Beinwil (Freiamt) 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 earliest evidence of human settlement are scattered

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

items. The modern municipality of Beinwil is first mentioned in 1153 as ''Beinwilare''. Until 1950 it was known as ''Beinwil bei Muri''. Originally, much of the property in the village was owned by

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 ...

. In 1239 Hartmann Visilere granted all his possessions and rights in Beinwil to the Cistercian

Kappel Abbey Kappel Abbey is a former Cistercian monks monastery located in Kappel am Albis in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich. Foundation of the abbey Kappel Abbey is first mentioned in 1185 by Bishop Hermann II of Bishopric of ...

in Kappel am Albis. This property went to the city of Zurich in 1415. In 1527, Zurich also acquired the rights to the low courts in the municipality. In 1586 these rights went to the family of Holder Meyer in Lucerne, who sold them in 1614 to Muri Abbey. The

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

ei of Wiggwil was held by a Habsburg

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 ...

, the Ministerialis (unfree knights) family of Gessler, until 1412. The history 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 ...

is inextricably linked to the

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

to the grave of St. Burkard of Beinwil, who died 18 May 1192(?) Burkard was the first pastor in Beinwil. His cult is documented by the 13th Century and he was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

in 1817. The Church of Saint Peter and Paul is first mentioned in 1239. It was totally rebuilt in 1619-21. Since 1808 it has also been the Church of St. Burkhard. The Chapel of St. Lawrence, in the hamlet of Wallenschwil, was part of the Muri parish until 1856. Economically, village life has always been dominated by agriculture. In 1990, 46% of the workers in the village were involved in agriculture.

Geography

Beinwil (Freiamt) has an area, , of . Of this area, or 75.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 17.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.4%. Out of the forested land, 16.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 40.4% is used for growing crops and 32.9% is pastures, while 2.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The municipality is located in the Muri district on the east slope of the ''Lindenberg''. It consists of the village of Beinwil and the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Wiggwil, Brunnwil, Winterschwil and Wallenschwil, as well as Schloss Horben and the chapel in Horben.

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 ''Or a Linden-tree eradicated Vert.''

Demographics

Beinwil (Freiamt) has a population () of , 8.8% 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 3.5%. Most of the population () speaks German (98.4%), with Albanian being second most common ( 0.5%) and Italian being third ( 0.2%).
accessed 20-May-2010 The age distribution, , in Beinwil (Freiamt) is; 132 children or 12.8% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 144 teenagers or 14.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 152 people or 14.8% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 134 people or 13.0% are between 30 and 39, 162 people or 15.7% are between 40 and 49, and 138 people or 13.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 91 people or 8.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 42 people or 4.1% are between 70 and 79, there are 29 people or 2.8% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 5 people or 0.5% who are 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 0.58 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 55.8% 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, 126 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 163 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 324 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.9 persons per household. there were 140 single family homes (or 34.3% of the total) out of a total of 408 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 1 empty apartments for a 0.2% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 29.6 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 41.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (31%), the FDP (10.1%) and the SP (6.3%). The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

The farm house at Winterschwil 8, the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church of St. Burkard in the Unterdorf and Horban Castle are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The entire hamlets of Wiggwil and Winterschwil are designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. File:Beinwil Freiamt 1775.jpg, Interior of the church of St. Burkard File:Horben Schloss.jpg, Castle Horben

Economy

, Beinwil (Freiamt) had an unemployment rate of 1.29%. , there were 141 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 47 businesses involved in this sector. 103 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 17 businesses in this sector. 82 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 24 businesses in this sector. there were 518 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 359 or about 69.3% of the residents worked outside Beinwil (Freiamt) while 58 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 217 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 6% used public transportation to get to work, and 53.4% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 774 or 82.2% 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 94 or 10.0% 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 Beinwil (Freiamt) about 80% 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 107 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

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of Aargau Cultural property of national significance in Aargau