Seengen and Lake Hallwil, seen from the village entry of BoniswilAerial view (1952)
The center of this village is located about one kilometer from the lake shore on the eastern edge of the Seetal valley at an altitude of 471 meters above sea level. To the west, part of the plain along the Aabach stream belongs to the municipal area. The municipal boundary partly follows the stream ditch and runs to the left of the stream at the Hallwyl Castle, up the rising terrain to the village of Boniswil. The hilly landscape to the right of the Aabach in the northwest of the municipal area is partly covered by forest and features wetlands. This wooded area is a cantonal natural forest reserve, and covers an area of 56 hectares known as the Schlattwald oak forest reserve.[3]
In the southeast, the steep slope of the meadow, south of Brestenberg Castle, drops directly down to the lake shore. The slope is covered with vineyards, some of which have been abandoned for the construction of vacation homes.
To the east and north of the municipality rise the hills of the 712-meter-high Eichberg, which is part of the Rietenberg chain and forms the natural border with the valley of Bünz[de] stream to the east. The upper section of the hills is wooded. Just below the highest point lies a large boulder, called the Titistein, a testament to the early glaciation of the Seetal valley during the Ice Age and one of the largest boulders of the Reuss glacier in the canton of Aargau.[5]
The municipality has an area, as of 2009[update], of 9.69 square kilometers (3.74sqmi). Of this area, 4.97km2 (1.92sqmi) or 51.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.13km2 (1.21sqmi) or 32.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.33km2 (0.51sqmi) or 13.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.18km2 (0.069sqmi) or 1.9% is unproductive land.[6]
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 9.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.6%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 35.6% is used for growing crops and 11.4% is pastures, while 4.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 1.7% is unproductive vegetation.[6]
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent an Eagle displayed Sable beaked, langued and membered Gules.[7]
Demographics
Seengen has a population (as of December 2020[update]) of 4,122.[8]As of June2009[update], 8.4% of the population are foreign nationals.[9] Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 31.4%. Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (93.9%), with French being second most common ( 1.0%) and Albanian being third ( 1.0%).[10]
The age distribution, as of 2008[update], in Seengen is; 382 children or 11.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 435 teenagers or 13.3% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 357 people or 10.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 415 people or 12.7% are between 30 and 39, 610 people or 18.6% are between 40 and 49, and 466 people or 14.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 333 people or 10.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 161 people or 4.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 107 people or 3.3% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 12 people or 0.4% who are 90 and older.[11]
As of 2000[update], there were 59 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 420 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 439 homes with 5 or more persons in the household.[12]As of 2000[update], there were 952 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household.[10]In 2008[update] there were 573 single family homes (or 42.7% of the total) out of a total of 1,343 homes and apartments.[13] There were a total of 90 empty apartments for a 6.7% vacancy rate.[13]As of 2007[update], the construction rate of new housing units was 26 new units per 1000 residents.[10]
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 38.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (21.7%), the SP (14.5%) and the Green Party (8.1%).[10]
The historical population is given in the following table:[11]
As of 2007[update], Seengen had an unemployment rate of 1.2%. As of 2005[update], there were 105 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 28 businesses involved in this sector. 202 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 27 businesses in this sector. 571 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 88 businesses in this sector.[10]
In 2000[update] there were 1,304 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 899 or about 68.9% of the residents worked outside Seengen while 421 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 826 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality.[16] Of the working population, 10.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.1% used a private car.[10]
Religion
From the 2000 census[update], 500 or 19.8% were Roman Catholic, while 1,578 or 62.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 4 individuals (or about 0.16% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith.[12]
Education
In Seengen about 80.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).[10] Of the school age population (in the 2008/2009 school year[update]), there are 286 students attending primary school, there are 218 students attending secondary school, there are 191 students attending tertiary or university level schooling in the municipality.[12] Seengen is home to the Schul und Gemeinde Bibliothek Seengen (school and municipal library of Seengen). The library has (as of 2008[update]) 8,758 books or other media, and loaned out 34,413 items in the same year. It was open a total of 250 days with average of 11 hours per week during that year.[17]
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