Reinach Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Reinach 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 Reinach is in the district of Kulm in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is situated in the upper Wynental (Wyna river valley).

Reinach (as of 2009) has an area of 9.47 km² (3.66 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 44.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 27.1% - forested
 * 28.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.2% - either rivers or lakes
 * 0.1% - non-productive

History
In 1036, Reinach was first mentioned by the name of Rinacha.

The population history of Reinach is: 1764 - 1,261 inhabitants 1803 - 1,672 inhabitants 1850 - 2,846 inhabitants 1900 - 3,668 inhabitants 1950 - 4,891 inhabitants 2000 - 7,258 inhabitants 2010 - 7,979 inhabitants 2020 - 8,874 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 28.5% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
 * 45.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.08% belonged to the Christian Catholic faith

Spiritually, before the Protestant Reformation in 1528, Reinach belonged to the parish of Pfeffikon. After it adopted the new denomination, a new parish was formed with Menziken, Beinwil am See, Burg and Leimbach. The parish church was constructed in 1528–29. Menziken and Burg divided from the parish in 1890 and Beinwil left in 1933.

Church Records
The parish of Reinach was established when it became Reformed in 1528. It included the municipalities of Menziken (until 1890), Burg (until 1890), Beinwil am See (until 1933), and Leimbach.

Original church records are located onsite at the Reinach municipal archive. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1549-1587; marriages 1558-1566, 1575-1587; burials 1564-1565; household register 1581, 1589
 * Baptisms 1587-1657; burials 1603-1620, 1639-1657
 * Baptisms 1657-1675; burials 1658-1677
 * Baptisms 1676-1731
 * Baptisms 1732-1753
 * Baptisms 1754-1766
 * Baptisms 1767-1780
 * Baptisms 1781-1799
 * Baptisms 1798-1809
 * Baptisms 1810-1816; baptisms non-resident citizens 1776-1859
 * Baptisms 1817-1826
 * Baptisms 1827-1840
 * Baptisms 1841-1854
 * Baptisms 1855-1865
 * Baptisms 1866-1875
 * Marriages 1594-1631, 1639-1707
 * Marriages 1708-1759
 * Marriages 1760-1782
 * Marriages 1783-1816; marriages non-resident citizens 1802-1839
 * Marriages 1817-1842
 * Marriages 1843-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1870
 * Marriages 1871-1875
 * Marriages, non-resident citizens 1817-1875
 * Burials 1723-1754
 * Burials 1755-1771
 * Burials 1772-1795
 * Burials 1795-1816; non-resident burials 1788-1839
 * Burials 1817-1835
 * Burials 1836-1858
 * Burials 1859-1875

Post-1875 church records, as well as confirmation records from 1724 onwards, are found onsite at the Reinach parish church office.

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Reinach:
 * 1837 (images 428-457)
 * 1850: Form A (images 80-146)
 * 1850: Form B (image 147)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Reinach 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)