Lenzburg

History

A Neolithic grave field of the Cortaillod culture has been discovered on the Goffersberg (close to the Lenzburg Castle) dating from 4300 - 3500 BCE. Lenzburg transformed into the economic centre of the region in the second half of the 19th century. On 23 June 1874, Lenzburg was connected to the Aargauische Südbahn railway. On 6 September 1877 the Schweizerische Nationalbahn opened a line from Wettingen to Zofingen as part of a plan to connect Singen, Germany and Lake Geneva in competition with the established railway companies. The line went bankrupt in 1878 and was taken over by the Schweizerische Nordostbahn. The bankruptcy of the Nationalbahn brought Lenzburg to the brink of economic ruin, as the city itself was heavily involved in financing it. Paying back the city's debt took half a century. The castle changed hands several times in the 19th and 20th century. In 1860, it was bought by Frank Wedekind, a poet from Germany. In 1893, it was purchased by Americans and renovated. Finally, in 1956, it was bought by the canton and since been used to house a museum.

Geography

Lenzburg lies on the small river Aabach, at the northern edge of the Seetal. It lies 30 km west of Zürich. Lenzburg has an area, , of . Of this area, or 21.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 49.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 28.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.9% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.7%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 15.2% is used for growing crops and 6.0% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  16,292
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  12,296
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  9,916
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  9,616
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  7,151
• Small Heath

  Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  5,678
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  4,619
• Silver-washed Fritillary

  Argynnis paphia (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  4,343

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 — 2020-10-25
  5 km ESE of Ennenda, Switzerland