Aarburg

History

In Roman times a road went by Aarburg, connecting the Olten region with the rest of inner Switzerland. During the construction of a factory in the 20th century, a hoard of coins produced during the reign of Emperor Tetricus I was discovered. The coin hoard was probably buried during the Bagauden Invasions in 284 CE. When, precisely, the fortress of Aarburg was constructed on the rocky outcropping is unknown. The first time it was documented was in 1123 when it is mentioned as Areburc. At the time it was the property of the Grafen von Frohburg family. From this castle the Bailiwick of Aarburg was governed, what is today the western part of the county of Zofingen, though not the town of Zofingen itself. In 1299 the Frohburgs sold the castle and the Bailiwick of Aarburg to the Habsburg family. The settlement at the foot of the castle was clearly identified as a town in the year 1330. Archeological evidence has shown that the town was probably founded around the year 1312. Wedged between the cities of Olten and Zofingen, with only four kilometers between them, Aarburg could not develop commercially and remained a small town. The people of Aarburg lived mainly on the tariff revenues that commerce along the Gotthard Pass provided. A small harbor on the river Aare was constructed in 1361. The resulting river boat traffic was of great economic importance until the 16th and 17th centuries. After a short siege the town was captured by Bern on 14 April 1415. In 1416, the castle became the residence of the bailiff of the Bailiwick of Aarburg. Under control of Bern, the castle was expanded into a fortress in the 16th and 17th centuries, in order to protect the alliance between the Reformed cities of Bern and Zurich from attack by their Catholic neighbors. On 4 May 1798 the town…

Geography

Aarburg has an area, , of . Of this area, or 19.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 31.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 45.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 3.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.2% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 23.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 10.2%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.1% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.4%. Out of the forested land, 29.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 12.2% is used for growing crops and 4.8% is pastures, while 2.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Zofingen District, along the Aare where it forms the Aarewaage whirlpool. It lies at the foot of Aarburg hill and Aarburg Castle. It consists of the village of Aarburg and industrial sections from the 19th and 20th centuries, along the river.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  12,748
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  12,133
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  6,942
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  5,972
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  5,431
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  4,463
• Small Heath

  Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  4,124
• Dusky Large Blue

  Maculinea nausithous (Bergstrasser, 1779) · Insecta
  3,222

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 4.2 — 2024-06-04
  2 km NNW of Unteriberg, Switzerland
• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France