Blauen Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Blauen 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 Blauen is in the district of Laufen in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. It is located on the southern slope of the Blauen mountains.

Blauen (as of 2009) has an area of 7.13 km² (2.75 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 33.9% - agricultural purposes
 * 60.2% - forested
 * 5.3% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.3% - non-productive

History
In 1147, Blauen was first mentioned by the name of Blakwan.

The population history of Blauen is: 1771 - 201 inhabitants 1850 - 337 inhabitants 1860 - 325 inhabitants 1870 - 325 inhabitants 1880 - 304 inhabitants 1888 - 289 inhabitants 1900 - 295 inhabitants 1910 - 310 inhabitants 1920 - 310 inhabitants 1930 - 328 inhabitants 1941 - 369 inhabitants 1950 - 394 inhabitants 1960 - 351 inhabitants 1970 - 345 inhabitants 1980 - 410 inhabitants 1990 - 560 inhabitants 2000 - 660 inhabitants 2021 - 705 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 65.6% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
 * 18.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
 * 2.12% belonged to the Christian Catholic Church

The village, reformed in 1529 and returned to Catholicism after 1580, belonged to the parish of Saint-Martin de Laufon (at the collation of the Bishop of Basel) until 1619. The current building of St. Martin's Church dates from 1726 and the St. Wendelin's Chapel (regional place of pilgrimage) at the Kleinblauen estate from 1666. From 1874 to 1935, Blauen was spiritually united with Dittingen.

Church Records
Blauen belonged to the parish of Laufen until 1619, when it became an independent parish. Between 1874 and 1935, it was united with the parish of Dittingen. Some records for Blauen can be found under Dittingen, and others may be found in Laufen.

Parish records for Blauen are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 12 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1700-1815 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1795-1875 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1700-1815 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1795-1875 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1700-1956 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1795-1875 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

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

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Blauen 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)