Laufen Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Laufen 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 and capital of Laufen (French: Laufon; High Alemannic: Laufe) is in the district of Laufen in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. It includes the old city of Laufen, within the city walls, the settlement outside the walls by the waterfall, and since the 20th Century, settlements on both sides of the Birs river. In 1852, the old city and the settlement outside the walls merged. Laufen is an important train station for the surrounding area, connecting it to Basel.

Laufen (as of 2009) has an area of 11.37 km² (4.39 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 27.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 52.8% - forested
 * 18.9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.9% - either rivers or lakes
 * 0.2% - non-productive

History
In 1141, Laufen was first mentioned by the name of Loufen. It was known by its French name Laufon for a time.

The population history of Laufen is: 1586 - 536 inhabitants 1698 - 692 inhabitants 1722 - 964 inhabitants 1850 - 1,124 inhabitants 1860 - 1,132 inhabitants 1870 - 1,210 inhabitants 1880 - 1,264 inhabitants 1888 - 1,277 inhabitants 1900 - 2,177 inhabitants 1910 - 2,604 inhabitants 1920 - 2,508 inhabitants 1930 - 2,570 inhabitants 1941 - 2,797 inhabitants 1950 - 3,181 inhabitants 1960 - 3,955 inhabitants 1970 - 4,723 inhabitants 1980 - 4,444 inhabitants 1990 - 4,766 inhabitants 2000 - 4,857 inhabitants 2021 - 5,814 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 63.0% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
 * 14.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.97% belonged to an Orthodox church
 * 2.06% belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
 * 0.97% belonged to another Christian church
 * 0.10% belonged to the Jewish faith
 * 5.23% belonged to the Muslim faith

The oldest place of worship is most likely the church of Saint-Martin mentioned in 1265. Its consecration, as well as the uncovering of fragments of tombstones and remains of dwellings, suggest that its construction dates back to the 7th century or in the 8th century. The parish of Laufen included Dittingen, Röschenz, Wahlen, and Zwingen, up until the 20th century. In 1525, Laufen adopted the Reformation, but the city had to return to the Catholic faith in 1588 by the will of its sovereign, Prince Bishop Jacques Christophe Blarer of Wartensee. The Catholic-Christian parish began during the Kulturkampf (1872 to 1878). The Sainte-Catherine chapel, built near the surrounding wall, consecrated in 1364, and refurbished in 1698/1699, has been part of Laufen since 1907. The Roman Catholic church of the Sacred Heart was constructed in 1914. The majority of the inhabitants are Catholic, the rest is split between Protestants and a small minority of Catholic Christians. The Protestant parish has existed since 1897 and has had its own church since 1903.

Church Records
The parish church in Laufen was first mentioned in 1265. The area became Protestant during the Reformation in 1525, but it was re-Catholicized in 1588. Laufen included the municipalities of Dittingen, Grellingen, Nenzlingen, and Röschenz until 1802; Wahlen until 1839, and Zwingen until 1906.

Parish records for Laufen are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 12 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1588-1875 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1588-1875 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1601-1875 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1707-1784 Confirmations at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

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

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Laufen 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)