to cooperate economically with the Axis powers . Aargau power plants supplied electricity to Germany, the Allies blacklisted numerous Aargau companies (above all Brown, Boveri & Cie. ).

From 1940, around 2000 interned Polish soldiers lived in 19 camps on cantonal territory . These were used in agriculture and road construction (the best-known example is the “ Polenstrasse ” near Thalheim ). There were also 1,000 internees (deserters and escaped prisoners of war). Allied planes dropped bombs over the Aargau several times. In Koblenz , Full-Reuenthal , Leuggern and Sins there was sometimes serious damage to buildings. At the end of April 1945, several thousand German refugees pushed across the border, whereupon they were placed in camps. Retreating Wehrmacht soldiers did not carry out orders to blow up the Rhine power stations.

Political development

After the complete revision of the cantonal constitution of 1885, the Aargau period allowed itself to be introduced with further popular rights and was not very keen on progress. The canton of Aargau only introduced popular elections for government and state councils in 1904, as one of the last cantons at all. The introduction of proportional representation at the cantonal level was also a long time coming until 1920 (29 years after the canton of Ticino ). Women had been eligible for office for the poor since 1936 and for school authorities since 1940, but full women's suffrage was only introduced in 1971.

The first parties emerged in the 1890s. In 1892 the Catholic Conservative Party (today the Christian Democratic People's Party ) was established, followed by the Free Democratic Party in 1894 . In 1902, the early labor movements joined the Social Democratic Party . Until the introduction of proportional representation, the liberals held a majority in both parliament and the government. Then the Social Democrats rose to become the strongest party and could maintain this position until 1981. After 1917 peasant parties were founded, which in 1936 merged to form the peasant, trade and citizens' party . The resulting Swiss People's Party was able to increase its share of the vote significantly from the 1980s and is now the party with the largest number of voters. Other parties represented in the Grand Council are (or were) the Evangelical People's Party (since 1921), the State Ring of Independents (1937–2001), the Young Peasant Movement (1937–1957), the Green Party (since 1985) and the Auto Party (1991–2005), the Bourgeois Democratic Party (since 2009) and the Green Liberal Party (since 2009). The nationalist republican movement peaked in the 1960s and was absorbed by the Swiss Democrats .

The number of members of the Grand Council was set at 200 in 1952, and has been 140 since 2005. The total revision of the canton's constitution, which began in 1972, was rather moderate after an initial euphoria for restructuring. The new constitution came into force in 1980 after the people rejected a first draft in 1979 to replace the mandatory with the optional legal and financial referendum. The state's catalog of basic rights and tasks were updated, and the Grand Council was also given planning powers. After 1966, larger municipalities replaced the municipal assemblies with residents ' councils , as they increasingly struggled to negotiate (according to the law at that time, at least half of the voters had to be present at the municipal assemblies). 15 municipalities made use of this option by 1974. In Aarburg , Oftringen , Spreitenbach and Suhr , however, the old system was reverted to between 1981 and 1997 for various reasons.

economy

Agriculture

In 1880, vineyards covered an area of ​​around 2700 hectares . When phylloxera and powdery mildew hit Aargau after 1900 , the area under cultivation shrank to 330 hectares by 1935. The lowest point was reached around 1965 with 212 hectares. Since then it has increased again to over 400 hectares, mainly thanks to the initiative of hobby winemakers. Mainly the varieties Müller-Thurgau (known in Switzerland as Riesling x Sylvaner ) and Blauburgunder are cultivated . The most important cultivation areas are the lower Aare valley , the lower Surbtal , the Limmattal , the upper Fricktal and the Schenkenbergertal .

Onion harvest at Möhlin

From 1900 the mechanization of agriculture began, which firstly led to an increase in productivity and secondly also required less labor. In 1941, the share of those employed in agriculture was still 21% and by 2000 it had fallen to just under three percent. The number of farms decreased between 1939 and 1990 from 18,777 to 6,845, the average farm size increased from 4.5 to 9.5 hectares in the same period. Sugar beet and corn cultivation has dominated since the 1950s . Due to amelioration and amalgamation of goods, the fruit trees and hedges that once existed have largely disappeared. The excessive use of fertilizer led to a high level of pollution in the waters; For example, Lake Hallwil has had to be artificially ventilated since 1986.

Electricity industry

The introduction of electricity contributed significantly to industrialization . The abundance of water in the Aargau favored the construction of hydropower plants . Between 1892 and 1914 alone, ten plants with an output of more than one megawatt were built , six by 1945 and three more by 1966. The systems changed the landscape significantly with their dams and backwater. The numerous rapids and gravel banks almost completely disappeared, as did the floodplains . In 1935, when the Klingnau power station was built, the Klingnau reservoir was dammed, and in 1975 the Flachsee on the Reuss . Several energy supply companies were established based in Aargau, including AEW , Axpo , Motor-Columbus and EGL . A popular initiative adopted in 1993 obliges the canton to renaturalize the river banks and to build a floodplain protection park, which by 2014 must cover one percent of the canton's area, i.e. around 14 km².

The rivers also provided ideal conditions for the construction of nuclear power plants that require large amounts of cooling water . The Beznau nuclear power plant (Block A in 1969, Block B in 1971) opened without major protests. The situation was different with the construction of the Leibstadt nuclear power plant . After the reactor incident at Three Mile Island , new safety regulations became necessary and the plant could only be inaugurated in 1984 after eleven years of construction. In addition, violent protests accompanied the construction. The planned Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant failed due to bitter resistance from the population and from environmental groups. The most spectacular event in 1975 was an eleven week occupation of the building site. In 1988 the project was finally dropped.

In 1960 the Federal Institute for Reactor Research (EIR) and in 1968 the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Physics (SIN) were founded, from which in 1988 the Paul Scherrer Institute (a multidisciplinary research institute with a focus on nuclear research) in Villigen and Würenlingen emerged . Today, Aargau produces a little more than a quarter of all electricity in Switzerland and is therefore known as the “Energy Canton” (the canton is sometimes derisively referred to as “NucleAargau”).

Industry

In 1910 51% of all employees were already working in industry . The machine, metal and apparatus industry (in the Baden region also the electrical industry) grew in importance and, around 1920, displaced the textile industry from the top position. At the same time, working from home became less important. The Baden district benefited the most from industrialization and became the most populous district. This was mainly thanks to Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC), which rose to become Switzerland's largest private employer. Around 1930, Aargau was the third most industrialized canton in Switzerland after Solothurn and Glarus . The economic crises at the beginning of the 1920s and 1930s led to the temporary closure of many companies, particularly in the textile industry. After 1945, thanks to the boom and the influx of foreign workers, there was a strong expansion of capacity in industry and the building trade. By 1960 the proportion of those employed in industry rose to 62 percent.

Former LafargeHolcim headquarters in Wildegg

Companies from the areas of Zurich and Basel increasingly relocated their space- intensive manufacturing sites to Aargau. This is particularly evident in the Basel chemical industry , which has built several large production plants in the lower Fricktal . Numerous Aargau companies also expanded their operations, such as B. the BBC, which outsourced its production to Birrfeld and the Lenzburg area . A key industry to this day is the production of cement , which is mainly concentrated in the Aare Valley and the Zurzibiet . The Holderbank company (today LafargeHolcim ) named after the municipality of the same name rose to become the second largest cement group in the world.

The structural change after the economic crisis in the mid-1970s hit Aargau by far not as hard as other regions due to the better mix of industries. However, the service sector replaced industry as the most important branch of the economy. Since then, small and medium-sized companies have become increasingly important. In 2008 the share of industrial jobs was 34 percent. The rapid rise in industry after 1945 also resulted in greater environmental pollution. Until the 1970s, the waste was almost exclusively disposed of in landfills. The first waste incineration plant went into operation in Turgi in 1970 , two more plants followed in 1973 in Buchs and 1974 in Oftringen. The Kölliken hazardous waste landfill opened in 1978 is considered to be the largest contaminated site in Switzerland. Although it was only in operation for seven years, it has to be extensively renovated; the renovation, which began in 2005, will cost up to CHF 770 million.

Service sector

The share of those employed in the service sector rose steadily throughout the 20th century, but remained below the national average; Aargau was long considered a typical industrial canton. Only in the mid-1980s did it exceed the share of industry, in 2008 it was 62 percent. Due to the good accessibility via the motorways, an above-average number of logistics companies and shopping centers emerged in Aargau . The tourism remained marginal; In addition to the traditional therapeutic baths in Baden, Rheinfelden and Schinznach-Bad , another one in Bad Zurzach was added in 1955 .

traffic

railroad

Development of the railway network until today

After 1900, only a few new railway lines were built . These electric railways, which were electric from the start, mainly served local traffic. The Aarau-Schöftland Railway was opened in 1901, followed by the Wynental Railway in 1904. These two meter-gauge railway lines merged in 1967 to form the Wynental and Suhrental Railway (WSB). In 1902 the opening of the Bremgarten-Dietikon-Bahn , which was also meter gauge , leased the Wohlen – Bremgarten West line from the SBB in 1912 . The standard gauge Wohlen-Meisterschwanden railway completed in 1916 .

The next major expansion took place until 1975. The Heitersberg tunnel between Mellingen and Killwangen significantly shortened the travel time on the Bern – Zurich route because it eliminated the detour via Brugg and Baden. At the same time, the large Limmattal marshalling yard went into operation in Spreitenbach . The Zurich S-Bahn has been running to Baden and Brugg since 1990, and the Basel S-Bahn has been opening up the Fricktal since 1997 . On some routes, the passenger traffic had to be stopped due to insufficient use or inadequate accessibility and replaced by a bus service: Lenzburg - Wildegg (1984), Beinwil am See - Beromünster (1992), Laufenburg - Koblenz (1994) and Wohlen - Meisterschwanden (1997).

The biggest change was the introduction of Bahn 2000 on December 12, 2004: the new Mattstetten – Rothrist line and the “war loop” between Zofingen and Rothrist, built in 1941 but not yet in operation, were opened . On the other hand, the SBB closed the former national railway lines Aarau – Suhr and Mellingen Wettingen for passenger traffic. A partial compensation took place with the extension of the Zurich S-Bahn through the Heitersberg tunnel to Aarau. The former SBB sections Reinach – Menziken and Aarau – Suhr were changed to meter gauge and have been used by the WSB since 2003 and 2010 respectively.

Road traffic

Aare viaduct of the A3 near Habsburg

Far more important than the construction of the railway was the expansion of the road network in the 20th century. The level of motorization increased rapidly, especially after the Second World War. The most urgent task was initially the asphalting of the gravel roads. In 1950 only 85 percent of the cantonal roads and 21 percent of the local roads had a solid surface. Twenty years later all the roads were fully developed.

Between 1966 and 1980, the A1 and A2 motorways were built on Aargau soil, the A3 initially between Kaiseraugst and Frick . Closing the gap between Frick and the Birrfeld motorway triangle was delayed until 1996 because the struggle for the most environmentally friendly route possible for many years. Until 2003, the Baregg tunnel near Baden was a notorious bottleneck throughout Switzerland, which could only be removed with the construction of a third tunnel tube. In addition to the motorways, a network of four-lane expressways over 100 kilometers long was planned. But these projects sprang from the utopian belief in progress of the 1960s, were finally put aside after the economic crisis of the 1970s and only a fraction of them were implemented.

As a large part of the east-west and north-south traffic runs through Aargau (both by road and rail), Aargau is perceived as a “transit canton”.

shipping

Since the beginning of the 20th century there have been repeated plans to expand the waterways for large freight ships. B. 1913 a project to make the High Rhine navigable from Rheinfelden to Koblenz. A Limmat canal project presented in 1924 was dropped after the Second World War. At the beginning of the 1950s, the project of the Trans-Helvetic Canal between the mouth of the Aare and Lake Geneva came up. The barrages of the hydropower plants would have been overcome with locks. At Brugg, Klingnau and Full-Reuenthal, large river ports were planned that would have completely changed the landscape. In the course of time, all these projects were felt to be more and more unnecessary and unprofitable; they also failed due to resistance from the population and environmental groups (above all the working group for the protection of the Aare ). In 1989 the projects were finally put aside.

population

Since 1890, the population has increased again, especially in the industrialized areas and with a focus on the Baden region. The proportion of Swiss not from Aargau rose from 8 to 31 percent between 1888 and 1950. The proportion of foreigners reached a temporary high in 1910 at 8 percent (52 percent of foreigners were German at the time , 37 percent came from Italy ). In the interwar period , growth flattened out. The proportion of foreigners decreased to 3 percent by 1941.

After the Second World War, the boom triggered a real growth spurt, the average annual growth between 1950 and 2000 was 1.3 percent. The districts of Baden, Bremgarten and Rheinfelden , which were drawn into the pull of the rapidly growing agglomerations of Zurich and Basel, grew particularly strongly . An extreme example is Spreitenbach, where the number of inhabitants increased sixfold during this period. The Aarau district also experienced strong growth .

About half of the population growth between 1950 and 1970 was due to immigration of foreigners, mostly Italians. Most of the foreign workers were Catholic, and so in 1970 the number of Catholics outnumbered Protestants for the first time. The proportion of foreigners rose to 18 percent. After the increased emigration of foreigners caused by the recession between 1975 and 1978, their number rose again continuously. Since 1980 the proportion of Italians in the foreign population has been decreasing. Most of the immigrants today come from the Balkans and Turkey .

In 2009 the population exceeded the 600,000 mark. During the euphoric growth phase of the 1960s, spatial planners assumed a population of 1.15 million in 2000. Various plans tried to steer this targeted growth in the right direction. Garden cities with several thousand inhabitants were planned at various locations . Spreitenbach should z. B. in the final expansion will have 30,000 inhabitants (today there are a little more than 10,000). The best known urban development project was called Aarolfingen . It envisaged a large city with around 350,000 inhabitants in the Aarau – Olten – Zofingen area, but failed because of the lack of support from the population and the economic crisis of the 1970s.

Despite this rapid growth (in the second half of the 20th century the population increased by more than 200,000), no real center has emerged to this day. Compared to the rest of Switzerland, Aargau has an above-average number of municipalities. Only Aarau and Wettingen have more than 20,000 inhabitants. The lack of a strong center means that even 200 years after the canton was founded, there is still a pronounced regionalism . The districts of Baden, Bremgarten and Zurzach are strongly oriented towards the canton of Zurich, in many municipalities the proportion of commuters from outside the canton is more than 30 percent. The Rheinfelden district is increasingly oriented towards Basel, the Muri district towards Zug and Lucerne , the Zofingen district towards Olten and Bern .

literature

  • Christophe Seiler, Andreas Steigmeier : History of the Aargau - Illustrated overview from prehistoric times to the present . AT Verlag, Aarau 1991, ISBN 3-85502-410-3 (overview of the history of the canton from prehistoric times to today).
  • Martin Hartmann, Hans Weber: The Romans in Aargau . Sauerländer, Aarau 1985, ISBN 3-7941-2539-8 (History of the Romans in Aargau with archaeological inventory).
  • Bruno Meier : A royal family from Switzerland. The Habsburgs, Aargau and the Confederation in the Middle Ages . here + now, Baden 2008, ISBN 978-3-03919-069-0 (Aargau and Switzerland in the Middle Ages from the perspective of the Habsburgs).
  • Bruno Meier, Dominik Sauerländer, Hans Rudolf Stauffacher, Andreas Steigmeier: Revolution in Aargau - Revolution, Awakening, Resistance 1798–1803 . AT Verlag, Aarau 1997, ISBN 3-85502-612-2 (history of the canton during the time of the Helvetic Republic).
  • Nold Halder : History of the Canton of Aargau 1803-1830 . tape 1 . Baden Verlag, Baden 1953 (first part of the official historiography).
  • Heinrich Staehelin: History of the Canton of Aargau 1830–1885 . tape 2 . Baden Verlag, Baden 1978 (second part of the official historiography).
  • Willi Gautschi : History of the Canton of Aargau 1885–1953 . tape 3 . Baden Verlag, Baden 1978 (third part of the official historiography).

Web links

Individual evidence

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  2. Geological history of the valley. (PDF, 49 KB) Hauri Seon gravel pit, archived from the original on May 18, 2005 ; Retrieved October 1, 2012 .
  3. ^ Elisabeth Bleuer: Aargau - 1.1.1 Palaeolithic and Middle Stone Age. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . February 6, 2018 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
  4. ^ Elisabeth Bleuer: Aargau - 1.1.2 Neolithic. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . February 6, 2018 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
  5. a b c Elisabeth Bleuer: Aargau - 1.1.3 Bronze and Iron Ages. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . February 6, 2018 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
  6. Patrick Bircher, Peter Bircher: The Fricktal - a historical outline. (PDF, 43 KB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 21, 2007 ; Retrieved March 21, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fricktal.ch
  7. ^ Gilbert Kaenel : Helvetier. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . April 8, 2018 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
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  46. ^ Andreas Würgler: Tagsatzung. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . September 25, 2014 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
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This article was added to the list of excellent articles on February 7, 2005 in this version .