Widen

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the American screenwriter and film director, see Gregory Widen .

Widen
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Aargau (AG)
District :	Bremgarten
BFS no. :	4081
Postal code :	8967
Coordinates :	669 328  /  246524 coordinates: 47 ° 21 '57 "  N , 8 ° 21' 23"  O ; CH1903:  six hundred and sixty-nine thousand three hundred and twenty-eight  /  246524
Height :	537  m above sea level M.
Height range :	418–741 m above sea level M.
Area :	2.62  km²
Residents:	3773 (December 31, 2019)
Population density :	1440 inhabitants per km²
Proportion of foreigners : (residents without citizenship )	16.7% (December 31, 2019)
Website:	www.widen.ch
Widen
Location of the municipality

Widen ( Swiss German : ˈʋiːdə ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Aargau . It belongs to the Bremgarten district and is located immediately north of the Mutschellen Pass .

geography

The village center is located on a small plateau between the Mutschellen Pass in the south and the gently sloping southern slope of the Hasenberg ( 762  m above sea level ) in the north. The Hasenberg is the southernmost branch of the Heitersberg mountain range, which extends as far as Baden . To the west, the plateau drops into the Reuss valley , but in the Heinrüti area, at an altitude of ( 490  m above sea level ), there is a flat incised valley with a small lake, the Gyrenweiher. The hamlet of the same name is located on the Hasenberg at an altitude of ( 695  m above sea level ). Widen has grown together with the neighboring communities of Berikon , Rudolfstetten-Friedlisberg and Zufikon .

The area of ​​the municipality is 260 hectares , of which 44 hectares are covered with forest and 109 hectares are built over. The highest point is at 740  m above sea level. M. on the southern slope of the Hasenberg, the deepest at 430  m above sea level. M. am Pflanzerbach on the border with Eggenwil . Neighboring communities are Bellikon in the north, Bergdietikon in the northeast, Rudolfstetten-Friedlisberg in the east, Berikon in the southeast, Zufikon in the south and Eggenwil in the west.

history

It is often falsely claimed that Widen was first mentioned in a document in 1140. Landgrave Adelbert II von Habsburg , who died at the time, bequeathed the village of Eggenwil and goods on Mutschellen to Muri Monastery , but did not explicitly mention the name Widen in the deed of donation. The name is also missing in the Acta Murensia , which was created around 1160 . At the end of the 12th century, an estate called Wyda is mentioned in the Hermetschwil monastery book of the dead ; a Uticha de Premagartorn ( Bremgarten ) decreed that the estate should be handed over to the monastery on her death, but the exact year is not given. The current spelling first appeared in the middle of the 14th century.

In the Middle Ages, blood and lower jurisdiction lay in the hands of the Habsburgs or their ministerials . In 1415 the Swiss conquered Aargau, and Widen was henceforth part of the Rohrdorf office in the county of Baden , a common rule . The lower jurisdiction over the Heinrüti area was now owned by the Hermetschwil monastery. In March 1798 the French took Switzerland and proclaimed the Helvetic Republic . Together with Eggenwil, Widen formed an agency in the short-lived canton of Baden .

Historic aerial photo by Werner Friedli from 1964

After the founding of the canton of Aargau in 1803, the separation from Eggenwil took place, and when the border was cleared, some farms were definitely transferred to Widen. Little is known about Widen's history up to this point, as almost no documents have survived. During the 19th century the population stagnated and Widen remained a small, humble village. Numerous impoverished residents had to leave their homeland and some emigrated to North America. Immigrant farmers from the canton of Bern then largely took over the abandoned farms. These immigrants were reformed; For this reason, Widen has an above-average proportion of Reformed people compared to the predominantly Catholic neighboring parishes.

On May 1, 1902, with the opening of the Bremgarten-Dietikon-Bahn and a stop on the Mutschellen-Passhöhe , Widen was connected to the railway network. During the first half of the 20th century the population increased only slightly. From 1950, however, aided by the proximity to the city of Zurich , an unprecedented building boom set in. Within forty years the population grew almost tenfold. For example, a subsidiary of Swissair built a housing estate with several apartment blocks. In 1990 the maximum of 3915 inhabitants was reached. The population then decreased slightly, but has stabilized at around 3,600.

Attractions

Sculptures by Bruno Weber on the traffic roundabout in Widen

Widen Reformed Church

See also : List of cultural assets in Widen

coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms reads: "Green wicker torn in white." This is a talking coat of arms, as it is derived from the place name. The wicker first appeared on the municipal seal in 1811, and was still flanked by bushes until 1872. The current stylized form dates back to 1965.

population

The population developed as follows:

year	1798	1850	1900	1930	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010
Residents	270	342	274	339	398	759	1277	2699	3915	3636	3506

On December 31, 2019, 3773 people lived in Widen, the proportion of foreigners was 16.7%. In the 2015 census, 33.8% described themselves as Roman Catholic and 27.3% as Reformed ; 38.9% were non-denominational or of other faiths. In the 2000 census, 92.8% stated German as their main language, 1.4% Italian , 1.0% each French and English and 0.6% Serbo-Croatian .

Politics and law

The assembly of those entitled to vote, the municipal assembly , exercises legislative power. The executing authority is the five-member municipal council . He is elected by the people in the majority procedure, his term of office is four years. The parish council leads and represents the parish. To this end, it implements the resolutions of the municipal assembly and the tasks assigned to it by the canton. The Bremgarten District Court is primarily responsible for legal disputes . Widen belongs to the Friedensrichterkreis VII (Bremgarten).

economy

According to the company structure statistics (STATENT) collected in 2015, there are around 820 jobs in Widen, of which 2% are in agriculture, 20% in industry and 78% in the service sector. All of the approximately 150 companies are small and medium-sized companies . Most of the employed are commuters and work in the city of Zurich or in the nearby Limmat Valley .

traffic

The main road 1 from Wohlen over the Mutschellen towards Zurich is one of the most important traffic arteries in Switzerland. At the top of the pass it crosses with the canton road 282 to Baden and with the canton road 411 to Birmensdorf . The connection Urdorf of the A4 motorway is about six kilometers away. The Berikon-Widen station of the Bremgarten-Dietikon-Bahn is exactly at the top of the pass. From there, Postbuses go to Baden train station and Zurich Wiedikon train station , as well as a Limmat Bus express bus line through the Uetliberg tunnel to Zurich Enge train station . On weekends, night buses run from Baden to Berikon-Widen and from Dietikon train station via Widen to Oberwil-Lieli .

education

The community has three kindergartens and three schoolhouses in which primary school is taught. All upper levels ( secondary school , secondary school and district school ) can be attended in the district school center in the neighboring municipality of Berikon . The closest grammar schools are the Canton School Wohlen , the Canton School Baden and the Canton School Wettingen .

Personalities

• Peter Voser (* 1958), manager
• Elisabeth Sailer-Albrecht, President of the Grand Council

literature

• Patrick Zehnder: Widen. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Peter Felder: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume IV (Bremgarten district). Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1967, ISBN 3-906131-07-6 .

Web links

Commons : Widen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Widen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cantonal population statistics 2019. Department of Finance and Resources, Statistics Aargau, March 30, 2020, accessed on April 2, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Cantonal population statistics 2019. Department of Finance and Resources, Statistics Aargau, March 30, 2020, accessed on April 2, 2019 . 
3. ^ Beat Zehnder: The community names of the canton of Aargau . In: Historical Society of the Canton of Aargau (Ed.): Argovia . tape 100 . Verlag Sauerländer, Aarau 1991, ISBN 3-7941-3122-3 , p. 461-462 .
4. ^ National map of Switzerland, sheet 1090, Swisstopo.
5. ↑ Standard area statistics - municipalities according to 4 main areas. Federal Statistical Office , November 26, 2018, accessed on May 15, 2019 . 
6. ^ Joseph Galliker, Marcel Giger: Municipal coat of arms of the Canton of Aargau . Lehrmittelverlag des Kantons Aargau, book 2004, ISBN 3-906738-07-8 , p. 313 .
7. ↑ Population development in the municipalities of the Canton of Aargau since 1850. (Excel) In: Eidg. Volkszählung 2000. Statistics Aargau, 2001, archived from the original on October 8, 2018 ; accessed on May 15, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Resident population by religious affiliation, 2015. (Excel) In: Population and Households, Community Tables 2015. Statistics Aargau, accessed on May 15, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Swiss Federal Census 2000: Economic resident population by main language as well as by districts and municipalities. (Excel) Statistics Aargau, archived from the original on August 10, 2018 ; accessed on May 15, 2019 . 
10. ↑ circles of justice of the peace. Canton of Aargau, accessed on June 20, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Statistics of the corporate structure (STATENT). (Excel, 157 kB) Statistics Aargau, 2016, accessed on May 15, 2019 .