Reitnau Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Reitnau 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 Reitnau (High Alemannic: Reitnou) is in the Zofingen district and the Aargau canton. It is located on the western edge of the Suhre river valley. The municipality of Reitnau includes the village of Reitnau.

Reitnau (as of 2009) has an area of 5.81 km² (2.24 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 51.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 35.8% - forested
 * 11.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.3% - rivers or lakes

History
In 1045, Reitnau was first mentioned by the name of Reitinouwa. Reitnau (High Alemannic: Reitnou) is in the Zofingen district and the Aargau canton. Until 1798, It was part of Bern. In 1803, Reitnau became a municipality in the new Aargau canton.

On 1 January 2019, the Attelwil municipality merged into the Reitnau municipality.

The population history of Reitnau is: 1764 - 461 inhabitants 1850 - 1,082 inhabitants 1900 - 812 inhabitants 1950 - 915 inhabitants 1990 - 904 inhabitants 2000 - 1,143 inhabitants 2010 - 1,218 inhabitants 2019 - 1,553 inhabitants 2020 - 1,519 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 17.1% were Roman Catholic
 * 72.6% were Swiss Reformed Church

In 1522, a church was mentioned.

Church Records
The parish of Reitnau was first mentioned in 900. It includes the municipalities of Attelwil and Wiliberg.

Original church records are located onsite at the Reitnau municipal archive. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1557-1589; marriages 1561-1587
 * Baptisms 1590-1629; marriages 1588-1681
 * Baptisms 1629-1669
 * Baptisms 1670-1728; burials, confirmations 1723-1728
 * Baptisms 1729-1780; burials, confirmations 1729-1746
 * Baptisms 1781-1816
 * Baptisms 1817-1852
 * Baptisms 1853-1875
 * Marriages 1682-1718, 1723-1745; church court records 1682-1754
 * Marriages 1746-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1875
 * Burials 1746-1816
 * Burials 1817-1875

The following church records are only available onsite at the Reitnau municipal archive:
 * Baptisms 1876-1908
 * Confirmations 1746-1866
 * Marriages 1817-1852
 * Marriages non-resident citizens 1817-1875
 * Marriages 1876-1935
 * Burials 1876-1960
 * Family book Reitnau 1820-1847

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Reitnau:
 * 1837 (images 188-208)
 * 1850: Form A (images 45-71)
 * 1850: Form B (images 72-73)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Reitnau 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)