Elfingen is a 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

Laufenberg Laufenberg is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Babe Laufenberg, American football player *Gene Laufenberg, American television writer and producer *Heinrich Laufenberg, German communist *Nolan Laufenberg (born 1999), American fo ...

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

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 ...

. On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities of

Bözen Bözen (Swiss German pronunciation: ) is a village in the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Aargau. It lies to the west of the Bözberg in the Fricktal, upper Frick valley. Until December 31, 2021, Bözen was an independent municipality in ...

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 ...

, Elfingen and

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 ...

merged into the new 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 ...

History

While

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 have been discovered in the municipality and it was the seat of a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

holder from

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 ...

in the 7th Century, Elfingen is first mentioned in 1245 as ''Eolfingen''. When the Abbey sold their holdings in Aargau to 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 ...

in 1291, Elfingen was included. It came under the authority of

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 ...

starting in 1460 and was part of the

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

Schenkenberg. 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 ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, was consecrated in 1323 to St. Leodegar. However the parish seat moved in the 16th Century to

. The new parish included Bözen,

Zeihen Zeihen () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Laufenburg (district), Laufenburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography Zeihen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 50.9% is used ...

(until 1528),

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Carl Linnaeus, abbreviated as Linn. * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Place ...

(to 1649) and

Densbüren Densbüren is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Aarau District of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Densbüren is first mentioned in the 14th century as ''Tensbuirron''. In 1426, it was ment ...

(1528–1642). The parsonage remained in Elfingen until 1824, when it moved to Bözen. By 1720 the village had its own school. Until the 19th century agriculture (especially livestock) dominated the local economy. In the 18th century small-scale home spinning of cotton added to the local economy. In 2000, one quarter of the working population worked in the first sector of the economy.

Geography

Elfingen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 45.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 49.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 3.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.5% 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 0.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Of the agricultural land, 22.7% is used for growing crops and 17.0% is pastures, while 6.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The municipality is located in the Laufenberg district in a hollow of the Jura plateau. It consists of the village of Elfingen 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 Bez. Laufenberg. In einer Mulde des Tafeljuras gelegen. The municipalities of

, Elfingen,

and

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 ''Gules a Patriarchal Cross patte Argent issuant from Coupeaux Vert.'' The cross is derived from the arms of Hungary, as the village was a possession of the Königsfelden Abbey, which was founded by Queen Agnes of Hungary.

Demographics

Elfingen has a population () of . , 15.3% 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 11%. Most of the population () speaks German (94.2%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 1.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.3%).
accessed 1 April 2010 The age distribution, , in Elfingen is; 24 children or 9.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 23 teenagers or 8.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 30 people or 11.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 31 people or 11.7% are between 30 and 39, 60 people or 22.6% are between 40 and 49, and 40 people or 15.1% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 28 people or 10.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 6 people or 2.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 17 people or 6.4% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 6 people or 2.3% 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 0.52 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 74.4% 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 5 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 32 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 53 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.52 individuals. there were 62 single family homes (or 48.4% of the total) out of a total of 128 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 15.3 new units per 1000 residents. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 40.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.7%), 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 ...

(15.3%) and the CVP (9.8%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Elfingen about 74% 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 17 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 ...

in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following table:

Sights

The village of Elfingen 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 ...

.ISOS site
accessed 01-Apr-2010

Economy

, Elfingen had an unemployment rate of 0.91%. , there were 33 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 1 person is 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 is 1 business in this sector. 36 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 12 businesses in this sector. there was a total of 123 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 94 or about 76.4% of the residents worked outside Elfingen while 13 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 42 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, 15.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.8% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 51 or 21.3% 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 140 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 ...

.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau – Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

References

External links

* {{Authority control Former municipalities of Aargau