Merenschwand Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Merenschwand 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 former municipality of Merenschwand is in the Muri district and the Aargau canton. It is located on the edge of the Reuss valley. The municipality of Merenschwand includes the haufendorf village (an unplanned and closely packed village built around a central square) of Merenschwand and the hamlets of Unterrüti, Rickenbach and Hagnau.

Merenschwand (as of 2009) has an area of 11.05 km² (4.27 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 68.3% - agricultural purposes
 * 11.4% - forested
 * 11.3% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 5.2% - non-productive

History
In the 12th century, Merenschwand was first mentioned as Meriswanden. In 1263, Merenschwand was mentioned by the name of Meriswandon. Merenschwand is in the Muri district and the Aargau canton.

In 1813, Merenschwand separated from Benzenschwil to become an independent municipality. On 1 January 2012, Benzenschwil municipality merged into the Merenschwand municipality.

The population history of Merenschwand is: 1798 - 618 inhabitants 1850 - 1,212 inhabitants 1900 - 1,230 inhabitants 1950 - 1,196 inhabitants 1970 - 1,351	 inhabitants 2000 - 2,171 inhabitants 2020 - 3,712 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 61.8% were Roman Catholic
 * 19.2% were Swiss Reformed Church

In 1245, the village church of St. Vitus is first mentioned. It later became the parish church for the surrounding district. In 1897, a modern church was built. In 1332, the chapelry of Notre-Dame was founded. In 1483, the parish of Saint- Antoine was mentioned. In 1600, the chapel of Saint-Wendelin in Hagnau was built.

Church Records
The parish of Merenschwand was first mentioned in 1245; the parish church is called St. Vitus. It includes the municipality of Benzenschwil.

Original church records are located onsite at the Merenschwand municipal archive. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms, marriages 1586-1626, 1631-1641; burials 1598-1626, 1631-1641
 * Baptisms 1641-1739
 * Baptisms 1740-1837
 * Marriages, burials 1641-1739; confirmations 1642-1731
 * Marriages 1740-1826; burials 1740-1823; confirmations 1742-1866

The following church records are only available onsite at the Merenschwand municipal archive:
 * Baptisms 1818-1852
 * Baptisms 1852-1875
 * Marriages 1822-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1875
 * Marriages non-resident citizens 1817-1875
 * Burials 1817-1875

Post-1875 church records, as well as the following church records, are found onsite at the Merenschwand parish church office.
 * Baptisms 1838-1875
 * Family book 1796-1811
 * Family book 1796-1854
 * Family book 1796-1852
 * Family book 1845-1918 (organized by location)

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Merenschwand:
 * 1837 (images 515-534)
 * 1850: Form A (images 708-736)
 * 1850: Form B (image 737)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Merenschwand prior to 1875:

Related sources
The town's website (in German) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Aargau

Societies
Central Swiss Society for Family History (ZGF)