Pratteln Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Pratteln Parish, Basel-Landschaft, 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 Pratteln (Swiss German: Brattele) is in the Liestal district and the Basel-Landschaft canton. It is located at the foot of Mt. Adlerberg. Pratteln is a star-shaped village that expanded down into the Rhine valley.

Pratteln (as of 2009) has an area of 10.69 km² (4.13 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 27.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 28.1% - forested
 * 43.1% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.9% - rivers or lakes
 * 0.4% - non-productive

History
In 1102, Pratteln was first mentioned by the name of Bratello. Pratteln (Swiss German: Brattele) is in the Liestal district and the Basel-Landschaft canton.

The population history of Pratteln is: 1585 - 240 inhabitants 1770 - 699 inhabitants 1850 - 1,371 inhabitants 1860 - 1,445 inhabitants 1870 - 1,601 inhabitants 1880 - 1,868 inhabitants 1888 - 1,961 inhabitants 1900 - 2,425 inhabitants 1910 - 3,251 inhabitants 1920 - 3,915 inhabitants 1930 - 4,782 inhabitants 1941 - 5,142 inhabitants 1950 - 6,863 inhabitants 1960 - 9,492 inhabitants 1970 - 15,127 inhabitants 1980 - 15,751 inhabitants 1990 - 15,486 inhabitants 2000 - 14,904 inhabitants 2021 - 16,621 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 29.0% were Roman Catholic
 * 34.9% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 4.07% were Orthodox Church
 * 0.35% were Christian Catholic Church
 * 1.87% were Other Christian Church

Prior to 1529, Pratteln belonged the chapel of St. John of Basel. In 1281, the Saint-Léger church was mentioned. It was enlarged in 1475. In 1534, the Pratteln parish included Augst.

Church Records
The parish church, first mentioned in 1281, became Reformed in 1534. It includes the municipality of Augst. Parish records for Pratteln are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 38 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1625-1915 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1690-1909 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1691-1929 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1672-1914 Confirmations at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1759-1885 Family books at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - organized by community

Census
(See here for information regarding Basel-Landschaft census records.)

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Pratteln:
 * 1815 (images 5-32)

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

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

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Basel-Landschaft

Societies
Genealogical-Heraldic Society of Region Basel (GHGRB)