Meisterschwanden
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Meisterschwanden 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
Lenzburg Lenzburg is a town in the central region of the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Aargau and is the capital of the Lenzburg District. The town, founded in the Middle Ages, lies in the Seetal, Seetal valley, about 3 kilometres south of the Aare river. L ...
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 ...
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 ...
.


History

There were two
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 ...
lake side settlements, at ''Seerose'' and ''Erlenhölzli'', near the modern Meisterschwanden. Both sites were discovered from archeological digs on the lake shore. Additionally, at the ''Erlenhölzli'' site, divers discovered traces of
Pfyn culture The Pfyn Culture is one of several archaeological cultures of the Neolithic period in Switzerland. It dates from c. 4300 BC to c. 3500 BC. Discovery The oldest traces of a settlement are about west of Pfyn in the former peat bog of ''Breiten ...
ceramics, stone tools and several artifacts made of wood, including a bow and arrow fragment all from about 3,600 BC. Meisterschwanden is first mentioned in 1173 as ''Meistersvanc'' though this comes from a 14th Century copy of the original. In 1179 it was mentioned as ''Maestirwanch''. In 1363 the '' Twingherrschaft'' transferred from the lords of Meisterschwanden to the Lords of Hallwyl. The high court rights came 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 ...
in 1415. During the second Villmergen war in 1712,
Fahrwangen Fahrwangen is a municipality in the district of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Prehistorical finds from various Neolithic eras, Roman and Alamanni ruins all testify to a long history of human habitation around Fahrwang ...
was used as a camp by the
Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...
troops. As the Catholic troops attacked, according to legend, the women of Fahrwangen and Meisterschwanden marched out to join the soldiers. The
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
Bernese troops were so impressed with the valor of the women, that they granted them a day when the women could command. Since then, on the second Sunday in January they have celebrated the ''Meitlisunntig'' (Girls' Sunday). On this day, women from both villages run through the streets carrying nets. Any man who is captured in a net must pay his ''Lösegelds'' or ransom (often in the form of alcoholic drinks) to get free. A chapel was already in the village before 1300. Until 1817 it was 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
Seengen Seengen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lenzburg (district), Lenzburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography Seengen lies in the Seetal, Seetal valley to the north of Lake H ...
, but then formed its own parish. The
Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...
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 built in 1820-22 and 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 ...
church was built in 1977. Economically, the village was dependent on agriculture, which was supplemented by fishing and some
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 ...
. In the 18th Century, small scale cotton processing businesses appeared in the village. This was replaced in 1850 by straw goods manufacturing. At the beginning of the 21st Century, there are some small and medium enterprises as well as day tourism (2 hotels on the lake) in the village. The steam boat navigation on the Lake Hallwyl began in 1888. In 1916, the village received a rail connection (Wohlen-Meisterschwanden-rail). A bus line has stopped in the village since 1997.


Geography

Meisterschwanden is located in the Lenzburg district, in the Seetal valley on a terrace above the western bank of the
Hallwilersee __NOTOC__ Lake Hallwil (German: ''Hallwilersee'') is a lake largely in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, located at . It is the largest lake in Aargau and lies mostly in the districts of Lenzburg and Kulm on the southern edge of the canton. The s ...
. Originally it stretched along the village stream, but has since spread out. The municipality consists of the ''haufendorf'' village (an irregular, unplanned and quite closely packed village, built around a central square) of Meisterschwanden and, since 1900, 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 Tennwil. It has an area, , of . Of this area, or 57.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 18.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 23.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.2% 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 1.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.9% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 17.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 37.9% is used for growing crops and 16.2% is pastures, while 3.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.


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 fess nebuly Azure and Argent.''


Demographics

Meisterschwanden has a population () of . , 14.6% 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 20.2%. Most of the population () speaks German (90.9%), with Italian being second most common ( 3.8%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.6%).
accessed 17-May-2010
The age distribution, , in Meisterschwanden is; 251 children or 10.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 277 teenagers or 11.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 235 people or 9.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 326 people or 13.2% are between 30 and 39, 488 people or 19.8% are between 40 and 49, and 379 people or 15.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 282 people or 11.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 153 people or 6.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 67 people or 2.7% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 12 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 0.55 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 60.7% 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 46 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 385 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 348 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 807 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. there were 508 single family homes (or 45.7% of the total) out of a total of 1,111 homes and apartments.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau
accessed 20 January 2010
There were a total of 16 empty apartments for a 1.4% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 22.6 new units per 1000 residents. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 37.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (20.9%), the SP (15.5%) and the CVP (8.9%). The historical population is given in the following table:


Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Villa Fischer'' at Kirchrain 11 is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Meisterschwanden 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

, Meisterschwanden had an unemployment rate of 1.87%. , there were 47 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 250 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 25 businesses in this sector. 424 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 69 businesses in this sector. there were 1,099 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 837 or about 76.2% of the residents worked outside Meisterschwanden while 306 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 568 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 6.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.9% used a private car.


Religion

From the , 633 or 30.8% 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 991 or 48.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith.Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009
accessed 20 January 2010


Education

In Meisterschwanden about 76.9% 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 164 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 118 students attending secondary school in the municipality. Meisterschwanden is home to the ''Gemeindebibliothek Meisterschwanden'' (municipal library of Meisterschwanden). The library has () 4,840 books or other media, and loaned out 11,228 items in the same year. It was open a total of 250 days with average of 11 hours per week during that year.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries
accessed 14 May 2010


Culture

The SEETAL invitational art show and competition is held bi-annually in Meisterschwanden.


References

{{Authority control Municipalities of Aargau Cultural property of national significance in Aargau