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AARGAU (Fr. Argovie)

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 3 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AARGAU (Fr. Argovie) , one of the more northerly Swiss cantons, comprising the See also:lower course of the See also:river See also:Aar (q.v.), whence its name. Its See also:total See also:area is 541'9 sq. m., of which 517'9 sq. m. are classed as " productive " (forests covering 172 sq. m. and vineyards 8.2 sq. m.). It is one of the least mountainous Swiss cantons, forming See also:part of a See also:great table-See also:land, to the See also:north of the See also:Alps and the See also:east of the See also:Jura, above which rise See also:low hills. The See also:surface of the See also:country is beautifully diversified, undulating tracts and well-wooded hills alternating with fertile valleys watered mainly by the Aar and its tributaries. It contains the famous hot See also:sulphur springs of See also:Baden (q.v.) and Schinznach, while at Rheinfelden there are very extensive saline springs. Just below Brugg the See also:Reuss and the Limmat join the Aar, while around Brugg are the ruined See also:castle cf See also:Habsburg, the old See also:convent of Konigsfelden (with See also:fine painted See also:medieval See also:glass) and the remains of the See also:Roman See also:settlement of Vindonissa [Windisch]. The total See also:population in 1900 was 206,498, almost exclusively See also:German-speaking, but numbering 114,176 Protestants to 91,039 Romanists and 990 See also:Jews. The See also:capital of the See also:canton is Aarau (q.v.), while other important towns are Baden (q.v.), Zofingen (4591 inhabitants), See also:Reinach (3668 inhabitants), Rheinfelden (3349 inhabitants), Wohlen (3274 inhabitants), and Lenzburg (2588 inhabitants). Aargau is an industrious and prosperous canton, See also:straw-plaiting, See also:tobacco-growing, See also:silk-ribbon See also:weaving, and See also:salmon-fishing in the See also:Rhine being among the See also:chief See also:industries. As this region was, up to 1415, the centre of the Habsburg See also:power, we find here many See also:historical old castles (e.g. Habsburg, Lenzburg, Wildegg), and former monasteries (e.g.

Wettingen, See also:

Muri), founded by that See also:family, but suppressed in 1841, this See also:act of violence being one of the See also:main causes of the See also:civil See also:war called the " Sonderbund War," in 1847 in See also:Switzerland. The cantonal constitution See also:dates mainly from 1885, but since 1904 the See also:election of the executive See also:council of five members is made by a See also:direct See also:vote of the See also:people. The legislature consists of members elected in the proportion of one to every 1 See also:loo inhabitants. The " obligatory See also:referendum " exists in the See also:case of all See also:laws, while 5000 citizens have the right of " initiative " in proposing bills or alterations in the cantonal constitution. The canton sends ro members to the federal Nationalrat, being one for every 20,000, while the two Stdnderdte are (since 1904) elected by a direct vote of the people. The canton is divided into eleven administrative districts, and contains 241 communes. In 1415 the Aargau region was taken from the Habsburgs by the Swiss Confederates. See also:Bern kept the See also:south-See also:west portion (Zofingen, Aarburg, Aarau, Lenzburg, and Brugg), but some districts, named the Frew Amter or " See also:free bailiwicks " (Mellingen, Muri, Villmeren, and Bremgarten), with the See also:county of Baden, were ruled as " subject lands" by all or certain of the Confederates. In 1798 the Bernese See also:bit became the canton of Aargau of the Helvetic See also:Republic, the See also:remainder forming the canton of Baden. In 1803, the two halves (plus the Frick glen, ceded in 1802 by See also:Austria to the Helvetic Republic) were See also:united under the name of Kanton Aargau, which was then admitted a full member of the reconstituted See also:Confederation. See also Argovia (published by the Cantonal Historical Society), Aarau, from 186o; F. X.

Bronner, Der See also:

Kenton Aargau, 2 vols., St See also:Gall and Bern, 1844; H. See also:Lehmann, See also:Die argauische Strohindustrie, Aarau, 1896; W. Merz, Die mittelalt. Burganlagen and Wehrbauten d. See also:Kant. Argau (fine illustrated See also:work on castles), Aarau, 2 vols., 1904-1906; W. Merz and F. E. Welti, Die Rechtsquellen d. Kant. Argau, 3 vols., Aarau, 1898-1905; J. See also:Muller, Der Aargau, 2 vols., See also:Zurich, 187o; E.

L. Rochholz, Aargauer Weisthumer, Aarau, 1877; E. See also:

Zschokke, Geschichte See also:des Aargaus, Aarau, 1903. (W. A. B.

End of Article: AARGAU (Fr. Argovie)

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