Aarau, or the emergence of a capital

7 March 2024

The city of Aarau (Canton of Aargau) takes its name from the river Aare, the largest tributary of the Rhine. A few kilometres away, the Aare flows into the Rhine at the Swiss town of Koblenz, continuing its journey to Rotterdam.

The Aare and the hydropower plant near Aarau

Aarau is not just any town; it is the capital of the canton of Aargau. Neither the Celts nor the Romans, the Habsburgs nor the inhabitants of Aarau had this status in mind until 1798.

Due to its location on the Aare, this region was already inhabited in both Celtic and Roman times. The Counts of Kyburg founded the place around 1250. The castle, mill and old city walls and towers also date back to this time.

The medieval mill and castle

King Rudolf I of Habsburg (1218-1291) acquired the place in 1273 and granted it city rights in 1283. In 1415, however, Bern and Solothurn conquered much of Aargau (only the Fricktal remained Habsburg property until 1803). Aarau was then governed by Bern as Untertanengebiet (with relatively large autonomy).

Aarau was Habsburg territory until 1415. The Habsburg double eagle and the coat of arms of Bern can be seen everywhere in the city

During the Reformation, the citizens chose the Protestant faith with a small majority, and from 1531, the meeting (Tagsatzung) of the representatives of the Reformed cantons regularly took place in Aarau. However, Baden remained the main venue for the Tagsatzung of all (Catholic and Protestant) cantons, although religious (and other) divisions hampered its effectiveness.

Haus zum Schlossgarten

The French invasion of 1798 ended nearly four centuries of Bern rule in March. French revolutionary ideals also found an enthusiastic audience in Aarau, and on 12 April, the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803) imposed by the French occupiers was proclaimed from the city hall. The parliament of this unitary state sat in the town hall, and the government (the directorate) was in the Haus zum Schlossgarten.

Aarau then effectively became Switzerland’s first capital. This status was short-lived. The infrastructure was lacking, and from September 1798, Lucerne became the new capital of the Helvetic Republic, serving as the seat of parliament and the directorate.

However, the revolutionary ideals of 1798 soon gave way in Aarau too to the reality of French occupation and an unwanted unitary state. (Armed) Rebellions erupted throughout this republic, and Napoleon personally intervened in 1803. He dissolved the Helvetic Republic and, through the Acte de Médiation (Act of Mediation), restored the old confederation of cantons by creating six new cantons, including canton Aargau (including the Fricktal).

Regierungsgebaude

Aarau becomes the capital of the new canton. Like other cantonal capitals, which are effectively villages, for example, in the cantons of Schwyz, Glarus, Appenzell, Obwalden, and Nidwalden, Aarau is a micro-level metropolis, just as Basel, the capital of the canton Basel-Stadt, is a cosmopolitan, multicultural metropolis with the rhythm of life of a village.

(Source and further information: A. Lüthi, Aarau, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, 25.11.2016; Gemeinde Aarau)

Impressions from Aarau