Map - Klingnau

Klingnau is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.

Klingnau is first mentioned in 1239 as Chlingenowe. Ulrich of Klingen acquired land from the monastery of St. Blaise in 1239 to found the city. He and the abbot reached an agreement over which of the abbey's own peasants could move to the new town. The von Klingen family granted extensive lands around the city to the Knights Hospitaller between 1251 and 1268. The knights owned so much property that in 1268 they moved their order house from Leuggern to Klingnau. They were given a separate gate in the city walls. Walther of Klingen sold the city and surroundings to his cousin the Bishop of Constance Eberhard von Waldburg in 1269. The new owner then appointed a bailiff in the town. Klingnau became the seat of an outer district that included Koblenz, Siglistorf, Mellstorf, Döttingen and Zurzach. In 1314, Klingnau was granted town privileges. Every year at midsummer the citizens were allowed to elect their lower and upper town council and a municipal court. In 1416, the Knights' order house moved back to Leuggern. Until 1800, an administrator managed the Knights' property. From 1415 until 1798, Klingnau was one of the three external districts of the county of Baden during the reign of the Swiss Confederation.

In the 17th century, some Jewish families occasionally lived in Klingnau, and operated the cattle trade for the town. The last bailiff, Joseph Haefelin, lost his post in 1798. As a replacement for the bailiffs, the citizens choose a five-member council. In March 1803, the council was removed by the municipality and replaced with a single Amtmann.

The growth of the municipal economy was repeatedly interrupted by disasters like the great fire of 1586 in which 84 houses were destroyed, or the plague of 1611 and 1635. The plague of 1611 killed 226 people, about one third of the population. The typhoid epidemic of 1813–14 killed about 3,000 people in and around the town, especially soldiers of the allies against Napoleon, who were passing through. They were buried in a mass grave at the Imperial Cemetery north of the town.

The course of the Aare was correct between 1885–1904 in order to combat the devastating floods. Between 1931 and 1935, the Klingnau power plant was built for Aarewerke AG, by damming the river. The lake (Klingnauer Stausee) has developed into a resting place for migratory birds and became a cantonal sanctuary in 1989.

At the time of city foundation, the area was part of the parish of Zurzach. In 1256 Walter of Klingen granted rights to tithes in the town to the kilchen ze Clingnow. In 1265 the collegiate church of Zurzach posted a permanent curate to Klingnau. In 1360 the parish of Klingnau included the city, the Chapel of Koblenz and the churches in Döttingen and Würenlingen. In this year the Bishop of Constance, Heinrich von Brandis, granted the parish church to the monastery Zurzach. In 1864 the selection of the parish priest went to the parish, and about two years later the rights and obligations of the congregation to the church at Zurzach were abolished. The Catholic parish church of St. Catherine was built in 1491 and was renovated in 1968–69. The Loreto Chapel on the Achenberg dates from 1660–62 while the Reformed church was built in 1935.

The construction of the castle, originally the seat of the Klingen family, was started in 1240. Until 1269 a manor house stood on the grounds. After 1331 the outer walls were added. In the second half of the 14th Century the Bishop of Constance was often a resident in the castle. He ordered further improvements and expansions. In the late 16th Century, the castle, which was the seat of the Governor from Constance, in such bad condition that the Confederates demanded a renovation from the bishop. In 1804 the castle went to the newly formed Canton of Aargau, who auctioned it off in 1817. As a result, it has been used by various industries, until the 20th Century when it was taken over by a foundation. In 1250 the provost of the monastery of St. Blaise moved his headquarters from Döttingen to Klingnau. The baroque buildings of the Provost's house, the third such structure in the same place, was built by Johann Caspar Bagnato in 1746–53. The building was sold in 1812. It now serves as a school.

East of the town, on the main road is the only monastery of the Hermits of Saint William in Switzerland. The monastery was founded in 1269 and was incorporated in 1725 into the monastery of St. Blaise.

The major sources of income for the inhabitants of the city were agriculture, handicrafts and viticulture. Already in the 13th and 14th Centuries the Klingnauer wine was sold in large quantities. In 1780 there were about 115 ha of vineyards recorded about 115 hectares of vineyards. The spread of phylloxera after 1900 led to a sharp decline, from which the wine industry did not recover until after 1930. The first industrial enterprises (raw silk production, weaving, straw plaiting and veneer factories) emerged around 1840. The construction of the railway line Turgi-Koblenz in 1859 gave the regional economic development further boosts and attracted a shoe factory (Bally Shoes), a cigar box factory and a baby carriage factory. From the turn of the century until the 1980s, most of the companies in the Swiss wood and furniture industry were in and around Klingnau. In 1975 there were 496 employees in 14 factories of the Swiss wood and furniture industry. By 1985 the number of employees had risen to 648 but there were only eight factories. While the largest companies remained, between 1960 and 1989, at least 20 medium and small companies went under. During that same time, many of the old wood and metal-working companies were replaced with high-tech and engineering companies. In 2000, the industrial sector still accounts for almost half of the jobs in the community.