Zofingen Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Zofingen Parish, 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 former municipality of Zofingen (French: Zofingue) is in the Zofingen district and the Aargau canton. It is located east of the lower reaches of the Wigger. Zofingen includes the old town of Zofingen, the forest on the steep valley side, the hamlet of Bottenstein, the side valleys of Riedtal and Mühletal, and the plain of the heavily urbanized Wigger. Zofingen is the capital of the district of Zofingen.

Zofingen (as of 2009) has an area of 11.09 km² (4.28 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 18.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 47.3% - forested
 * 33.1% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.6% - rivers or lakes

History
In 1044, Zofingen was first mentioned by the name of Zuvingen. In 1201 as Zouingen. Zofingen (French: Zofingue) is in the Zofingen district and the Aargau canton.

The municipality of Mühlethal merged into Zofingen in 2002.

The population history of Zofingen is: 1500 - 1,200 inhabitants 1764 - 1,884 inhabitants 1798 - 1,930 inhabitants 1850 - 3,559 inhabitants 1900 - 4,591 inhabitants 1950 - 7,393 inhabitants 1970 - 9,292 inhabitants 1975 - 8,887 inhabitants 1980 - 8,758 inhabitants 1990 - 8,653 inhabitants 2000 - 8,675 inhabitants 2008 - 10,687 inhabitants 2020 - 12,031 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 30.5% were Roman Catholic
 * 49.4% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.34% were Christian Catholic Church

In 600, the first church as built. It was enlarged several times. In the 13th and 14th centuries, several religious orders settled in this area. In 1528, Zofingen was introduced to the Reformation. In 1887, the Catholic parish was founded. In 1893, a chapel was built. In 1930, the chapel was replaced by the Church of Christ the King.

Church Records
The parish of Zofingen was first mentioned in 1194. It became Reformed in 1528. It includes the municipalities of Mühlethal, Oftringen (until 1920), Strengelbach (until 1968), and Vordemwald (until 1949). Safenwil belonged to Zofingen until 1616, when it was transferred to Kölliken. Rothrist (called Niederwil before 1890) belonged to Zofingen until 1714, when it became an independent parish.

Original church records are located onsite at the Zofingen city archive. Microfilm and digital copies of baptisms and marriages through 1817 and burials through 1867 are available online at FamilySearch (with possible viewing restrictions):
 * Baptisms 1571-1590; marriages 1571-1627 (images 7-304)
 * Baptisms 1591-1618 (images 305-561), Index (images 562-588)
 * Baptisms 1617-1639 (images 589-854), Index (images 855-877)
 * Baptisms 1639-1662 (images 6-229), Index (images 230-253); marriages 1627-1664 (images 254-309)
 * Index to baptisms and marriages 1571-1662 (images 310-409)
 * Baptisms 1663-1681 (images 410-555), Index (images 556-574); marriages 1663-1681 (images 575-583)
 * Baptisms 1682-1697 (images 584-733), Index (images 733-740); marriages 1682-1697 (images 741-754)
 * Baptisms 1691-1711 (images 755-850), Index (images 851-861); marriages 1691-1711 (images 862-869)
 * Baptisms 1711-1731 (images 870-1045), Index (images 1046-1062), marriages 1711-1731 (images 1063-1091)
 * Baptisms 1731-1745 (images 7-139), Index (images 139-153), marriages 1731-1745 (images 153-168), Index (images 168-183)
 * Baptisms 1745-1752 (images 184-246), Index (images 248-256), baptisms non-resident citizens 1746-1751 (images 257-261); marriages 1745-1752 (images 262-271)
 * Baptisms 1752-1766 (images 272-396), Index (images 399-414)
 * Baptisms 1767-1777 (images 415-576), Index (images 578-591)
 * Baptisms 1778-1787 (images 592-714), Index (images 717-731)
 * Baptisms 1788-1797 (images 732-850), Index (images 852-866)
 * Baptisms 1798-1806 (images 7-126), Index (images 127-141)
 * Baptisms 1807-1816 (images 142-302), Index (images 303-318)
 * Baptisms 1817-1825
 * Baptisms 1826-1832
 * Baptisms 1833-1839
 * Baptisms 1840-1847
 * Baptisms 1848-1857
 * Baptisms 1858-1866
 * Baptisms 1867-1875
 * Marriages 1752-1792 (images 319-397); marriages non-resident citizens 1752-1776 (images 399-404); Index (images 406-421)
 * Marriages 1792-1816 (images 422-475), Index (images 476-491)
 * Marriages 1817-1835
 * Marriages 1836-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1865
 * Marriages 1866-1875
 * Marriages non-resident citizens 1817-1875
 * Burials 1728-1751 (images 492-602), Index (images 604-630)
 * Burials 1752-1779 (images 631-719), Index (images 720-737)
 * Burials 1780-1810 (images 738-820), Index (images 821-842)
 * Burials 1811-1816 (images 7-40), Index (images 60-91); parish statistics (images 41-59)
 * Burials 1817-1834 (images 92-278), Index (images 279-329)
 * Burials 1835-1849 (images 330-532), Index (images 533-584)
 * Burials 1850-1858 (images 6-166), Index (images 167-193)
 * Burials 1859-1867 (images 194-356), Index (images 357-383)
 * Burials 1868-1875

Post-1875 church records, as well as post-1731 confirmations, are found onsite at the Zofingen parish church office.

The parish registers for Zofingen are located in the Cantonal Archive of Aargau located in Aarburg. A catalogue of the kirchenbücher are located here

Genealogies
(see here for article describing Swiss compiled genealogies)

The following genealogies have been researched for Zofingen families:

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Zofingen:
 * 1837 (images 71-135)
 * 1850: Form A (images 278-368)
 * 1850: Form B (images 368-374)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Zofingen 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)