page_title: Brugg
section_title: Subject Territory of Bern
hierarchical_section_title: Brugg / History / Subject Territory of Bern
caption_attribution_description: Salzhaus Brugg Fotografiert durch Voyager, 28. Juni 2006 Brugg Salt House Photo taken by Voyager, 28 June 2006
context_page_description: Brugg is a Swiss municipality and a town in the canton of Aargau and is the seat of the district of the same name. The town is located at the confluence of the Aare, Reuss, and Limmat, with the Aare flowing through its medieval part. It is located approximately 16 kilometers from the cantonal capital of Aarau; 28 kilometers from Zürich; and about 45 kilometers from Basel.
  Brugg is the Swiss German term for bridge. This is an allusion to the purpose of the medieval town's establishment under the Habsburgs, as the town is located at the narrowest point on the Aare in the Swiss midlands. The Habsburgs’ oldest known residence is located in the neighborhood of Altenburg, which had previously been an independent community. Prior to their relocation to Austria, Brugg was the center of the Habsburgs' territory. Between 1415 and Napoleon’s invasion in 1798, Brugg was a subject territory of Bern. Since then it has belonged to the canton of Aargau.
  The town is the home of the Swiss Farmers’ Union and is the location of a campus of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. Brugg's Vindonissa museum is listed as a heritage site of national significance.
context_section_description: Brugg was granted the special status of “municipal town” (Munizipalstadt) in Bern. It was therefore not subject to another, intermediary sovereign, or Landvogtei, and possessed more autonomy than other comparable towns.
  At the head of Brugg's government at this time sat two mayors, called Schultheiss, each of whom served two-year, alternating terms as chair. Together with seven further individuals they made up the “Small City Council,” which undertook various administrative tasks. Below them stood the “Large Council,” which was composed of twelve members. It was expected to keep the Small Council in check. Both councils were selected from among the thirty-two-member “Kleinglocke” (literally "Small Bell"), members of which were named by the Small Council. This meant that unwanted candidates had no chance of assuming higher office, other than through the use of bribes. These councils were therefore exclusive, with a small number of influential members of the community sharing these lucrative posts among one another. Meanwhile, the disempowered citizenry possessed only the right to elect the town's priest and the town's open assembly, the “Maiding,” was purely symbolic.
  In January 1528, Bern decided to introduce reforms to religious institutions and, therewith, join the Reformation. Referendums were held in all towns and Landvogteien. The areas surrounding Brugg voted in favor of breaking with the Catholic Church, while the town itself voted by a majority of five to remain Catholic. Brugg was nonetheless isolated in this desire and ultimately caved in to Bern under massive political pressure.
  The town's school, in existence since at least 1396, was consequently converted into a state-administered Latin school. It served primarily as a preparatory school for students bound for the theological academy in the city of Bern. It was supported financially by the income of the now-disbanded Kloster Königsfelden. The school itself produced an above-average number of priests and scholars, which led many to label Brugg the “Prophet Town” (“Prophetenstadt”).
  Despite its subject status, the town repeatedly tried to expand its own influence into the surrounding area. It had, for instance, possessed the patronage of the church in Mönthal since the 13th century. In 1588 Johann Georg von Hallwyl, later Bishop of Basel, sold two-thirds of the parishes of Bözberg and Rein to the town, as well as one third of the lower jurisdiction (niedere Gerichtsbarkeit) in Villnachern. Brugg also acquired Trostburg in the Wynental from the Hallwyls in 1616. Bern, however, refused to tolerate this gradual expansion of power on the part of its subject territory and ultimately took possession of the titles itself.
  During an epidemic of the plague in 1541 around 180 people died, a total of one fourth of the town's residents. By 1611 the population climbed to a peak of 930, reaching a level not seen in two hundred years. The last and severest of plague epidemics struck in September 1667 and lingered until January 1669, during which time 514, over 60 percent of the population, perished. An accident of note occurred on September 1, 1626, when a ship on its way to Zurzach capsized on the Aare. Over 100 people, included 47 from Brugg, drowned in the incident. It was only in 1840 that the town's population returned to that of 1611.
  Artisanry and craftsmanship were predominant trades at this point in Brugg's history. They catered primarily to the needs of the surrounding area and, along with the increasing expansion of transportation routes, to travelers. This was particularly so after the construction of a road over the Bözberg Pass between 1773 and 1779. No guilds of any political significance existed in town at this time. In the 18th century the salt trade grew in importance. The Salt House (Salzhaus), constructed in 1732, was one of the largest salt depots in the Swiss Confederation. It supplied not only Bernese Aargau, but the neighboring districts of the Freie Ämter (Free Bailiwicks) and County of Baden as well.
  After the beginning of the French Revolution, dem
caption: Salt House und Hofstatt Fountain
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