Meisterschwanden Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Meisterschwanden 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 municipality of Meisterschwanden is in the district of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Meisterschwanden is situated in the Lenzburg district, in the Seetal valley on a terrace above the western bank of the Hallwilersee. Originally it ran along the village stream but has since spread out. The municipality includes the haufendorf village (an irregular, unplanned, and quite closely packed village, built around a central square) of Meisterschwanden and, since 1900, the hamlet of Tennwil.

Meisterschwanden (as of 2009) has an area of 4.27 km² (1.65 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 57.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 18.7% - forested
 * 23.9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.2% - either rivers or lakes
 * 0.2% - non-productive

History
In 1173, Meisterschwanden was first mentioned by the name of Meistersvanc, from a 14th Century copy of the original. In 1179, it was also mentioned by the name of Maestirwanch.

The population history of Meisterschwanden is: 1764 - 308 inhabitants 1850 - 1,020 inhabitants 1900 - 1,113 inhabitants 1950 - 1,089 inhabitants 2000 - 2,055 inhabitants 2020 - 3,032 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 30.8% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
 * 48.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church

A chapel was in the village before 1300. Until 1817, it belonged to the parish of Seengen, but then formed its own parish. The Reformed parish church was constructed in 1820-22 and the Catholic church was constructed in 1977.

Church Records
The parish of Meisterschwanden became independent in 1817; it included the municipality of Fahrwangen. Before 1817, it belonged to the parish of Seengen. See Seengen for earlier records.

Original church records are located onsite at the Fahrwangen municipal archive. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1820-1868
 * Baptisms 1869-1875
 * Marriages 1820-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1875
 * Marriage banns 1820-1852
 * Marriages, non-resident citizens 1823-1874
 * Burials 1820-1875

Post-1875 church records, as well as the following church volume, are found onsite at the Meisterschwanden parish church office:
 * Family book, 1820-1896

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

Tennwil was a municipality until 1900, when it became part of Meisterschwanden. During these censuses, it was enumerated separately. The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Meisterschwanden and Tennwil:

Meisterschwanden

 * 1837 (images 153-163)
 * 1850: Form A (images 217-234)
 * 1850: Form B (images 235-236)

Tennwil

 * 1837 (images 118-124)
 * 1850: Form A (images 495-501)
 * 1850: Form B (image 502)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Meisterschwanden 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)