Kirchleerau Parish, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Kirchleerau 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 Kirchleerau is in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is located in the Zofingen district, in an eastern side valley to the Suhre river valley (Suhrental).

Kirchleerau (as of 2009) has an area of 4.36 km² (1.68 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 41.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 50.0% - forested
 * 8.5% - settled (buildings or roads)

History
In 1248, Kirchleerau was first mentioned by the name of Lerowe.

The population history of Kirchleerau is: 1764 - 236 inhabitants 1850 - 688 inhabitants 1900 - 478 inhabitants 1950 - 520 inhabitants 1990 - 660 inhabitants 2000 - 701 inhabitants 2020 - 898 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 18.0% were Roman Catholic
 * 70.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church

A church existed from around 1050, it was first attested in 1275 and refurbished in 1595 with a tower and choir. In 1528, the Reformation was adopted.

Church Records
The parish of Leerau, located in Kirchleerau, was first mentioned in 1050. It became Reformed in 1528. It includes the municipality of Moosleerau.

Original church records are located onsite at the Kirchleerau municipal archive. Microfilm copies of the following church records are available onsite at the Aargau State Archives:
 * Baptisms 1551-1592, 1601-1661; marriages, burials 1612-1661
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1662-1733
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials, confirmations 1733-1751
 * Baptisms 1751-1785
 * Baptisms 1786-1817; baptisms non-resident citizens 1812-1871
 * Baptisms 1817-1855
 * Baptisms 1856-1875
 * Marriages 1751-1811
 * Marriages 1810-1852
 * Marriages 1853-1875
 * Burials 1751-1809
 * Burials 1810-1816
 * Burials 1814-1875

The following church records are only available onsite at the Kirchleerau municipal archive:
 * Marriages 1817-1852
 * Marriages, non-resident citizens 1817-1871
 * Confirmations 1752-1888

Post-1875 church records are found onsite at the Leerau parish church office:

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Kirchleerau:
 * 1837 (images 222-236)
 * 1850: Form A (images 570-586)
 * 1850: Form B (image 587)

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

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

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Aargau

Societies
Genealogical-Heraldic Society of Bern (GHGB)