Gränichen 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

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

of 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 ...

Geography

The river Wyna flows north at first and heads northwest thereafter. The valley has an average width of about . On both sides of the valley there are steep hills with tributary valleys and small high plateaus. The landscape is not dissimilar to that of the Tafeljura, even though - geographically and geologically speaking - Gränichen lies in the Midland of Switzerland. The hills on the left side of the valley are (from north to south): Manzenberg ( ), Wällenen (559 m), Moosberg (550 m), Heidberg () and Pfendel (). These are foothills of the Schornig (), which marks the transition to the valley of the river Suhre. The hills on the right side of the valley are called Fuden (), Räckholderen (), Breitenberg () and Surberg (). In front of the Breitenberg is the Schulthess () which has almost the shape of an ellipsis. The Dossen () und the high plateau of the Liebegg are foothills of the Surberg. Near the southern border, at an average distance of two kilometers, there are three hamlets, which also belong to the

of Gränichen: Rütihof () on Moorbergs, Bleien () and Refental () between Breitenberg, Dossen and Surberg. Gränichen has an area, , of . Of this area, 30.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 56.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.1%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The highest point is at above main sea level on the 'Pfendel', the lowest point is at where the river wyna leaves the village. The seven neighbouring villages are Suhr in the nordwest, Hunzenschwil in the north, Schafisheim in the northeast, Seon in the east,

Teufenthal Teufenthal is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Kulm (district), Kulm in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography The street lies in the lower part of a tight, three-kilometer long si ...

in the south,

Unterkulm Unterkulm is a municipality in the district of Kulm in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Both Roman ruins near the church and late-Roman coins at Sonnenhof indicate that the area near Unterkulm was settled during the Roman era. Ho ...

in the south, Muhen in the southwest and Hirschthal in the west.

History

History's first mention of Gränichen was around 1184 under the name of ''Cranechon''. However, archaeological discoveries dating from the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

, as well as the remains of a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

castle, show that the area around Gränichen has been settled for quite some time. In the 12th century Gränichen belonged to the monastery of Engelberg and later came under the reign 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 ...

s, who passed the government of the village to the Lords of the Castle of Liebegg. After 1415, Gränichen belonged to

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. The construction of the Wynentalbahn railway in 1904 promoted the settlement of local industries.

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 ''Per bend sinister Or and Azure a Bend counterchanged.''

Points of interest

The castle of Liebegg resides on a hill close to the border to

, about three kilometers south-south-east of the village center. The Castle, which dates from the 11th century, is nowadays used as a center for culture, meetings and congresses. Near the village center one finds the "Chornhaus", which, built in 1695, looks very similar to a small castle, because of its tower. Until 1798 it served as a granary and was thereafter used by the municipal administration department for over a century. Since the new parish hall was completed in 1995 it contains a small village museum. The Reformed Church was built from 1661 to 1663 on the site where the previous church had collapsed. It is one of the main works of Protestant church building in the canton of Aargau, and is listed as a heritage site of national significance. The other heritage site of national significance in Gränichen is the ''Untervogthaus'' on Lochgasse.

Notable people

Werner Arber Werner Arber (born 3 June 1929 in Gränichen, Aargau) is a Swiss microbiologist and geneticist. Along with American researchers Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans, Werner Arber shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discov ...

, Nobel-prize winning microbiologist, was born in Gränichen in 1929

Population

Gränichen has a population (as of ) of . , 17.6% 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 6.8%. Most of the population () speaks German (90.2%), with Italian being second most common ( 4.1%) and Albanian being third ( 1.5%). Of the rest, 1.1% spoke Serbo Croatian and 0.7% spoke Turkish.
accessed 24-January-2010 The age distribution, , in Gränichen is; 580 children or 9.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 804 teenagers or 12.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 691 people or 10.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 774 people or 12.0% are between 30 and 39, 1,174 people or 18.2% are between 40 and 49, and 956 people or 14.8% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 674 people or 10.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 503 people or 7.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 251 people or 3.9% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 37 people or 0.6% 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 140 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 1,243 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 1,001 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.50 individuals. there were 1,357 single family homes (or 47.3% of the total) out of a total of 2,871 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 40.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.4%), the FDP (13.4%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

(7.3%).

Authorities

The municipal assembly (Gemeindeversammlung) is the law-making body (

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

). The executive authority is the municipal council (Gemeinderat). The members of the council are elected by the assembly according to the principle of majority. They stay in office for a duration of four years. The council's task is to lead and represent the municipality. In order to do so, he takes care of the decisions of the assembly and the assignments imposed by the canton and the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. The five municipal councils (since 1 January 2012) are: *Rolf Arber,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

*Hans-Peter Lüem, Vice-Mayor *Ruedi Gautschi *Peter Stirnemann *Peter Hofmann The

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

is responsible for matters of

civil right Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

Economy

, Gränichen had an unemployment rate of 1.54%. , there were 94 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 45 businesses involved in this sector. 1,098 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 68 businesses in this sector. 961 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 155 businesses in this sector. One of the largest bakeries in Switzerland
Jowa
is located in Gränichen. In addition, there is also a company which fabricates heaters
Zehnder
, a gravel plant and several other smaller businesses. there was a total of 3,149 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 2,312 or about 73.4% of the residents worked outside Gränichen while 1,145 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 1,982 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 , 1,370 or 22.4% 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 3,619 or 59.2% 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 21 individuals (or about 0.34% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, 4.3% were Moslem, 1.1% were Christian-Orthodox and 1.0% belonged to a different religion.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

Transport

Gränichen lies on the connecting road from Aarau via Beromünster to

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. The town is also connected to Seon in the

Seetal The Seetal is a valley in the cantons of Canton of Lucerne, Lucerne and Aargau in Switzerland. The valley descends from south to north from near Eschenbach, Lucerne, Eschenbach (in the canton of Lucerne) to Lenzburg (in the canton of Aargau) ...

valley. The local public rail service (AAR-Bahn), which goes from Aarau through the Wyna valley up to

Menziken Menziken is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Kulm (district), Kulm in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2023 the former municipality of Burg, Aargau, Burg merged to form the m ...

, has four stations: Töndler, Gränichen-Dorf, Oberdorf and Bleien. The rails of the public transport were right next to the main street, until they were rebuilt along the Wyna river in 1985.

Education

There are five

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

s as well as three

elementary 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 ...

s. Furthermore, there is a center for secondary education covering ''Realschule'', ''Sekundarschule'' and ''Bezirksschule'' levels. The closest gymnasium is in Aarau. Aside from the Castle of Liebegg, there is also an agricultural school. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Gränichen about 72.7% 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 (; 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 448 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 203 students attending

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

, there are 128 students attending tertiary or university level schooling in the municipality.

References

External links

Official webpage of GränichenCastle of LiebeggAgricultural SchoolAAR Bus und Bahn (public transport)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Granichen Municipalities of Aargau Cultural property of national significance in Aargau