Mönthal 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

Brugg , neighboring_municipalities = Gebenstorf, Habsburg, Hausen, Holderbank, Lupfig, Riniken, Rüfenach, Schinznach, Untersiggenthal, Villigen, Villnachern, Veltheim, Windisch , twintowns = Rottweil (Germany) , website ...

in canton of

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

Originally it was a fortified late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

hilltop settlement. Additionally, a

Roman 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 letter ...

bronze figure was discovered in the village. During the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

there were a number of small settlements in the area. Some of these houses still exist, while others (such as Bernbrunnen, which was mentioned as an independent village about 1300) have vanished. Mönthal is first mentioned about 1273 as ''Muenuntal''. The low and high justice rights were held by the

Habsburgs 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 ...

, until 1460 when they went to

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. Under Bern it was part of the Schenkenberg

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

with the court in Stilli. St. George's church was first mentioned in 1273. After 1380 the rights to the church collection and the appointment of the minister was held by Brugg. After 1860 Mönthal was an independent

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name 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 or m ...

, though in 2007 it merged into the

Bözberg Bözberg is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Brugg (district), Brugg in Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It ceased to exist in 1873, when it was split into the two new municipalities Oberböz ...

parish. Starting in 1630, the village had its own school, though the building dates from 1820. Starting in the 18th century the village had a certain prosperity through

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

and home production of

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

. However, starting in 1850, the population and economy decreased. It wasn't until 1970 that the population started to grow, though this was mostly commuters into the region of Baden-Brugg.

Geography

Mönthal has an area, , of . Of this area, or 45.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 46.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 8.7% is settled (buildings or roads).Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.1%. 44.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 20.6% is used for growing crops and 22.9% is pastures, while 1.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. The municipality is located in the Brugg district, in a Jura valley between

and Laufenburg. It consists of the village of Mönthal 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 Ampfern on the ''Ampfernhöhe'' as well as scattered villages.

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 ''Azure three piles inverted Or topped with as many Mullets of the same in chief.''

Demographics

Mönthal 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 -4.1%. Most of the population () speaks German (95.2%), with French being second most common ( 1.3%) and Albanian being third ( 1.3%).
accessed 7 April 2010 The age distribution, , in Mönthal is; 20 children or 4.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 55 teenagers or 13.3% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 46 people or 11.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 42 people or 10.2% are between 30 and 39, 72 people or 17.5% are between 40 and 49, and 84 people or 20.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 58 people or 14.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 27 people or 6.6% are between 70 and 79, there are 8 people or 1.9% who are between 80 and 89.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 67.1% 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 pu ...

or a

rent-to-own Rent-to-own, also known as rental purchase or rent-to-buy, is a type of legally documented transaction under which tangible property, such as furniture, consumer electronics, motor vehicles, home appliances, real property, and engagement rin ...

agreement). , there were 12 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 54 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 74 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.66 individuals. there were 103 single family homes (or 58.5% of the total) out of a total of 176 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 3 empty apartments for a 1.7% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 9.6 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 i ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 45.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (13.8%), the CVP (11.1%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

(10.3%). In Mönthal about 71.2% of the population (between age 25 and 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 () in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following table:

Economy

, Mönthal had an unemployment rate of 3.08%. , there were 19 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 10 businesses involved in this sector. 25 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 5 businesses in this sector. 20 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 was a total of 218 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 187 or about 85.8% of the residents worked outside Mönthal while 24 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 55 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, 12.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 56.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 107 or 26.9% 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 lette ...

, while 204 or 51.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 6 individuals (or about 1.51% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monthal Municipalities of Aargau