Kaiserstuhl, Aargau
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kaiserstuhl is a village and former
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 Zurzach 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 ...
in
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 ...
. The small town is listed as a heritage site of national significance. On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities of Bad Zurzach, Baldingen, Böbikon, Kaiserstuhl, Rekingen, Rietheim, Rümikon and Wislikofen merged into the new municipality of Zurzach.


History

Kaiserstuhl is first mentioned around 1227–34 as ''domino Arnoldo de Keiserstul''. In 1236 it was mentioned as ''de Kayserstule''. The name and
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 ...
come from the
Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...
of Kaiserstuhl, whose castle guarded the right bank of the Rhine. In 1359, the name of the castle changed to Rotwasserstelz Castle. The sale of remote properties lying on both sides of the Rhine to Wettingen Abbey by Rudolf of Kaiserstuhl and his wife Adelheid von Tengen in 1254/55 enabled the expansion of the settlement on left bank of the Rhine. The wall and upper tower (raised to today's height after a fire in 1360) are dated archaeologically to 1260. Construction of the new town also involved the noble Lütold VII von Regensberg, whose descendant, Lütold IX, in mentioned in 1279 as the owner of the city. In 1294 his son sold it with the bridge, castle and other rights in the surrounding villages to
Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
Henry II of Constance. It remained part of the Bishop's holdings until 1798. The Bishop's reeve at Rötelen Castle managed the city and held the low court rights. The independent area of law covered only the area within the city walls, and before the upper gate as well the banks of the Rhine. The left bank territory included fields and gardens, while the area on the right was five times larger and held
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 and fields for the citizens of the town. The citizenry rights and obligations was first defined in 1310. After 1287, they choose mayors, an eight-member Council and the Court from their midst, which was equal with the episcopal steward, who was almost always an outsider. Further attempts to expand the legal power of the local leaders were rejected in the treaties of 1526, 1535, 1578 and 1687. In 1365–66 and 1384–85 the town served as a refuge for the Bishop of Constance when he was expelled from the Constance. Before 1324 and between 1371 and 1386 the city was pawned to outside owners as collateral for a loan. From 1359 to 1403 the castle was owned by the locals. In 1374 they were granted an exemption of the war tax. The episcopal rule was weakened by the transition of sovereignty from 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 ...
to the County of Baden in 1415. Due to its location on the religious boundary Kaiserstuhl presented an important bridgehead for the
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
regions. In both the First War of Villmergen, in 1655/56, and the Toggenburg War (or Second War of Villmergen), in 1712, the village was occupied by Zurich. During the religious conflicts, traffic to Kaiserstuhl was forced to instead cross the Rhine in Zurich controlled areas. As the town did not have the right to tax ship traffic on the Rhine, this loss of land traffic cost the town most of its custom revenue. However, the town remained prosperous due to
viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing 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 ...
and animal husbandry, through the credit and banking, and through
foreign service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...
. The prosperity is reflected in the stately houses built during this era. (Gasthaus zur Krone in 1550, administration hall of the monastery of St. Blaise in 1563 and 1612, and the ''Marschallhaus'' in 1764). The buildings that allowed Kaiserstuhl to function as a regional center were on the right bank of the Rhine, and were lost in 1798 with the creation of the Canton of Baden. After the destruction of the bridge by the French in 1799 border traffic through Kaiserstuhl ended for almost two decades. Floods damaged the Rhine Bridge in 1817 and 1876. It was rebuilt in steel and concrete in 1890 and again in 1985. The creation of the post offices in 1816 and the pony express line to Baden, led to prosperity and growth. This culminated in the establishment of the district school in 1836 and a Savings Bank (1837–1916). However, after 1850 the prosperity and growth ended. In 1861 ten houses along ''Rheingasse'' were destroyed in a fire, but were never rebuilt. The railway station was opened in 1876 on the railway line Koblenz-Winterthur. The old station was replaced in 1995. Between 1870 and 1911 modern technological infrastructure, including telegraph, telephone and electricity from the power plant Beznau, entered the town. But even with the increased infrastructure, industry hardly settled in Kaiserstuhl. The only industry was textiles, such as an embroidery plant that in 1913 had 33 employees.


Geography

Kaiserstuhl has an area, , of . Of this area, or 34.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 9.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 43.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 9.4% 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 28.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.1%. Out of the forested land, 0.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 9.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 9.4% is used for growing crops and 15.6% is pastures, while 9.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The village municipality is located in the Zurzach district, on the left bank of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
along the border with the
Canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...
. It is the site of a bridge over the Rhine to the city of Hohentengen in
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.


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 is ''Per fess Azure a Pile Gules pointing in base dexter and of the second a Pile of the first pointing in chief dexter.''


Demographics

Kaiserstuhl has a population () of , 18.0% 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 −9.3%. Most of the population () speaks
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
(85.5%), with Albanian being second most common ( 7.1%) and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
being third ( 2.3%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 18-June-2010
The age distribution, , in Kaiserstuhl is; 32 children or 8.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 47 teenagers or 11.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 52 people or 13.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 46 people or 11.7% are between 30 and 39, 68 people or 17.3% are between 40 and 49, and 65 people or 16.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 45 people or 11.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 23 people or 5.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 14 people or 3.6% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 2 people or 0.5% 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 0.54 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 41% 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 (legal system), civil law jurisdictions 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 t ...
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, engagement rings, and real property, ...
agreement). , there were 33 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 87 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 63 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 185 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. there were 56 single family homes (or 25.7% of the total) out of a total of 218 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010
There were a total of 4 empty apartments for a 1.8% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 27.62% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (21.8%), the CVP (18.02%) 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 ...
(12%). In the federal election, a total of 138 votes were cast, and the
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
was 51.7%. The historical population is given in the following table:


Heritage sites of national significance

The administration building of the former St. Blasien monastery at Hauptstrasse 35, the ''Mayenfisch- or Marschallhaus'' at Rheingasse 5, the Upper Tower () and the city walls are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The entire village of Kaiserstuhl is designated as part of the
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...
.


Economy

, Kaiserstuhl had an unemployment rate of 1.49%. , there were 7 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. 9 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 5 businesses in this sector. 111 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 24 businesses in this sector. there were 245 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 190 or about 77.6% of the residents worked outside Kaiserstuhl while 68 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 123 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, 16% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.4% used a private car.


Religion

From the , 125 or 28.8% were
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 195 or 44.9% 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 ...
.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau – Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010


Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Kaiserstuhl about 74.9% 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 54 students attending tertiary or university level schooling in the municipality.


Transport

Kaiserstuhl railway station is served by
Zurich S-Bahn The Zurich S-Bahn () system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, ...
line S36, which links Bülach and Waldshut.


Notable people

* Hermann Suter (1870 in Kaiserstuhl – 1926), Swiss composer and conductor * Jón Laxdal (1933 – 2005 in Kaiserstuhl), Icelandic-Swiss actor * Eric Bachmann (1940–2019 in Kaiserstuhl), photographer


References


External links

* {{Authority control Former municipalities of Aargau Cities in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in Aargau Germany–Switzerland border crossings