Arlesheim Parish, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Arlesheim 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 town and municipality of Arlesheim is in the district of Arlesheim and the Basel-Landschaft canton in Switzerland. It is situated in the Birseck or the lower Birs valley. Originally a village along the river, it has grown to become part of the cluster of Basel.

Arlesheim (as of 2009) has an area of 6.93 km² (2.68 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 9.4% - agricultural purposes
 * 52.5% - forested
 * 38.2% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.4% - non-productive (either rivers or lakes)

History
Arlesheim is first mentioned in 708. In 1239, Arlesheim was mentioned by the name of Arlisheim.

The population history of Arlesheim is: 1585 - 31 Hearths 1722 - 70 inhabitants 1815 - 616 inhabitants 1850 - 910 inhabitants 1860 - 936 inhabitants 1870 - 967 inhabitants 1880 - 947 inhabitants 1888 - 1,019 inhabitants 1900 - 1,599 inhabitants 1910 - 1,952 inhabitants 1920 - 2,350 inhabitants 1930 - 3,228 inhabitants 1941 - 3,360 inhabitants 1950 - 3,898 inhabitants 1960 - 5,219 inhabitants 1970 - 8,038 inhabitants 1980 - 8,224 inhabitants 1990 - 8,293 inhabitants 2000 - 8,628 inhabitants 2021 - 9,240 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 36.3% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
 * 32.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.88% belonged to an Orthodox church
 * 0.39% belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
 * 3.59% belonged to another Christian church
 * 0.15% belonged to the Jewish faith
 * 3.27% belonged to the Muslim faith

The inhabitants were originally part of the parish of Pfeffingen. However, by 1341 they owned a parish church and by 1396 their own pastor. This parish church, the church of St. Odilia, was reconstructed in the late 17th century and destroyed in 1816. It adopted the new Protestant faith in 1528 when Basel converted. At the beginning of the 17th century, Arlesheim was briefly merged with Reinach (BL) in one parish.

Catholic
The Catholic parish of Arlesheim was established by 1341; it received its first priest in 1396. It became Reformed in 1528, but was re-Catholicized by 1582. It included the parish of Reinach until 1611. Catholic parish records for Arlesheim are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 53 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1596-1938 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1616-1940 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1659-1968 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive - with gaps
 * 1848-1894 Family book at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

Reformed
A Reformed chapel was established in Arlesheim in 1856 to service the few Protestant families living in the district. Reformed parish records for Arlesheim are available online from the Basel-Landschaft State Archive. The 11 volumes of digitized records include:
 * 1858-1936 Baptisms at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1858-1929 Marriages at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1858-1928 Burials at Basel-Landschaft State Archive
 * 1858-1917 Confirmations at Basel-Landschaft State Archive

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

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

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

Libraries and archives
Basel-Landschaft State Archive

Societies
Genealogical-Heraldic Society of Region Basel (GHGRB)