Magden (

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

: ''Magde'') 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 Rheinfelden in the 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 ...

. It is located 3 km to the south of the Rheinfelden. Its Roman name was Magdinium, and it is the site of the ancient Magdalener spring which today serves as the water supply of the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden, which was recently acquired by Carlsberg.

History

The first evidence of a human settlement is a

paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

village. A few, 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 were discovered in Magden. Two empty

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 ...

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East ...

graves were also found near the village. The modern municipality of Magden is first mentioned in 804 as ''in curte Magaduninse''. The

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

s of Thierstein and then their successors 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 ...

ruled over Magden until 1797. They owned the land and exercised the '' Zwing und Bann'' rights over the entire village. 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 invasion ...

in 1803, the entire ''

Fricktal The Fricktal ("Frick Valley") is a region on Northwestern Switzerland, comprising the Laufenburg and Rheinfelden districts of the Swiss canton of Aargau. The region was known as ''Frickgau'' in the medieval period, ultimately from a Late L ...

'', including Magden, joined the newly created Canton of Aargau. The first school opened in Magden in 1761. The village church of St. Martin was built during the

Frankish Empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

. In 1036, Count Ulrich I von Lenzburg granted the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

right over the village church to the monastery at

Beromünster Beromünster is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2004 the former municipality of Schwarzenbach merged into the municipality of Beromünster.Capuchin monastery in Rheinfelden was suppressed in 1811, their three

altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism, ...

were transferred to Magden. In 1806 the church came under the authority of the Canton of Aargau. In 1872 the majority of the villagers converted to the Christian Catholic faith. Then, in 1906 the Christian Catholic congregation took over the church. A

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 was built in 1969 and a Reformed church was built in 1976. Nearby Iglingen monastery and its Chapel of St. Niklaus is first mentioned in 1360. A group of Third order lay brothers moved into the monastery grounds in 1465. The monastery church was consecrated in 1509 and in the late 16th Century a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

for

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s was added. The church burned in 1860, and only 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 ...

survived. This was converted to serve as a small chapel. Toward the end of the 19th Century fruit (especially cherries) orchards replaced the traditional

vineyards 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 ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the chemical industry moved into the ''Fricktal'' offering many new jobs.

Geography

Magden has an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 41.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 11.0% 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 6.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.9%. Out of the forested land, 40.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.3% is used for growing crops and 23.1% is pastures, while 5.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The municipality is located in the Rheinfelden district, in the ''Fricktal''. It consists of the ''haufendorf'' village (an irregular, unplanned and quite closely packed village, built around a central square) of Magden 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 Igligerhof and Deschlikon.

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 ''Argent an Apple Tree Vert fructed Gules between two Vine Trees proper staked all issuant from a base of the second.'' The two grapevines commemorate the finding of the remains of old Roman vineyards in the village.

Demographics

Magden has a population () of . , 12.5% 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 18.4%. Most of the population () speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(92.9%), with French being second most common ( 1.5%) and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

being third ( 1.4%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 27-May-2010 The age distribution, , in Magden is; 367 children or 10.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 473 teenagers or 13.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 314 people or 8.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 421 people or 12.0% are between 30 and 39, 642 people or 18.3% are between 40 and 49, and 473 people or 13.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 453 people or 12.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 258 people or 7.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 97 people or 2.8% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 15 people or 0.4% 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 0.55 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 71.8% 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 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 68 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 494 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 588 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 1,168 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. there were 894 single family homes (or 63.1% of the total) out of a total of 1,416 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 7 empty apartments for a 0.5% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 13.2 new units per 1000 residents. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 30.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (25.4%), the FDP (14.5%) and the CVP (13.9%). The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

The paleolithic/neolithic settlement at ''Strick'' is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Economy

, Magden had an unemployment rate of 1.39%. , there were 78 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 23 businesses involved in this sector. 190 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 34 businesses in this sector. 318 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 72 businesses in this sector. there were 1,481 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 1,169 or about 78.9% of the residents worked outside Magden while 232 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 544 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 19.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 54.1% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 837 or 27.5% 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 1,219 or 40.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 393 individuals (or about 12.91% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

Education

In Magden about 85.4% 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 281 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 125 students attending secondary school in the municipality. Magden is home to the ''Mediathek Magden'' library. The library has () 10,025 books or other media, and loaned out 32,055 items in the same year. It was open a total of 184 days with average of 9 hours per week during that year.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries
accessed 14 May 2010

References

External links

www.magden.ch Official site
{{Authority control Municipalities of Aargau Cultural property of national significance in Aargau