Birmenstorf 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

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

History

The first written mention of Birmenstorf dates to 1146. In 1415, the ''

Eidgenossenschaft ''Eidgenossenschaft'' () is a German word specific to the political history of Switzerland. It means "oath commonwealth" or "oath alliance" in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of the ...

'' conquered the Aargau, and Birmenstorf as part of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

County of Baden The County of Baden (German: ''Grafschaft Baden'') was a condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy and is now part of the Swiss Canton of Aargau. The county was established in 1415 after the Swiss conquest of the Aargau and was ruled as a shar ...

came under their sovereignty. During the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, about a third of the population converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. The

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

of the old church with

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s dating to 1440 still exists . For over 600 years,

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s have been cultivated in Birmenstorf.

Archeology

Archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

findings indicate that the area was inhabited as early as the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

. The village proper was most likely founded by

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

settlers probably in the 6th century.

Geography

Birmenstorf has an area, , of . Of this area, 44% is used for agricultural purposes, while 36.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 15.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.4%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The municipality is located in the Baden district, in the valley of the

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) *Reuss (river) in Switzerland *Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss *Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line (House of Reuss), members incl ...

near its confluence with the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...

and west-south-west from

. It consists of the village of Birmenstorf 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 Lindmühle, Muntwil, Müslen and Oberhard as well as a new housing development.

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 vis ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

is ''Vert a Garb Or.''

Demographics

Birmenstorf has a population (as of ) of . , 19.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau -Bereich 01 -Bevölkerung
accessed 20 January 2010 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.1%. Most of the population () speaks German (90.3%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 2.0%) and Albanian being third ( 1.6%).
accessed 5 February 2010 The age distribution, , in Birmenstorf is; 249 children or 10.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 301 teenagers or 12.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 343 people or 13.8% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 388 people or 15.6% are between 30 and 39, 445 people or 17.9% are between 40 and 49, and 310 people or 12.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 236 people or 9.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 152 people or 6.1% are between 70 and 79, there are 62 people or 2.5% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 4 people or 0.2% who are 90 and older.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau -Bevölkerungsdaten für den Kanton Aargau und die Gemeinden (Archiv)
accessed 20 January 2010 , there were 71 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 426 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 396 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.51 individuals. there were 486 single family homes (or 45.1% of the total) out of a total of 1,078 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 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 i ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 35.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (23.1%), the FDP (12.2%) and the SP (11.5%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Birmenstorf about 81% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). Of the school age population (), there are 180 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 ...

, there are 22 students attending secondary school in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following table:

Economy

, Birmenstorf had an unemployment rate of 1.68%. , there were 129 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 23 businesses involved in this sector. 330 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 construction. ...

and there are 26 businesses in this sector. 328 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 68 businesses in this sector. there was a total of 1,267 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 1,015 or about 80.1% of the residents worked outside Birmenstorf while 395 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 647 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau-Bereich 11 Verkehr und Nachrichtenwesen
accessed 21 January 2010

Religion

From the , 1,108 or 47.9% are

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 lette ...

, while 766 or 33.1% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

. Of the rest of the population, there are 7 individuals (or about 0.30% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau – Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

References

External links

Official homepage of the municipality of BirmenstorfHomepage of the viticulture cooperative
{{Authority control