Hunzenschwil

History

Under the Romans, the area that would become Hunzenschwil was an extensive brickyard. The modern village of Hunzenschwil was first mentioned in 1101 as Hintziswil. In 1201, it was mentioned as Hunzeliswilre. In the 14th century, the Habsburgs had the high court rights over the village, and in 1415 these rights went to Bern. The low court right was held by various owners before 1412 when it went to the Habsburg appointed Vogt at Lenzburg. In 1433, the low court rights went to Bern, and then in 1550 Hunzenschwil joined with Niederlenz, Rupperswil and Staufen to form an independent lower court. Religiously, this area belongs to the parish of Suhr, but it has had its own church since 1960. Although the municipality is on the road between Bern and Zurich and at the junction that goes toward Zurzach, in the past it was dominated by agriculture. In the 18th and 19th centuries some textile processing (linen, cotton, silk ribbons) businesses entered the village. In 1877 a station of the Federal Railway was built. Until about 1940, there were a number of small businesses (including a wheelwright). Since then most of the jobs have been in the automotive and furniture industries or in storage and shipping. In 1950 the village began to expand rapidly. In 1965 an access road to the highway opened.

Geography

Hunzenschwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 34.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 24.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 41.1% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 15.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.5% of the area Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 22.7% is used for growing crops and 9.8% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The municipality is located in the Lenzburg district. Until the 1940s Hunzenschwil was a linear village, though it has expanded along other roads since then.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  14,032
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  9,084
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  7,909
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  6,492
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  6,181
• Small Heath

  Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  4,828
• bow-winged grasshopper

  Chorthippus biguttulus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,777
• Indian Balsam

  Impatiens glandulifera Royle · Magnoliopsida
  3,592

Most recent

• M 3.7 — 2026-04-26
  4 km N of Quarten, Switzerland
• 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 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France