Benzenschwil, Aargau, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Benzenschwil, 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 Benzenschwil is in the Muri district and the Aargau canton. It is located on the eastern foot of the Lindenberg. The municipality includes the village of Benzenschwil.

Benzenschwil (as of 2009) has an area of 2.46 km² (0.95 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 59.3% - agricultural purposes
 * 27.6% - forested
 * 11.0% - settled (buildings or roads)

History
In 1189, Benzenschwil was first mentioned by the name of Penziswile. Benzenschwil is in the Muri district and the Aargau canton.

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

The population history of Benzenschwil is: 1850 - 324 inhabitants 1880 - 378 inhabitants 1900 - 308 inhabitants 1950 - 346 inhabitants 2000 - 518 inhabitants 2010 - 548 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 68.5% were Roman Catholic
 * 18.7% were Swiss Reformed Church

Benzenschwil belongs to the parish of Merenschwand. Since 1972, its chapel has been in a school building.

Church Records
Benzenschwil belongs to the parish of Merenschwand. See Merenschwand for more information.

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

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Benzenschwil:
 * 1837 (images 548-552)
 * 1850: Form A (images 593-600)
 * 1850: Form B (image 601)

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Benzenschwil 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)