Hendschiken 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

Lenzburg Lenzburg is a town in the central region of the Swiss canton Aargau and is the capital of the Lenzburg District. The town, founded in the Middle Ages, lies in the Seetal valley, about 3 kilometres south of the Aare river. Lenzburg and the neighb ...

in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.

History

Hendschiken is first mentioned in 1160 as ''Hentschikon''. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the major landowners in Hendschiken included

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 ...

Säckingen Abbey Säckingen Abbey is a former Roman Catholic abbey located in Bad Säckingen, Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The Abbey was founded in the 6th or 7th century by Fridolin of Säckingen, an Irish monk. While the Abbey had both monks and nuns, only th ...

and St. Urban Abbey as well as the

Counts of Lenzburg The Counts of Lenzburg (also Counts of Baden by the early 12th century) were a comital family in the Duchy of Swabia in the 11th and 12th centuries, controlling substantial portions of the '' pagi'' of Aargau and Zürichgau. After the extinction ...

and Habsburg. In the 14th century most of the land went to the Habsburg owned Königsfelden Abbey. The right to administer

low justice High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. Low just ...

was acquired between 1264-1273 by the Lords of

Hallwyl Hallwil is a municipality in the district of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. The Castle of Hallwyl is located in the neighboring municipality Seengen. History Hallwil is first mentioned in 1167 as ''de Allewilare''. Between ...

, who held it until 1798. In 1415 the village came under the control of Bern and became part of the Lenzburg district (german: Oberamt Lenzburg). After it became a village in the 15th century, the farmers were allowed to freely choose their '' Twingherren'' from among any member of the Hallwyl family. With the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasi ...

in 1803, Hendschiken joined the newly created Canton of Aargau and became part of the Lenzburg district. Initially it belonged to the Staufberg

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 ...

, but in 1565 it was assigned to the Lenzburg parish. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the straw plaiting (in Wohlen) and the cotton industry (in Lenzburg) resulted in an economic upswing. In addition to small businesses of the 19th century, in the second half of the 20th century some medium-sized enterprises (paper and plastic packaging, surface technology) set up outside the village. In the 1970s, housing grew because of the proximity to the highway. 1982 saw the inauguration of the church center.

Geography

Hendschiken has an area, , of . Of this area, or 57.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 24.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 17.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.7%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 50.9% is used for growing crops and 5.4% is pastures, while 1.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The municipality is located in the Lenzburg district, in the valley on the left bank of the ''Bünz''.. It consists of the village of Hendschiken 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 Bez. Lenzburg. Einst eine geschlossene Siedlung, heute mehrere voneinander entfernte Dorfteile in der Talebene am linken Ufer der Bünz..

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 ''Azure a Glove sinister Or fingers towards chief.''

Demographics

Hendschiken has a population () of , 10.4% 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 1.9%. Most of the population () speaks German (95.1%), with Italian being second most common ( 1.1%) and Albanian being third ( 0.7%).
accessed 14-May-2010 The age distribution, , in Hendschiken is; 102 children or 10.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 122 teenagers or 13.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 117 people or 12.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 125 people or 13.3% are between 30 and 39, 179 people or 19.0% are between 40 and 49, and 121 people or 12.9% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 94 people or 10.0% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 47 people or 5.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 30 people or 3.2% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 3 people or 0.3% 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 0.53 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 61.1% 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 23 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 184 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 158 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 391 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. there were 214 single family homes (or 51.7% of the total) out of a total of 414 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 2 empty apartments for a 0.5% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.2 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 41.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.2%), the FDP (12.4%) and the CVP (10.2%). The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

The thatched roof house (german: Strohdachhaus) at Bühlhofstrasse 4 is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Economy

, Hendschiken had an unemployment rate of 1.56%. , there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 51 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 15 businesses in this sector. 213 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 34 businesses in this sector. there were 487 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 398 or about 81.7% of the residents worked outside Hendschiken while 255 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 344 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 10.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 226 or 25.2% 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 524 or 58.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Hendschiken about 80.1% 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 75 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. Hendschiken is home to the ''Gemeindebibliotheken und Schulbibliotheken'' (Municipal and School library). The library has () 3,400 books or other media, and loaned out 2,575 items in the same year. The library was open a total of 12.5 days with average of 2.5 hours per week during that year.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