Oberrohrdorf Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Oberrohrdorf 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 Oberrohrdorf is in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is situated on the western flank of the Heitersberg. It includes the village of Oberrohrdorf and the hamlet of Staretschwil.

Oberrohrdorf (as of 2006) has an area of 4.3 km² (1.7 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 39.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 39.5% - forested
 * 20.7% - settled (buildings or roads)

History
In 1179, Oberrohrdorf was first mentioned by the name of Rordorf. It was mentioned around 1303-08 as ze Oberen-Rordorf.

The municipality of Rohrdorf split into Niederrohrdorf, Oberrohrdorf, and Remetschwil in 1854.

The population history of Oberrohrdorf is: 1780 - 267 inhabitants 1803 - 185 inhabitants 1860 - 594 inhabitants 1900 - 625 inhabitants 1950 - 815 inhabitants 1975 - 2,663 inhabitants 1980 - 2,888 inhabitants 1990 - 3,345 inhabitants 2000 - 3,364 inhabitants 2020 - 4,037 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 46.6% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
 * 33.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.24% belonged to the Christian Catholic faith

The parish church of Rohrdorf, dating back to the 11th century, with the patron saint of Martin, was reconstructed in 1642 and 1940 while preserving the church tower. The parish consisted of Oberrohrdorf, Niederrohrdorf, Staretschwil, Remetschwil, Hausen, Bellikon, Künten, Sulz, Busslingen, Stetten, Holzrüti, Vogelrüti and the part of Melllingen located on the right bank of the Reuss. The reformed parish, founded in 1929, has had a church since 1964.

Church Records
The parish of Rohrdorf, located in Oberrohrdorf, was mentioned in the eleventh century; the parish church is called St. Martin. It includes the municipalities of Bellikon (until 1925), Künten (until 1901), Remetschwil, Stetten (until 1888), and Niederrohrdorf (until 1972).

Original church records are located onsite at the Rohrdorf Gut Hirt parish church office. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms, marriages 1592-1647; burials 1610-1647 (all with gaps)
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1671-1712
 * Baptisms 1713-1747; marriages, burials 1713-1750; confirmations 1721-1735
 * Baptisms 1817-1839
 * Baptisms 1821-1846
 * Baptisms 1840-1864
 * Baptisms 1865-1875
 * Marriages 1750-1835
 * Burials 1750-1835
 * Confirmations
 * Family book 1820-1867

Post-1875 church records, as well as the following church records, are found onsite at the Rohrdorf Gut Hirt parish church office. Note: Baptisms 1747-1817 are missing
 * Marriages 1817-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1875
 * Burials 1817-1852
 * Burials 1852-1875

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Oberrohrdorf:
 * 1837 (images 507-527; includes Niederrohrdorf)
 * 1850: Form A (images 55-97; includes Niederrohrdorf)
 * 1850: Form B (image 98; includes Niederrohrdorf)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Oberrohrdorf 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 Zürich (GHGZ)