County of Baden The County of Baden was a condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy and is now part of the Swiss Canton of Aargau . The county was established in 1415 after the Swiss conquest of Aargau and was ruled as a shared condominium until 1798 when it became part of the short lived Canton of Baden History . The land that became the County of Baden was originally ruled by the Counts of Lenzburg . Once that family ' s main line died out , it came under the Kyburgs and then in 1264 the Habsburgs . The exact territories in the county changed often , but originally included the western part of the Zürichgau and parts of the territory between the Rhine , Aare and Reuss rivers . In the 14th Century the territory of Baden became a triangle between the Limmat and Reuss rivers , though it was later divided further . As part of the Habsburg bailiwick of Aargau , it was managed by a bailiff , who had his seat in the town of Baden . On 16 November 1414 , Emperor Sigismund called the Council of Constance to settle the Western Schism between the three Popes ( Benedict XIII , Gregory XII , and John XXIII ) all of whom claimed legitimacy . Frederick IV of Habsburg sided with John XXIII . When John XXIII was declared an antipope , he fled the city with Frederick ' s help . The Emperor then declared the Habsburg lands forfeit and ordered the neighboring countries to conquer those lands for the Emperor . The city - state of Bern had already pledged their support of the Emperor against the Habsburgs in 1414 , and so they were ready to invade . The rest of the Confederation quickly followed . The territory was quickly conquered in 1415 by the Confederation . Under Habsburg rule Aargau was divided into multiple sections ( ) , which were maintained under the Confederation . Bern , Lucerne and Zurich were each given a portion of the conquered region to administer . The Freie Ämter and the " Amt " of Baden were collectively administered as subject territories by the rest of the Confederation . Under the Confederation , the " Amt " of Baden became the County of Baden . The County included the former Ämter of Baden and Siggenthal , the Bishop of Constance ' s vogt ei of Klingnau , Zurzach and Kaiserstuhl as well as the parish of Leuggern on the left side of the Aare . Initially ownership of the County was shared between the seven cantons which had participated in the invasion . Starting in 1443 this was expanded into all Eight Cantons or " Acht Orte " . It was divided into eight inner ( Rohrdorf , Birmenstorf , Gebenstorf , Dietikon , Wettingen , Siggenthal , Ehrendingen , Leuggern ) and three outer districts ( Klingnau , Zurzach , Kaiserstuhl ) , which included the parishes of Kadelburg , Lienheim and Hohentengen on the right bank of the Rhine . The Confederates retained much of the Habsburg legal structure , which caused a number of problems . The local nobility had the right to hold the low court in only about one fifth of the territory . There were over 30 different nobles who had the right to hold courts scattered around the surrounding lands . All these overlapping jurisdictions caused numerous conflicts , but gradually the Confederation was able to acquire these rights in the County . The cities of Baden , Bremgarten and Mellingen became the administrative centers and held the high courts . Together with the courts , the three administrative centers had considerable local autonomy , but were ruled by a governor who was appointed by the " Acht Orte " every two years . After the Protestant victory at the Second Battle of Villmergen , the administration of the County changed slightly . Instead of the " Acht Orte " appointing a bailiff together , Zurich and Bern each appointed the governor for 7 out of 16 years while Glarus appointed him for the remaining 2 years . The governor lived in the " Landvogteischloss " ( Governor ' s Castle ) in Baden , which was expanded in 1486 - 90 . The governor had his own lower court and he was the appellate court for the local lords ' courts . He appointed some of the local administrators and the high court judges at Baden . The governor cast the deciding vote in the event of the tie in the high court . Due to the limited jurisdiction and the short , two year appointment , the governor ' s power was limited . The local courts and village mayors had quite a bit of autonomy . The governor ' s income came from a death tax ( converted in 1666 into an annual tax ) , a tax on people leaving the County , a tolerance tax on the Jews and customs fees . However , customs fees brought in so little that in the 17th century , the right to collect duties was auctioned off to the highest bidder . The County was the only federal condominium in the 17th century where Jews were tolerated . In 1774 , they were restricted to just two towns , Endingen and Lengnau . While the rural upper class tried several times to finally expel the Jews , the financial interests of the authorities prevented this . The Jews were directly subordinate to the governor starting in 1696 when they were forced to buy a protecting and shielding letter every 16 years from the governor . The region was rarely profitable and being appointed a governor usually only resulted in modest wealth . Until the 18th Century , the vast majority of residents in the County lived from agriculture . They mostly grew grain , but in the Limmat , Aare and Surb valleys there was some viticulture . Most of the County ' s market towns held only local markets , which , however , provided a solid income source for the increasing degree indebted County . The chaotic legal structure and fragmented land ownership combined with a tradition of dividing the land among all the heirs in an inheritance prevented any large scale reforms . The governor tried in the 18th century to reform and standardize laws and ownership across the County , but with limited success . With an ever changing administration , the County lacked a coherent long - term economic policy or support for reforms . By the end of the 18th century there were no factories or mills and only a few small cottage industries along the border with Zurich . Road construction first became a priority after 1750 , when Zurich and Bern began appointing a governor for seven years . During the Protestant Reformation , some of the municipalities converted to the new faith . However , starting in 1531 , some of the old parishes were converted back to the old faith . The governors were appointed from both Catholic and Protestant cantons and since they changed every two years , neither faith gained a majority in the County . The towns of Tegerfelden and Zurzach had a large Reformed majority , while many other towns had a strong minority . The Reformed parishes were under the authority of the ecclesiastical court in Zurich , except for Birmenstorf and Gebenstorf which were under the Bernese court . The Jews of the " Surbtal " formed a Beth din or rabbinical court with Tiengen . In the 18th century , they built two large synagogues . The County of Baden was dissolved after the 1798 French invasion . On 19 March 1798 , the governments of Zurich and Bern agreed to the creation of the short lived Canton of Baden in the Helvetic Republic . With the Act of Mediation in 1803 , the Canton of Baden was dissolved . Portions of the lands of the former County of Baden now became the District of Baden in the newly created Canton of Aargau . The District gained the municipalities of Würenlingen , Bellikon , Künten , Remetschwil , Stetten , Mellingen , Wohlenschwil and Mägenwil but had to give up Hüttikon , Oetwil an der Limmat , Dietikon and Schlieren to the Canton of Zurich . After World War II , this formerly agrarian region saw striking growth and became the district with the largest and densest population in the Canton ( 110 , 000 in 1990 , 715 persons per km2 ) . References .