Geltwil
Encyclopedia
Geltwil is a municipality
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...

 in the district of Muri
Muri (district)
Muri District is a district in the Swiss Canton of Aargau with the administrative capital of Muri. It covers the central and southern part of Freiamt and has a population of .-Geography:...

 in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Aargau
Aargau
Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. It comprises the lower course of the river Aare, which is why the canton is called Aar-gau .-History:...

 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

History

The earliest trace of human settlement near Geltwil is a Roman era
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...

 villa. The modern municipality of Geltwil is first mentioned in 1160 as Geltwile. The history of Geltwil was always closely connected with Muri Abbey
Muri Abbey
Muri Abbey was a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. It flourished for over eight centuries at Muri, in the Canton of Aargau, near Basle in Switzerland...

. In the 13th Century the main part of the land was given by Habsburgs to the Abbey. Even after the conquest of the Aargau in 1415 the village belonged the Muri district.

Geltwil is also part of the Muri parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

. Between 1798-1803, Geltwil, Isenbergschwil and Winterschwil formed a collective community. In 1816, a reorganization of the district of Muri, led to creation of today's community.

With a nearly constant population, Geltwil has remained a purely farming village. In the center is the school house was built in 1972 and the memorial to the battle that took place during the Sonderbund war in Geltwil in 1847. In 1942, the municipality refused to bow to Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 pressure and introduce Daylight savings time.

Geography

Geltwil has an area, , of 3.3 square kilometres (1.3 sq mi). Of this area, 2.65 km² (1 sq mi) or 80.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.5 km² (0.193051079296268 sq mi) or 15.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.16 km² (0.0617763453748056 sq mi) or 4.8% is settled (buildings or roads).

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.4%. Out of the forested land, 13.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 48.8% is used for growing crops and 28.8% is pastures, while 2.7% is used for orchards or vine crops.

The municipality is located in the Muri district on the eastern slope of the Lindenberg. It consists of the villages of Geltwil and Isenbergschwil.

Coat of arms

The blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

 of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 is Gules a Bath-Tub Or and in chief a Coin of the same bearing a Cross recercelée Sable and Coupeaux Vert.

Demographics

Geltwil has a population of , 8.7% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 24.3%. Most of the population speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

(94.2%), with French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 being second most common ( 2.9%) and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 being third ( 0.7%).

The age distribution, , in Geltwil is; 27 children or 14.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 33 teenagers or 17.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 29 people or 15.1% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 21 people or 10.9% are between 30 and 39, 32 people or 16.7% are between 40 and 49, and 29 people or 15.1% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 16 people or 8.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 1 person is between 70 and 79, there are 2 people or 1.0% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 2 people or 1.0% who are 90 and older.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.57 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.57 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 71.4% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 1 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 8 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 33 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 42 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 3.3 persons per household. there were 29 single family homes (or 42.6% of the total) out of a total of 68 homes and apartments. There were a total of 0 empty apartments for a 0.0% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 10.6 new units per 1000 residents.

In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...

 the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...

 which received 34.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

 (26.4%), the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....

 (16.7%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (14.2%).

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1850 207
1900 154
1950 158
2000 137

Heritage sites of national significance

The house at Isenbergschwilerstrasse 37 is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

.

Economy

, Geltwil had an unemployment rate of 1.52%. , there were 32 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 1 person is employed in the secondary sector and there is 1 business in this sector. 18 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 5 businesses in this sector.

there were 75 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 49 or about 65.3% of the residents worked outside Geltwil while 11 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 37 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 7.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 40.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 95 or 69.3% were Roman Catholic, while 21 or 15.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belonged to the Christian Catholic
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...

 faith.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Geltwil about 80% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

). Of the school age population , there are 18 students attending primary school in the municipality.
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