Birsfelden Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Birsfelden 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 Birsfelden (Swiss German: Birsfälde) is in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. It is one of the suburbs of Basel. It is situated on the south of the Rhine River and on the right bank of the Birs River. It includes the linear village of Birsfelden with a harbor and power plant on the Rhine. Until 1874, Birsfelden belonged to the municipality of Muttenz.

Birsfelden (as of 2009) has an area of 2.52 km² (0.97 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 1.6% - forested
 * 81.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 18.3% - either rivers or lakes

History
In 1274, Birsfelden was first mentioned by the name of minor Rinvelden. It was also mentioned around 1500 by the name of Birsfeld.

Until 1874, Birsfelden belonged to the municipality of Muttenz.

The population history of Birsfelden is: 1860 - 1,416 inhabitants 1870 - 1,833 inhabitants 1880 - 3,271 inhabitants 1888 - 3,577 inhabitants 1900 - 3,614 inhabitants 1910 - 4,857 inhabitants 1920 - 5,384 inhabitants 1930 - 6,175 inhabitants 1941 - 5,703 inhabitants 1950 - 6,148 inhabitants 1960 - 10,068 inhabitants 1970 - 14,226 inhabitants 1980 - 12,543 inhabitants 1990 - 11,290 inhabitants 2000 - 10,429 inhabitants 2021 - 10,447 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 34.8% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
 * 31.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
 * 1.67% belonged to an Orthodox church
 * 0.22% belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
 * 3.51% belonged to another Christian church
 * 0.09% belonged to the Jewish faith
 * 4.36% belonged to the Islamic faith

Birsfelden belonged to the Muttenz Parish. The settlement of Catholic workers, mainly from Germany and Italy, led to the founding of the first station of the Domestic Mission in Birsfelden in 1869 and the building of the Catholic chapel in 1870. It was demolished in 1957 and replaced by the Brother Klausen Church in 1959.

Catholic
After rapid growth in the 1800s, a Catholic chapel was built in Birsfelden in 1870. Catholic parish records for Birsfelden are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 5 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1871-1929 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1871-1939 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1871-1934 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

Reformed
Birsfelden was part of the parish of Muttenz until 1867, when it became an independent parish. For earlier records, see Muttenz. Reformed parish records for Birsfelden are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 22 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1805-1920 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1820-1918 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1800-1928 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1868-1918 Confirmations at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

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

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Birsfelden 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)