Gränichen Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Gränichen, Aargau, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
The municipality of Gränichen is in the district of Aarau of the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the lowest village in the Wynental or Wyna valley. Gränichen was grouped with Rütihof, Gulmhof, Pfendel, and Liebegg in 1820.

Gränichen (as of 2006) has an area of 17.3 km² (6.7 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 30.1% - agricultural purposes
 * 56.7% - forested
 * 13.1% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.1% - non-productive (rivers or lakes)

History
In 1184, Gränichen was first mentioned by the name of Cranechon.

The population history of Gränichen is: 1764 - 1,226 inhabitants 1803 - 1,897 inhabitants 1850 - 3,038 inhabitants 1900 - 2,771 inhabitants 1930 - 3,459 inhabitants 1950 - 3,727 inhabitants 1960 - 4,411 inhabitants 1970 - 5,298 inhabitants 1980 - 5,246 inhabitants 1990 - 5,772 inhabitants 2000 - 6,115 inhabitants 2020 - 8,147 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 22.4% were Roman Catholic
 * 59.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.34% belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
 * 4.3% were Moslem
 * 1.1% were Christian-Orthodox

Until the beginning of the 14th century, Gränichen was a subsidiary parish of Suhr. The parish church built in 1663 is one of the main Protestant buildings in Aargau.

Church Records
Gränichen was established as a parish after the Reformation in 1528.

Original church records are located onsite at the Gränichen municipal archive. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1561-1602; marriages 1561-1568, 1580-1602
 * Baptisms 1619-1665
 * Baptisms 1668-1716; marriages 1612-1617, 1621-1747
 * Baptisms 1716-1747
 * Baptisms 1748-1785
 * Baptisms 1786-1801
 * Baptisms 1802-1816
 * Marriages 1748-1814
 * Burials 1614-1723, 1732-1747
 * Burials 1748-1814

The following church records are only available onsite at the Gränichen municipal archive:


 * Baptisms 1817-1836
 * Baptisms 1837-1856
 * Baptisms 1857-1875
 * Marriages 1817-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1875
 * Marriages non-resident citizens 1817-1829
 * Marriages non-resident citizens 1829-1836
 * Marriages non-resident citizens 1837-1844
 * Marriages non-resident citizens 1844-1875
 * Burials 1815-1816
 * Burials 1817-1851
 * Burials 1852-1875
 * Family book 1766 (no. 1-530)
 * Family book 1771 (no. 531-894)
 * Family book 1843 (no. 895-1140)
 * Family book 1870 (no. 1141-1406)

Post-1875 church records are found onsite at the Gränichen parish church office.

Census
(See here for information regarding Aargau census records.)

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Gränichen:
 * 1837 (images 167-225)
 * 1850: Form A (images 226-300)
 * 1850: Form B (images 301-302)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Gränichen prior to 1875:

Related sources
The town's website (in German) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Aargau

Societies
Genealogical-Heraldic Society of Bern (GHGB)