The County of Baden (German: Grafschaft Baden) was a condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy and is now part of the Swisscanton of Aargau. The county was established in 1415 after the Swiss conquest of the Aargau and was ruled as a shared condominium until 1798 when it became part of the short-lived Canton of Baden.
The land that became the County of Baden was originally ruled by the Counts of Lenzburg. Once that family's main line died out, it came under the Kyburgs and then in 1264 the Habsburgs. The exact territories in the county changed often but originally included the western part of the Zürichgau and parts of the territory between the Rhine, Aare and Reuss rivers. In the 14th century, the territory of Baden became a triangle between the Limmat and Reuss rivers, though it was later divided further. As part of the Habsburg bailiwick of Aargau, it was managed by a bailiff, who had his seat in the town of Baden.[1]
On 16 November 1414, Emperor Sigismund called the Council of Constance to settle the Western Schism between the three popes (Benedict XIII, Gregory XII, and John XXIII), all of whom claimed legitimacy. Frederick IV of Habsburg sided with John XXIII. When John XXIII was declared an antipope, he fled the city with Frederick's help. The emperor then declared the Habsburg lands forfeited and ordered the neighbouring countries to conquer those lands for the emperor. The city-state of Bern had already pledged their support of the emperor against the Habsburgs in 1414, and so they were ready to invade. The rest of the Confederation quickly followed.[2]
The territory was quickly conquered in 1415 by the Confederation. Under Habsburg rule, Aargau was divided into multiple sections (German: Ämter), which were maintained under the Confederation. Bern, Lucerne and Zurich were each given a portion of the conquered region to administer. The Freie Ämter and the Amt of Baden were collectively administered as subject territories by the rest of the Confederation. Under the Confederation, the Amt of Baden became the County of Baden. The county included the former Ämter of Baden and Siggenthal, the Bishop of Constance's vogtei of Klingnau, Zurzach and Kaiserstuhl as well as the parish of Leuggern on the left side of the Aare.
Initially, ownership of the county was shared between the seven cantons which had participated in the invasion. Starting in 1443 this was expanded into all Eight Cantons or Acht Orte. It was divided into eight inner (Rohrdorf, Birmenstorf, Gebenstorf, Dietikon, Wettingen, Siggenthal, Ehrendingen, Leuggern) and three outer districts (Klingnau, Zurzach, Kaiserstuhl), which included the parishes of Kadelburg, Lienheim and Hohentengen on the right bank of the Rhine.
The Old Swiss Confederation, showing the situation of the county of Baden
The Confederates retained much of the Habsburg legal structure, which caused a number of problems. The local nobility had the right to hold the low court in only about one-fifth of the territory. There were over 30 different nobles who had the right to hold courts scattered around the surrounding lands. All these overlapping jurisdictions caused numerous conflicts, but gradually the Confederation was able to acquire these rights in the county. The cities of Baden, Bremgarten and Mellingen became the administrative centres and held the high courts. Together with the courts, the three administrative centres had considerable local autonomy but were ruled by a governor who was appointed by the Acht Orte every two years. After the Protestant victory at the Second Battle of Villmergen, the administration of the county changed slightly. Instead of the Acht Orte appointing a bailiff together, Zurich and Bern each appointed the governor for 7 out of 16 years while Glarus appointed him for the remaining 2 years.
The governor lived in the Landvogteischloss (Governor's Castle) in Baden, which was expanded in 1486–90. The governor had his own lower court and he was the appellate court for the local lords' courts. He appointed some of the local administrators and the high court judges at Baden. The governor cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie in the high court. Due to the limited jurisdiction and the short, two-year appointment, the governor's power was limited. The local courts and village mayors had quite a bit of autonomy.
Two separate doors (one for Jews and one for Christians) on a house in Lengnau
The governor's income came from a death tax (converted in 1666 into an annual tax), a tax on people leaving the county, a tolerance tax on the Jews and customs fees. However, customs fees brought in so little that in the 17th century, the right to collect duties was auctioned off to the highest bidder. The county was the only federal condominium in the 17th century where Jews were tolerated. In 1774, they were restricted to just two towns: Endingen and Lengnau. While the rural upper class tried several times to finally expel the Jews, the financial interests of the authorities prevented this. The Jews were directly subordinate to the governor starting in 1696 when they were forced to buy a protecting and shielding letter every 16 years from the governor. The region was rarely profitable and being appointed a governor usually only resulted in modest wealth.[1]
Until the 18th century, the vast majority of residents in the county lived off of agriculture. They mostly grew grain, but in the Limmat, Aare and Surb valleys there was some viticulture. Most of the county's market towns held only local markets, which, however, provided a solid income source for the increasingly degree-indebted county. The chaotic legal structure and fragmented land ownership combined with a tradition of dividing the land among all the heirs in an inheritance prevented any large-scale reforms. The governor tried in the 18th century to reform and standardize laws and ownership across the county, but with limited success. With an ever-changing administration, the county lacked a coherent long-term economic policy or support for reforms. By the end of the 18th century there were no factories or mills and only a few small cottage industries along the border with Zurich. Road construction first became a priority after 1750, when Zurich and Bern began appointing a governor for seven years.[1]
During the Protestant Reformation, some of the municipalities converted to the new faith. However, starting in 1531, some of the old parishes were converted back to the old faith. The governors were appointed from both Catholic and Protestant cantons and since they changed every two years, neither faith gained a majority in the county. The towns of Tegerfelden and Zurzach had a large Reformed majority, while many other towns had a strong minority. The Reformed parishes were under the authority of the ecclesiastical court in Zurich, except for Birmenstorf and Gebenstorf which were under the Bernese court. The Jews of the Surbtal formed a Beth din or a rabbinical court with Tiengen. In the 18th century, they built two large synagogues.[1]
History since 1798
Canton
Map of the Helvetic Republic in 1798/99 with the Canton of Baden
The County of Baden was dissolved after the 1798 French invasion. On 19 March 1798, the governments of Zurich and Bern agreed to the creation of the short-lived Canton of Baden in the Helvetic Republic. With the Act of Mediation in 1803, the Canton of Baden was dissolved, becoming part of Aargau.
District
Portions of the lands of the former County of Baden became the District of Baden, firstly in the Canton of Baden and then in the Canton of Aargau (from 1803).
After World War II, this formerly agrarian region saw striking growth and became the district with the largest and densest population in the canton (110,000 in 1990, 715 persons per km2).[1]
Related Research Articles
Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau.
The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km it reaches the river Aare. The confluence is located north of the small town of Brugg and shortly after the mouth of the Reuss.
The canton of Bern or Berne is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the de facto capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the canton, displayed on a red-yellow background.
The Reuss is a river in Switzerland. With a length of 164 kilometres (102 mi) and a drainage basin of 3,426 square kilometres (1,323 sq mi), it is the fourth largest river in Switzerland. The upper Reuss forms the main valley of the canton of Uri. The course of the lower Reuss runs from Lake Lucerne to the confluence with the Aare at Brugg and Windisch.
These are the 198 municipalities of the canton of Aargau, Switzerland.
Bremgarten is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Aargau. It serves as seat of the district of Bremgarten. The medieval old town is listed as a heritage site of national significance. In 2013, Bremgarten was the first municipality in Europe to introduce laws forbidding asylum seekers from visiting certain public places such as libraries, swimming pools, schools and churches.
The Canton of Baden was a canton of the Helvetic Republic. Its capital was the town of Baden.
Brugg is a Swiss municipality and a town in the canton of Aargau and is the seat of the district of the same name. The town is located at the confluence of the Aare, Reuss, and Limmat, with the Aare flowing through its medieval part. It is located approximately 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) from the cantonal capital of Aarau; 28 kilometers (17 mi) from Zürich; and about 45 kilometers (28 mi) from Basel.
The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. The Hohenstaufen emperors had granted these valleys reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were largely autonomous.
Baden District is a district in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland. The district capital is the town of Baden and the largest municipality is Wettingen, located in the Limmat Valley. The district has a total of 26 municipalities, an area of 153.07 km2 (59.10 sq mi), and a population of about 138,000.
Klingnau is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
Leuggern is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy was a loose confederation of independent small states, initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerland.
The Freiamt or Freie Ämter is a region in Switzerland and is located in the southeast of Canton of Aargau. It comprises the area between the Lindenberg and Heitersberg and from the terminal moraine at Othmarsingen to Reuss river in Dietwil. Today the area of the Bremgarten and Muri Districts are called the Freiamt. Previously, the area around Affoltern District in the canton of Zurich was called the (Zurich) Freiamt.
The Zürich–Baden railway line is a major railway line in Switzerland connecting the cities of Zürich and Baden. It forms part of the major east-west route between Zürich and Olten. The line generally follows the south bank of the Limmat from Zürich to Baden. A new line, the Heitersberg line, opened in 1975, branches off in Killwangen-Spreitenbach and follows a more southerly route through the Heitersberg Tunnel towards Olten. The Zürich–Baden railway is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz and much of it has four tracks.
The Swiss Northern Railway , informally known as the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn, opened the first railway line within Switzerland in 1847, the Zürich–Baden line. This followed the extension of a French railway to Basel in 1844. The original line generally followed the south bank of the Limmat from Zürich to near its confluence with the Aar near Brugg and then it generally followed the south bank of the Aar to Olten. It was absorbed into the Swiss Northeastern Railway in 1853 and extended from Baden to Brugg in 1858. The line was absorbed into the Swiss Federal Railways on its establishment in 1902. It is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz and its eastern 16 km section from Zürich to Killwangen-Spreitenbach is now part of the Zürich–Olten trunkline and has four tracks.
The Kyburg family was a noble family of grafen (counts) in the Duchy of Swabia, a cadet line of the counts of Dillingen, who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries ruled the County of Kyburg, corresponding to much of what is now Northeastern Switzerland.
Aarburg Castle is a castle in the municipality of Aarburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is located high above the town Aarburg on a steep, rocky hillside. The castle was built around a medieval castle, which controlled the narrow point on the Aare river and served as the seat of Aarburg Vogt. It is classified as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Today it houses the Kantonale Jugendheim, for holding and rehabilitating juvenile offenders.
Surbtal is a river valley region in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland.
Klingnau railway station is a railway station in the municipality of Klingnau, in the Swiss canton of Aargau. It is an intermediate stop on the standard gauge Turgi–Koblenz–Waldshut line of Swiss Federal Railways.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
