Holderbank, Aargau
Encyclopedia
Holderbank is a municipality
in the district of Lenzburg
in the canton
of Aargau
in Switzerland
.
era. Discoveries include; individual items from both the Neolithic and Bronze Age
s, Roman era
ruins and ceramics, and Alamanni
graves. The modern municipality of Holderbank is first mentioned in 1259 as in Halderwange though this is from a 14th Century copy of the original. Around 1273 it was mentioned as de Halderwanch. Portions of the village were owned by Murbach Abbey
, though they sold their holdings to the Habsburgs in 1291. The Habsburgs promptly transferred the land around Holderbank to their vassal
s the von Wildegg family. In addition to land, the von Wildegg's also acquired the right to low justice
in the village.
The parish church
in Holderbank is mentioned for the first time in 1275. It served as grave church for the Twingherren
of Wildegg. They also held the rights to collect the church taxes until 1805 when they ceded those rights to the canton. After the Reformation
, in 1565 the villages of Möriken and Wildegg
became part of the Holderbank parish
. In 1701-02 the present church was built by Samuel Jenner.
The municipality appears to have been small initially. There were only 10 fireplaces recorded in 1559 and only 11 in 1653. By 1595-96 it is unclear whether Holderbank was considered a village or just a farm. The inhabitants lived mainly from agriculture, though the Aare often washed away their land. Until the 19th Century there were vineyard
s in the village (about 10 hectares (24.7 acre) in 1764 and 19 hectares (46.9 acre) in 1880). In the 18th and 19th Centuries textile processing provided an additional income opportunity. From 1835 to about 1890 there was a cotton printing industry.
In 1858 a railway line was built through the village, though a train station was only added in 1999. In 1912 a lime processing factory and a portland cement
factory were built. An earthenware factory was founded in 1933, which produced until the 1970s. In 1950 three quarters of the workforce worked in the industrial sector, while in 2000 roughly three-fourths work in the services sector.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 6.5% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.2%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 3.9% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 32.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.0% is used for growing crops and 12.1% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 3.4% is unproductive vegetation and 3.9% is too rocky for vegetation.
The municipality is located in the Lenzburg district. It consists of the linear village
of Holderbank and the hamlets
of Kernenberg (also known as Heilanstalt).
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules an Elder-tree proper issuant from a circular Bench Argent. This is an example of canting
with the elder tree and the bench symbolizing the name of the municipality."
The age distribution, , in Holderbank is; 90 children or 10.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 77 teenagers or 8.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 101 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 122 people or 14.1% are between 30 and 39, 148 people or 17.1% are between 40 and 49, and 147 people or 17.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 97 people or 11.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 49 people or 5.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 30 people or 3.5% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 3 people or 0.3% who are 90 and older.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.55 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 59.4% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 22 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 176 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 115 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 320 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. there were 156 single family homes (or 38.1% of the total) out of a total of 409 homes and apartments. There were a total of 8 empty apartments for a 2.0% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.2 new units per 1000 residents.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 58.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(11.2%), the FDP
(10.4%) and the CVP
(5.1%).
The historical population is given in the following table:
there were 411 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 324 or about 78.8% of the residents worked outside Holderbank while 473 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 560 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 7.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 59% used a private car.
.
). Of the school age population , there are 49 students attending primary school in the 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 Lenzburg
Lenzburg (district)
Lenzburg District is a district of the Canton of Aargau in Switzerland, lying at the center of the canton. The district capital is the town of Lenzburg. It 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
Archeological discoveries indicate that the area around Holderbank has been occupied since the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
era. Discoveries include; individual items from both the Neolithic and Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
s, 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...
ruins and ceramics, and Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
graves. The modern municipality of Holderbank is first mentioned in 1259 as in Halderwange though this is from a 14th Century copy of the original. Around 1273 it was mentioned as de Halderwanch. Portions of the village were owned by Murbach Abbey
Murbach Abbey
Murbach Abbey was a famous Benedictine monastery in Murbach, southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges.The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace, and established as a Benedictine house by Saint Pirmin. Its territory once comprised 3 towns and 30...
, though they sold their holdings to the Habsburgs in 1291. The Habsburgs promptly transferred the land around Holderbank to their vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
s the von Wildegg family. In addition to land, the von Wildegg's also acquired the right to low justice
High, middle and low justice
High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents....
in the village.
The parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in Holderbank is mentioned for the first time in 1275. It served as grave church for the Twingherren
Zwing und Bann
Zwing und Bann is a Swiss feudal set of rules and regulations governing justice and punishment in a village or villages. Zwing and Twing are different spellings based on the local Swiss German dialect. The magistrate or Zwingherr had legally binding rules and regulations in the exercise of low...
of Wildegg. They also held the rights to collect the church taxes until 1805 when they ceded those rights to the canton. After the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, in 1565 the villages of Möriken and Wildegg
Möriken-Wildegg
Möriken-Wildegg is a municipality in the district of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.-History:The area was settled in the Late Bronze Age. The hilltop settlement on the Kestenberg had at least two phases...
became part of the Holderbank 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...
. In 1701-02 the present church was built by Samuel Jenner.
The municipality appears to have been small initially. There were only 10 fireplaces recorded in 1559 and only 11 in 1653. By 1595-96 it is unclear whether Holderbank was considered a village or just a farm. The inhabitants lived mainly from agriculture, though the Aare often washed away their land. Until the 19th Century there were vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s in the village (about 10 hectares (24.7 acre) in 1764 and 19 hectares (46.9 acre) in 1880). In the 18th and 19th Centuries textile processing provided an additional income opportunity. From 1835 to about 1890 there was a cotton printing industry.
In 1858 a railway line was built through the village, though a train station was only added in 1999. In 1912 a lime processing factory and a portland cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
factory were built. An earthenware factory was founded in 1933, which produced until the 1970s. In 1950 three quarters of the workforce worked in the industrial sector, while in 2000 roughly three-fourths work in the services sector.
Geography
Holderbank has an area, , of 2.32 square kilometre (0.895757007934681 sq mi). Of this area, 0.44 km² (0.169884949780715 sq mi) or 19.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.84 km² (0.324325813217729 sq mi) or 36.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.71 km² (0.2741325326007 sq mi) or 30.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.16 km² (0.0617763453748056 sq mi) or 6.9% is either rivers or lakes and 0.17 km² (0.065637366960731 sq mi) or 7.3% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 6.5% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.2%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 3.9% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 32.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.0% is used for growing crops and 12.1% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 3.4% is unproductive vegetation and 3.9% is too rocky for vegetation.
The municipality is located in the Lenzburg district. It consists of the linear village
Linear village
In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....
of Holderbank and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Kernenberg (also known as Heilanstalt).
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
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 an Elder-tree proper issuant from a circular Bench Argent. This is an example of canting
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
with the elder tree and the bench symbolizing the name of the municipality."
Demographics
Holderbank has a population of , 24.5% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 4.4%. Most of the population speaks German (83.7%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 5.1%) and Italian being third ( 5.0%).The age distribution, , in Holderbank is; 90 children or 10.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 77 teenagers or 8.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 101 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 122 people or 14.1% are between 30 and 39, 148 people or 17.1% are between 40 and 49, and 147 people or 17.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 97 people or 11.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 49 people or 5.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 30 people or 3.5% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 3 people or 0.3% who are 90 and older.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.55 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 59.4% 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 22 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 176 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 115 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 320 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. there were 156 single family homes (or 38.1% of the total) out of a total of 409 homes and apartments. There were a total of 8 empty apartments for a 2.0% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.2 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 58.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(11.2%), 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....
(10.4%) and 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...
(5.1%).
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1764 | 155 |
| 1850 | 281 |
| 1900 | 303 |
| 1950 | 622 |
| 2000 | 804 |
Economy
, Holderbank had an unemployment rate of 3.38%. , there were 14 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 72 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 12 businesses in this sector. 602 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 28 businesses in this sector.there were 411 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 324 or about 78.8% of the residents worked outside Holderbank while 473 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 560 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 7.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 59% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 231 or 28.7% were Roman Catholic, while 388 or 48.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss 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...
.
Education
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Holderbank about 63.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
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 49 students attending primary school in the municipality.