Beinwil (Freiamt) Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Beinwil (Freiamt) 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 Beinwil (Freiamt) is in the district of Muri in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is located in the Muri district on the east slope of the Lindenberg. It includes the village of Beinwil and the hamlets of Wiggwil, Brunnwil, Winterschwil, and Wallenschwil, as well as Schloss Horben and the chapel in Horben.

Beinwil (Freiamt) (as of 2009) has an area of 11.28 km² (4.36 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 75.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 17.9% - forested
 * 6.6% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.2% - rivers or lakes

History
In 1153, Beinwil (Freiamt) was first mentioned by the name of Beinwilare. Until 1950, it was known as Beinwil bei Muri.

The population history of Beinwil (Freiamt) is: 1850 - 871 inhabitants 1900 - 701 inhabitants 1950 - 759 inhabitants 2000 - 942 inhabitants 2020 - 1,183 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 82.2% were Roman Catholic
 * 10.0% were Swiss Reformed Church

The tomb of Saint Burkard, possibly the first parish priest of Beinwil (Freiamt), who died around 1200, is a place of pilgrimage, to which the history of the parish is linked. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul (also dedicated to Saint Burkard from 1808), mentioned as early as 1239, was rebuilt between 1619 and 1621.

Church Records
The parish of Beinwil (Freiamt), nanmed St. Burkard, was first mentioned in 1200.

Original church records are located onsite at the Beinwil church parish office. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1616-1682; marriages 1616-1670; burials 1616-1683; confirmations 1621-1684
 * Baptisms 1682-1751; marriages, burials 1685-1751; confirmations 1701-1723, 1731

The following church records are only available onsite at the Beinwil municipal archive:
 * Baptisms 1817-1875
 * Marriages 1817-1865
 * Marriages 1853-1875
 * Marriages, non-citizen residents 1817-1864

Post-1875 church records, as well as the following church records, are only available onsite at the Beinwil church parish office:
 * Baptisms 1603-1616 (with gaps); marriages 1611-1616
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1751-1828; confirmations 1753-1768, 1780-1822
 * Baptisms 1829-1929; marriages 1881-1932; burials 1829-1919; confirmations 1881-1932
 * Baptisms Wallenschwil 1837-1847
 * Baptisms 1841-1856
 * Baptisms 1841-1880
 * Baptisms illegitimate children 1805-1875
 * Communions 1813-1882
 * Marriages 1840-1874
 * Banns 1841-1876
 * Burials 1817-1875
 * Burials 1840-1880
 * Family book 1750-1841
 * Family book 1820-1852
 * Family book 1810-1889
 * Family book 1840-1926
 * Family book 1864-1888
 * Family book non-resident citizens 1800-1890
 * Family book non-citizen residents 1778-1864
 * Family book non-citizen residents 1800-1862
 * Family book non-citizen residents 1840-1927
 * Family book Winterschwil 1810-1841
 * Family book Winterschwil 1810-1852
 * Family book Berggemeinde 1810-1853
 * Family book Berggemeinde 1810-1842
 * Family book Wiggwil 1810-1853
 * Family book WEallenschwil 1856-1932

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Beinwil (Freiamt):
 * 1837 (images 538-548)
 * 1850: Form A (images 572-591)
 * 1850: Form B (image 592)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Beinwil (Freiamt) 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)