Gränichen is a municipality in the district of Aarau of the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
thumb|Aerial view (1967)
Geography
thumb|left|The Church
The river Wyna flows north at first and heads northwest thereafter. The valley has an average width of about .
On both sides of the valley there are steep hills with tributary valleys and small high plateaus. The landscape is not dissimilar to that of the Tafeljura, even though - geographically and geologically speaking - Gränichen lies in the Midland of Switzerland.
The hills on the left side of the valley are (from north to south): Manzenberg ( ), Wällenen (559 m), Moosberg (550 m), Heidberg () and Pfendel (). These are foothills of the Schornig (), which marks the transition to the valley of the river Suhre. The hills on the right side of the valley are called Fuden (), Räckholderen (), Breitenberg () and Surberg (). In front of the Breitenberg is the Schulthess () which has almost the shape of an ellipsis. The Dossen () und the high plateau of the Liebegg are foothills of the Surberg.
Near the southern border, at an average distance of two kilometers, there are three hamlets, which also belong to the municipality of Gränichen: Rütihof () on Moorbergs, Bleien () and Refental () between Breitenberg, Dossen and Surberg.
Gränichen has an area, , of . Of this area, 30.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 56.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.1%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). However, archaeological discoveries dating from the Neolithic, as well as the remains of a Celtic castle, show that the area around Gränichen has been settled for quite some time.
In the 12th century Gränichen belonged to the monastery of Engelberg and later came under the reign of the Habsburgs, who passed the government of the village to the Lords of the Castle of Liebegg. After 1415, Gränichen belonged to Bern.
The construction of the Wynentalbahn railway in 1904 promoted the settlement of local industries.
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thumb|140px|[[Schloss Liebegg]]
Die Gegend um das heutige Dorf war bereits während der Jungsteinzeit besiedelt. Auf der Burghalde, einem kleinen vorspringenden Hügel unmittelbar beim Dorfzentrum, befand sich eine Fluchtburg der Helvetier. An verschiedenen Stellen wurden Siedlungsreste der Römer entdeckt.
Die erste urkundliche Erwähnung von "Cranechon" erfolgte im Jahr 1184. Damals gehörte das Dorf dem Kloster Engelberg, als Lehen der Grafen von Lenzburg, später der Grafen von Kyburg. Die Grafen von Habsburg-Laufenburg (eine Seitenlinie der Habsburger) überliessen 1270 das Lehen den Herren von Liebegg, nach denen das Schloss Liebegg benannt ist. Ab 1306 besass die Hauptlinie der Habsburger die niedere und die hohe Gerichtsbarkeit.
1415 eroberten die Eidgenossen den Aargau; Gränichen gehörte nun zum Untertanengebiet der Stadt Bern, dem so genannten Berner Aargau. Das Dorf gehörte zum Amt Lenzburg und war der Sitz eines Untervogts sowie eines eigenen Gerichts. 1596 erwarb die Ortsbürgergemeinde von den Liebegger Schlossherren den grössten Teil des Waldes; heute ist sie die drittgrösste Waldbesitzerin des Kantons.
1798 marschierten die Franzosen in die Schweiz ein, entmachteten die "Gnädigen Herren" von Bern und riefen die Helvetische Republik aus. Gränichen gehörte nun zum Kanton Aargau. Die Gränicher Bauernhöfe waren im unterdurchschnittlich klein, das Dorf war eine typische Taunersiedlung. Aus diesem Grund hielt das vorindustrielle Gewerbe schon früh Einzug.
Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts war Gränichen nach Aarau und Zofingen die bevölkerungsreichste Gemeinde des Kantons Aargau. Die Wynentalbahn wurde am 6. März 1904 eröffnet. Dies ermöglichte die verstärkte Ansiedlung von Industrie. Gränichen wandelte sich mit der Zeit zu einer Agglomeratonsgemeinde von Aarau, seit 1900 ist die Einwohnerzahl um fast das Zweieinhalbfache angestiegen.
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Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per bend sinister Or and Azure a Bend counterchanged.
Points of interest
The castle of Liebegg resides on a hill close to the border to Teufenthal, about three kilometers south-south-east of the village center. The Castle, which dates from the 11th century, is nowadays used as a center for culture, meetings and congresses.
Near the village center one finds the "Chornhaus", which, built in 1695, looks very similar to a small castle, because of its tower. Until 1798 it served as a granary and was thereafter used by the municipal administration department for over a century. Since the new parish hall was completed in 1995 it contains a small village museum.
The Reformed Church was built from 1661 to 1663 on the site where the previous church had collapsed. It is one of the main works of Protestant church building in the canton of Aargau, and is listed as a heritage site of national significance.
The other heritage site of national significance in Gränichen is the Untervogthaus on Lochgasse.
Notable people
- Werner Arber, Nobel-prize winning microbiologist, was born in Gränichen in 1929
Population
Gränichen has a population (as of ) of . , 17.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.8%. Most of the population () speaks German (90.2%), with Italian being second most common ( 4.1%) and Albanian being third ( 1.5%). Of the rest, 1.1% spoke Serbo Croatian and 0.7% spoke Turkish.
The age distribution, , in Gränichen is; 580 children or 9.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 804 teenagers or 12.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 691 people or 10.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 774 people or 12.0% are between 30 and 39, 1,174 people or 18.2% are between 40 and 49, and 956 people or 14.8% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 674 people or 10.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 503 people or 7.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 251 people or 3.9% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 37 people or 0.6% who are 90 and older.
, there were 140 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 1,243 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 1,001 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.50 individuals.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 40.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.4%), the FDP (13.4%) and the Green Party (7.3%).
Religion
From the , 1,370 or 22.4% are Roman Catholic, while 3,619 or 59.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 21 individuals (or about 0.34% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, 4.3% were Moslem, 1.1% were Christian-Orthodox and 1.0% belonged to a different religion.
Transport
Gränichen lies on the connecting road from Aarau via Beromünster to Lucerne. The town is also connected to Seon in the Seetal valley. The local public rail service (AAR-Bahn), which goes from Aarau through the Wyna valley up to Menziken, has four stations: Töndler, Gränichen-Dorf, Oberdorf and Bleien. The rails of the public transport were right next to the main street, until they were rebuilt along the Wyna river in 1985.
Education
There are five kindergartens as well as three elementary schools. Furthermore, there is a center for secondary education covering Realschule, Sekundarschule and Bezirksschule levels. The closest gymnasium is in Aarau. Aside from the Castle of Liebegg, there is also an agricultural school.
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Gränichen about 72.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).