Bözen (Swiss German pronunciation: ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

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 ...

. It lies to the west of 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 ...

in the upper Frick valley. Until December 31, 2021, Bözen was an independent municipality in the district of

Brugg Brugg (sometimes written as Brugg AG in order to distinguish it from other ''Brugg''s) is a Switzerland, Swiss Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and a List of towns in Switzerland, town in the canton of Aargau and is the seat of the Bru ...

, since then it has been one of four villages in the newly created municipality of

Böztal Böztal is a municipality in the district of Laufenburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It was established on 1 January 2022 with the merger of the municipalities of Bözen, Effingen, Elfingen and Hornussen. History In November 2009, th ...

in the district of Laufenburg.

History

The earliest evidence of people in Bözen are a

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 ...

stone ax, 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Estate and

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 ...

graves. Bözen is first mentioned in 1284 as ''Boze''. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

it was owned by

Elfingen Elfingen is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Laufenberg (district), Laufenberg in Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities of Bözen, Effingen, El ...

. Then, in 1291 it was sold, along with most of the Aargau, by

Murbach Abbey Murbach Abbey () was a famous Benedictine monastery in Murbach, southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges. The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace, and established as a Benedictine house ...

to the

Habsburgs 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 ...

In 1322 it came under the authority of Königsfelden abbey in Windisch. The village was bought by

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 ...

in 1514. Starting in the 16th century, Bözen together with Elfingen and

Effingen Effingen is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Brugg (district), Brugg in Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities of Bözen, Effingen, Elfingen and ...

formed a

low justice High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. The scale ...

district. The chapel of Bözen was first mentioned in 1381, and was originally part of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Elfingen. Presumably in 1600 the parish was transferred to Bözen. Economically the village was dominated by agriculture with a number of vineyards (in the mid-19th Century, some 50 ha). With the construction of the Bözbergtunnel in 1875 the village grew. Between 1840 and 1925, the main industry was home straw production for the

straw plaiting Straw plaiting is a method of manufacturing textiles by braiding straw and the industry that surrounds the craft of producing these straw manufactures. Straw is plaited to produce products including straw hats and ornaments, and the process is u ...

industry. Starting in 1980 there was a building boom, and the number of commuters increased thanks to regular bus service to Brugg (starting in 1990).

Geography

Bözen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 66.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 21.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 11.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.3% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 0.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 4.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.1%. 19.2% of the total land area was heavily forested and 2.5% is orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 37.5% is used for growing crops and 22.8% is pastures, while 5.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. The municipality is located in the Brugg district on the slopes of the ''Bözberg''. It consists of the

linear village In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a ''polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x)= ...

of Bözen. The municipalities of Bözen, Effingen,

Hornussen Hornussen is an indigenous Swiss sport played by two teams of 16 to 20 players which alternate in striking a puck known as a "Hornuss" (hornet) or "Nouss" and attempting to deflect it. When hit, the Hornuss can fly at up to 300 km/h (186.4 mp ...

and Zeihen are considering a merger some time in the future into a new municipality with an as yet () undetermined name.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14 January 2010

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 ''Or a Bar Sable.''

Demographics

Bözen has a population () of . , 14.7% 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 0.9%. Most of the population () speaks German (92.8%), with Albanian being second most common (2.0%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (1.8%).
accessed 1 April 2010 The age distribution, , in Bözen is; 56 children or 8.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 106 teenagers or 15.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 109 people or 15.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. Seventy-two people or 10.3% are between 30 and 39, 127 people or 18.2% are between 40 and 49, and 109 people or 15.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 62 people or 8.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 33 people or 4.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 20 people or 2.9% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 4 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 the average number of residents per living room was 0.61 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 62.4% 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 28 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 83 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 118 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.76 individuals. there were 114 single family homes (or 40.6% of the total) out of a total of 281 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 0 empty apartments for a 0.0% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.6 new units per 1000 residents. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 60.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (11.5%), the CVP (6.9%) and the FDP (6.4%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Bözen about 78% 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 53 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 54 students attending secondary school in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following table:

Economy

, Bözen had an unemployment rate of 2.17%. , there were 42 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 14 businesses involved in this sector. Thirty-two 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 9 businesses in this sector. Ninety-six 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 17 businesses in this sector. there were 334 residents who worked in the municipality, while 253 residents worked outside Bözen and 73 people commuted into the municipality for work.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau-Bereich 11 Verkehr und Nachrichtenwesen
accessed 21 January 2010 Of the working population, 13.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 51.6% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 137 or 20.9% 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 383 or 58.3% 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 were 2 individuals (or about 0.30% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau – Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bozen Former municipalities of Aargau