Aristau is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of Muri in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.

History

The first traces of human settlement around Aristau are scattered

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...

artifacts. The modern municipality of Aristau is made up of three separate sections or villages. The three sections that make up the municipality were first mentioned in 1153 as ''Arnestowo, Althusern'' and ''Birchi''. It was originally the seat of a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of the Lanzburg family. During the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

it was the possession of the lords of Baar and

Muri Abbey Muri Abbey (german: Kloster Muri) is a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. It flourished for over eight centuries at Muri, in the Canton of Aargau, near Zürich, Switzerland. It is currently established as Muri-Gries in Sout ...

. After 1285, the Abbey also owned the rights to hold courts and to collect

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s. In 1351 Catherine of Baar sold the rights and property in Aristau to Hartmann Heidegg. After the destruction of his tower in 1386 by troops from Lucerne and Zurich, the

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

at the foot of the tower was sold to the monastery of Hermetschwil. The remaining property was sold to Muri Abbey. The ruins of Werd Castle (of which no records exist) was possibly the home of the Lords of Aristau. In 1750 Aristau introduced a local tax. This tax led, in 1816, to the current community. However, the town councils of the three villages didn't unite until 1912. Until 1942, Aristau was part of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Muri. With the completion of the Wendelin Church in 1943, Aristau became the center of the newly independent ''Reusstalpfarrei'' ( Reuss valley parish). This was a long time in coming, the parish had been planned since 1845. The Chapel of St. John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the village center, was first mentioned in 1360/70 as a filial church of the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in Muri. The chapel was totally rebuilt in 1521, enlarged in 1734 and renovated in 1972.

Geography

Aristau has an area, , of . Of this area, or 69.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 15.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 9.3% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.9% is either rivers or lakes and or 4.2% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 58.6% is used for growing crops and 9.1% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 4.1% is unproductive vegetation.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 The municipality is located in the Muri district, on the eastern slope of the ''Wagenrain'' hills above the

Reuss river The Reuss (Swiss German: ''Rüüss'') is a river in Switzerland. With a length of and a drainage basin of , it is the fourth largest river in Switzerland (after the Rhine, Aare and Rhône). The upper Reuss forms the main valley of the canton o ...

valley. It consists of the villages of Aristau, Birri and Althäusern.

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

is ''Gules a Tower Argent embattled masoned issuant from a Mount Vert between two Mullets of the second.''

Demographics

Aristau has a population () of , 12.8% of the population are foreign nationals.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau -Bereich 01 -Bevölkerung
accessed 20 January 2010 Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 10.3%. Most of the population () speaks German (94.7%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 1.1%) and French being third ( 0.9%).
accessed 20-May-2010 The age distribution, , in Aristau is; 122 children or 9.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 193 teenagers or 14.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 149 people or 11.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 151 people or 11.7% are between 30 and 39, 290 people or 22.4% are between 40 and 49, and 202 people or 15.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 99 people or 7.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 65 people or 5.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 22 people or 1.7% who are between 80 and 89,and there is 1 person who is between 90 and older.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau -Bevölkerungsdaten für den Kanton Aargau und die Gemeinden (Archiv)
accessed 20 January 2010 the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.57 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 61% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...

or a rent-to-own agreement). , there were 28 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 171 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 216 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 430 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. there were 237 single family homes (or 45.6% of the total) out of a total of 520 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 15 empty apartments for a 2.9% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 11.8 new units per 1000 residents. In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 33.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (22.5%), the FDP (12.8%) and the SP (12.7%). The historical population is given in the following table:

Economy

, Aristau had an unemployment rate of 1.67%. , there were 119 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 37 businesses involved in this sector. 26 people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

and there are 11 businesses in this sector. 79 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, with 29 businesses in this sector. there were 648 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 523 or about 80.7% of the residents worked outside Aristau while 38 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 163 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 9.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.5% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 678 or 56.6% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, while 309 or 25.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Aristau about 76.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a '' Fachhochschule''). Of the school age population (), there are 106 students attending

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in the municipality.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries
accessed 14 May 2010

Notable people

* Ines Torelli (born 1931), comedian, radio personality, and stage, voice and film actress

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of Aargau