Magden (Swiss German: Magde) is a municipality in the district of Rheinfelden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.

It is located 3 km to the south of the Rheinfelden. Its Roman name was Magdinium, and it is the site of the ancient Magdalener spring which today serves as the water supply of the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden, which was recently acquired by Carlsberg.

History

The first evidence of a human settlement is a Paleolithic/Neolithic village. A few, scattered Roman era items were discovered in Magden. Two empty Alamanni cist graves were also found near the village. The modern municipality of Magden is first mentioned in 804 as in curte Magaduninse.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.9%. Out of the forested land, 40.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.3% is used for growing crops and 23.1% is pastures, while 5.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The two grapevines commemorate the finding of the remains of old Roman vineyards in the village.

Demographics

Magden has a population () of . , 12.5% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 18.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (92.9%), with French being second most common ( 1.5%) and English being third ( 1.4%).

The age distribution, , in Magden is; 367 children or 10.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 473 teenagers or 13.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 314 people or 8.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 421 people or 12.0% are between 30 and 39, 642 people or 18.3% are between 40 and 49, and 473 people or 13.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 453 people or 12.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 258 people or 7.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 97 people or 2.8% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 15 people or 0.4% 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 as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 71.8% 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 68 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 494 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 588 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. There were a total of 7 empty apartments for a 0.5% vacancy rate.

Heritage sites of national significance

The Paleolithic/Neolithic settlement at Strick is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Economy

, Magden had an unemployment rate of 1.39%. , there were 78 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 23 businesses involved in this sector. 190 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 34 businesses in this sector. 318 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 72 businesses in this sector. Of the working population, 19.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 54.1% used a private car.

Education

In Magden about 85.4% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

References

  • www.magden.ch Official site