Wahlen Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Wahlen 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 Wahlen is in the Laufen district and the Basel-Landschaft canton. It is located on the southwestern edge of the Laufon Basin, along a stream.

Wahlen (as of 2009) has an area of 5.42 km² (2.09 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 55.4% - agricultural purposes
 * 33.6% - forested
 * 11.3% - settled (buildings or roads)

History
In 1168, Wahlen was first mentioned by the name of Waltenen. Wahlen is in the Laufen district and the Basel-Landschaft canton.

The population history of Wahlen is: 1580 - 115 inhabitants 1630 - 250 inhabitants 1723 - 226 inhabitants 1771 - 223 inhabitants 1798 - 244 inhabitants 1850 - 328 inhabitants 1860 - 327 inhabitants 1870 - 288 inhabitants 1880 - 331 inhabitants 1888 - 320 inhabitants 1900 - 456 inhabitants 1910 - 471 inhabitants 1920 - 483 inhabitants 1930 - 549 inhabitants 1941 - 564 inhabitants 1950 - 640 inhabitants 1960 - 841 inhabitants 1970 - 939 inhabitants 1980 - 908 inhabitants 1990 - 937 inhabitants 2000 - 1,240 inhabitants 2021 - 1,529 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 69.6% were Roman Catholic
 * 15.1% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.32% were Orthodox Church
 * 0.73% were Christian Catholic Church
 * 2.26% were other Christian Church

Until 1839, Wahlen belonged to the Laufon parish. In 1839, the Saint-Martin chapel and the Saint-Joseph church were built. In 1874, Wahlen form a parish with Brislach.

Church Records
Wahlen belonged to the parish of Laufen until 1839, when it became an independent parish. Parish records for Wahlen are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 7 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1840-1906 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1840-1881 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1840-1875 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

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

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Wahlen 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)