Herznach 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 Laufenburg in the

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 2023 the former municipalities of Herznach and Ueken merged to form the new municipality of Herznach-Ueken.

History

While some

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 ...

era graves have been discovered, the first mention of Herznach is in 1097 as ''Hercenahc''. The

Ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

(unfree knights in the service of another lord) family von Herznach and Herznach castle are both mentioned. The castle was built on the foundations of a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

from the 7th-10th Centuries. was built. Originally both Herznach and Ueken were ruled by the Homberger family. In the early 14th Century, 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 ...

had the right to judge and punish theft and other

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...

in Herznach. Between the

Imperial Reform Imperial Reform (, ) is the name given to repeated attempts in the 15th and 16th centuries to adapt the structure and the constitutional order () of the Holy Roman Empire to the requirements of the early modern state and to give it a unified gove ...

(1495) of Maximilian I until the fall of the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

(1797) it belonged to the Austrian District of Rheinfelden. The rights to '' Zwing und Bann'' (administration of the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

as well as

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 ...

) were probably in the hands of the village cooperative. The Church of St. Nicholas, probably a Homburger family church, is first mentioned in 1180. Starting in 1407 the patronage rights were transferred from the Habsburgs to the

Collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

of Rheinfelden. In 1651 the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and tower were expanded and renovated, while in 1718-19 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 ...

was completely rebuilt. The Chapel of Saint Verena was built in 1516 on the foundation of the

Early Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

and

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

manor chapel. Verena newly built chapel on foundations from the early and HochMA and belonged to the manor. Even today, Herznach and Ueken form a

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 ...

. Until the Protestant

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 ...

this parish included

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 ...

and the village of Asp and until 1852 it included Zeihen. With the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, French Consulate, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 to abolish the Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Old Swiss Confederacy, Switzerland by F ...

in 1803, the ''Fricktal'' joined the Canton of Aargau and Herznach and Ueken became independent municipalities. The two former population centers Unterherznach (walled church district) and Oberherznach (mill) grew together along the road by 1811. Starting in 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 ...

and again during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

there was intensive ore mining in the municipality. In 1967 the mine was shut down. In 1872 a thread factory opened in Herznach and in 1918 it switched to making fabrics. The other factory in Herznach, was built in 1952, and manufactures advertising balloons. At the beginning of the 21st Century Herznach was a farming community with a residential core and two industrial plants.

Geography

Herznach has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 24.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 11.5% is settled (buildings or roads), and or 0.3% 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 8.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.9%. 22.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 39.8% is used for growing crops and 17.4% 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 Laufenburg district in the upper

Fricktal The Fricktal ("Frick Valley") is a region on Northwestern Switzerland, comprising the Laufenburg and Rheinfelden districts of the Swiss canton of Aargau. The region was known as ''Frickgau'' in the medieval period, ultimately from a Late Lati ...

(Frick river valley). It lies on the old road over the ''Staffelegg'' to

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 ...

. 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 Herznach and, until 1852, the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Oberzeihen (now part of

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 ...

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 Pitcher Vert lip dexter and handled Or.'' The pitcher on the coat of arms is an attribute of Saint Verena to whom the chapel of Herznach is devoted.

Demographics

Herznach has a population () of , 9.6% 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 20.1%. Most of the population () speaks German (96.5%), with Albanian being second most common ( 1.7%) and English being third ( 0.5%).
accessed 6 May 2010 The age distribution, , in Herznach is; 160 children or 12.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 170 teenagers or 13.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 167 people or 12.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 172 people or 13.3% are between 30 and 39, 211 people or 16.4% are between 40 and 49, and 201 people or 15.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 112 people or 8.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 56 people or 4.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 36 people or 2.8% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 5 people or 0.4% 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 0.57 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 70.4% 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, 150 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 207 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 390 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. there were 281 single family homes (or 56.0% of the total) out of a total of 502 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010 There were a total of 1 empty apartments for a 0.2% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.6 new units per 1000 residents. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (18.8%), the SP (11.5%) and the FDP (10.5%). The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

The

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 ...

church ''St. Nikolaus'' with its mortuary and

church treasure A church treasury or church treasure is the collection of historical art treasures belonging to a church, usually a cathedral or monastery (monastery treasure). Such "treasure" is usually held and displayed in the church's treasury or in a dioces ...

is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Economy

, Herznach had an unemployment rate of 1.56%. , there were 71 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 28 businesses involved in this sector. 122 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 13 businesses in this sector. 125 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 524 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 381 or about 72.7% of the residents worked outside Herznach while 158 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 301 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, 17.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 53.1% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 620 or 58.5% were Roman Catholic, while 328 or 31.0% 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 6 individuals (or about 0.57% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau – Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010

Education

In Herznach about 86.9% 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 112 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.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Former municipalities of Aargau Cultural property of national significance in Aargau