Hilfikon was 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 Bremgarten in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. In January 2010 Hilfikon merged into

Villmergen Villmergen is a municipality in the district of Bremgarten in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Two famous battles took place at Villmergen. In 2010 Hilfikon merged into Villmergen.tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

in Hilfikon. The area ruled by the Hilfikon family is first documented in 1415. Though, by 1472 it was owned by the Meiss family of Zurich, then in 1498 it became a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

of Hans von Seengen, and in 1506–10 it was owned by Melchior von Gilgen of Lucerne. He also purchased the Bailiwick of Sarmenstorf in 1514, and in 1510 donated a chapel. In 1628 the property was purchased by John Lussi Landamman for

Unterwalden Unterwalden, translated from the Latin ''inter silvas''(''between the forests''), is the old name of a forest-canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, consisting of two valleys or '' Talschaften'', no ...

, then in 1644 it went to the Zwyer family of Evibach in Silenen. In 1743 the village transferred by marriage to the Tschudi family of

Glarus , neighboring_municipalities= Glarus Nord, Glarus Süd, Muotathal (SZ), Innerthal (SZ) , twintowns= Wiesbaden-Biebrich (Germany) } Glarus (; gsw, Glaris; french: Glaris; it, Glarona; rm, Glaruna) is the capital of the canton of Glarus ...

, which were deposed in 1749 by Augustin Victor Franz Roll from

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissens ...

. He had the late gothic chapel demolished and a new chapel built. The new chapel's

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 sp ...

is a replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Religiously, Hilfikon has always belonged to the Villmergen

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 ...

. So, in 1743 a part of the village came under the power of Villmergen's courts, while the other part remained under the nobles' courts. In 1798 Augustine von Roll eliminated this division of judicial authority. During the second

Toggenburg War The Toggenburg War, also known as the Second War of Villmergen or the Swiss Civil War of 1712, was a Swiss civil war during the Old Swiss Confederacy from 12 April to 11 August 1712. The Catholic "inner cantons" and the Imperial Abbey of Saint ...

, in 1712, the castle was the seat of the Catholic General Staff. In 1832 the castle was sold along with other properties and has since had several owners. Into the 20th century the small town was dominated by agriculture and a few small businesses. In 1916, the Wohlen-Meisterschwanden Railway was built, to which Hilfikon was a station. The village has a comprehensive school for primary education. In 2010 Hilfikon merged into

Geography

Hilfikon has an area, , of . Of this area, 63.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 10.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.6%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The village is located in the Bremgarten district along the old Villmergen- Sarmenstorf road on the northern edge of the ''Lindenberg''.

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 ''Argent an Elephant Sable defendu and harnessed Or carrying a Tower embattled Gules doored and windowed of the second.''

Demographics

Hilfikon has a population (as of ) of . , 9.9% 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 decreased at a rate of −2.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (95.1%), with French being second most common ( 3.1%) and Italian being third ( 0.9%).
accessed 24-February-2010 The age distribution, , in Hilfikon is; 24 children or 9.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 32 teenagers or 12.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 29 people or 11.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 29 people or 11.6% are between 30 and 39, 56 people or 22.3% are between 40 and 49, and 42 people or 16.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 9 people or 3.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 15 people or 6.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 12 people or 4.8% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 3 people or 1.2% 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 0.57 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 73.1% 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 3 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 29 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 46 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.73 individuals. there were 63 single family homes (or 62.4% of the total) out of a total of 101 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 1 empty apartments for a 1.0% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.1 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% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (19.7%), the FDP (14%) and the SP (13.1%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Hilfikon about 83.8% 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 13 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. The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

Schloss Hilfikon and chapel are listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 24-Feb-2010

Economy

, Hilfikon had an unemployment rate of 1.89%. , there were 20 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 4 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 3 businesses in this sector. 18 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 9 businesses in this sector. there were 114 total workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 84 or about 73.7% of the residents worked outside Hilfikon while 19 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 49 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 Of the working population, 8.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 51.7% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 143 or 63.8% 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 62 or 27.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cultural property of national significance in Aargau Former municipalities of Aargau Populated places disestablished in 2010