Birmenstorf is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the district of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

in the canton of

Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most nort ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

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 t ...

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

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

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 shared ...

came under their sovereignty. During the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, about a third of the population converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. The

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

of the old church with

fresco Fresco ( 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 plaster, the painting become ...

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

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s have been cultivated in Birmenstorf.

Archeology

Archeological Archaeology or archeology is the 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 landscapes. Archaeology ...

findings indicate that the area was inhabited as early as the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. The village proper was most likely founded by

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...

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 * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...

near its confluence with the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

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. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

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 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 Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

or additional higher education (either university or a ''

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

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

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, 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 constructi ...

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 ...

, 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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, while 766 or 33.1% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. 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