Muri

Muri, formerly known as Muri , is a municipality in southeastern Swiss Canton Aargau and is the capital of same district. The present municipality of Muri was created in 1816 from the merging of the four municipalities Langdorf, Egg, Hasli and Wey.

Geography

The community consists of three districts. Immediately west of the monastery lies the community of Wey, slightly more than a kilometer south of the district Langdorf (formerly known as Dorfmuri). East of the railway line, at a distance of half a kilometer of the village is Egg. There are also several hamlets: Hasli is located one kilometer north of the monastery, Vili one kilometer in a northwesterly direction, and Langenmatt one kilometer to the west. Türmelen, a hamlet, which lies directly on the eastern boundary of the municipality, is now merged with Egg. There are also numerous isolated farms scattered throughout the area.

Muri is located in the upper end of the Bünztal at the foot of Lindenberg, Covering all districts, with one exception lie in a plane at an altitude from 450 to 480 meters (1,480 to 1,570 ft). In the west the slope rises evenly, where Langenmatt lies at an altitude of 570 meters (1,870 ft). Toward the south, the terrain is undulating and is divided by two river valleys. The Sörikerbach flows through Wey, and the Rüeribach by Langdorf and Egg.

Muri has an area, as of 2009, of 12.34 square km. Of this area, 7.17 km2 (2.77 sq mi) or 58.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.57 km2 (0.99 sq mi) or 20.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.49 km2 (0.96 sq mi) or 20.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 11.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.4%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 19.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 39.5% is used for growing crops and 16.1% is pastures, while 2.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.

The highest point is located at 635 meters (2,083 ft) above the ravine on Sörikerbach, the lowest point lies at 432 meters (1,417 ft) in Büelmoos on the eastern boundary of the municipality.

The neighboring communities are Aristau in the Northeast, Merenschwand in the east, Benzenschwil in the southeast, Geltwil in the southwest, Buttwil in the west and Boswil in the northwest.

History

Several findings suggest that colonisation of the area happened during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Close to Hallstatt Era is one Mound, which was discovered in 1929 near the southern boundary of the municipality. From the 1st century AD, smaller Roman settlements existed, but these were destroyed by the Alamanni by 260. This allowed them to settle here in the 8th or 9th century, calling their settlement Murah, from the Latin murus after the many Roman low walls they found. It was first mentioned in 924 as Murahe.

The history is closely linked to that of the Benedictines of Muri. Radbot, Count of Habsburg and Ida of Lorraine founded the Muri Abbey in 1027. With the backing of the Habsburgs, it became more powerful over time, and acquired an extensive estate in the Swiss plateau before rising to become an important spiritual and cultural center. In the 12th century, today's municipality was split into the vicus superior and the vicus inferior, which included the monastery domain. From parts of that domain arose around 1082 the other settlements and isolated farms. Egg, Hasli, and Wey evolved over time into independent communities.

The parish included not only the present day Muri, but also Aristau, Buttwil and Geltwil. The monastery also encompassed parts of Beinwil and Besenbüren. The provincial government and the right of high justice were held by the counts of Habsburg. A large minority of the population of Muri became Protestants in 1529, but were re-Catholicised after the Second War of Kappel (1531). The monastery became increasingly important after 1701, and was for many years the wealthiest in Switzerland.

Religious riots broke out in early January 1841 in the Freiamt, directed against the state government. The conflict, which was brought under control within a few days, served the district as an excuse on 13 January to decide that the monastery of Muri would be stripped of its power; the last monks left the monastery on 27 January. This hit the town by surprise, since they now had to take on tasks which had previously been settled by the monastery, such as education. The buildings were subsequently put to a variety of purposes.

In March 1798, Napoleon I abolished the Old Swiss Confederacy and proclaimed the Helvetic Republic. Muri was the administrative seat of a district of the canton of Baden. The current municipality of Muri was created in 1816 after the dissolution of the district municipality and the merger of Egg, Hasli, Langdorf, and Wey; the community of Hasli had meanwhile been driven to bankruptcy. On 21 August 1889, part of the monastery burned down, and the complete restoration of the east wing was completed only in 1989. Since 1960, a small group of monks have been living in a wing of the monastery. The remaining rooms now belong to the county and municipality, as well as some classrooms.

On 1 June 1875, the town became connected to the railway network when the Wohlen–Muri section of the Aargau Southern Railway was opened. The continuation after Red Cross (with connection to the Gotthardbahn) was delayed for financial reasons and only took place on 1 December 1881. For a while there was much tourism because from 1868 to 1917 there was a spa and bathhouse.

Heritage sites of national significance

The former Benedictine Muri Abbey, the Leontiusbrunnen (fountain) at Leontiusplatz, the so-called Klosterscheune near the Abbey at Klosterhof 197 and the granary at Hasli 233 are all listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The entire hamlet of Hasli is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Muri Abbey

The dominant landmark of Muri is the Muri Abbey. This is a nearly 1000-year-old Benedictine. Its centerpiece is an in Baroque constructed, octagonal central building (Octagon) from the 17th Century. The central building is enclosed by one from the 11th -Century Romance Church. Even elements of the Gothic Architectural style are represented. The church is rich with Frescoes and carvings.

In the Cloister with the valuable Glass painting cycle of the 16th Century is the Habsburg crypt. It contains the hearts of the last rulers of the Austrian Monarchy Emperor Charles I and Empress Zita of Bourbon-Parma and the hearts of other members of the Habsburg family. The bodies of the couple's sons Randolph and Felix are buried here.

The monastery museum houses valuable treasures of the monastery. There is also a permanent exhibition of the painter Caspar Wolf. The monastery church owns five organs.

Other Structures

The parish church of St. Goar is from the period around 1030th to about 1335 and parts have survived from this period, however, only the foundations of the church tower remain. In 1583, the tower was rebuilt. From 1640 to 1644, it was rebuilt in the baroque style from scratch. In 1677 the choir altar was taken away, and was replaced 1837/38. The last major renovation took place 1987/88. North of the parish is the parish house which was built in 1747.

Halfway between the parish and monastery church is the courthouse. It was built in 1660 and was initially commissioned by the monastery as a guesthouse. Today it is used by the district court.

Crest

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Wall Argent embattled or "In red double-breasted, black Grooved white wall with three towers." In 1930, they adopted the arms of the former monastery, which the abbot John Feierabend imposed in 1508. The wall was first three rows, but since 1972 it has only two rows. The District crest, however, remained unchanged.

Religion

From the 2000 census, 4,172 or 63.7% were Roman Catholic, while 1,088 or 16.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 8 individuals (or about 0.12% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith. In the same census, 6.9% of the population was Muslim and 1.0% belonged to other faiths.