Kirchleerau
Kirchleerau is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History. Kirchleerau is first mentioned in 1248 as "Lerowe". Finds of bricks and wall remains indicate that the area was already inhabited by the Romans. The first documented mention of Lerowe is for the year 1248, the name Kylchleren appeared for the first time in 1306 in the Habsburg Urbar. The name comes from the Old High German lewirouwo, which means "by the land of the graves near the water". In the Middle Ages the village was in the domain of the Counts  of Lenzburg, later the Counts of Kyburg. After these had died out, the Habsburgs took over the sovereignty and the blood jurisdiction in 1273. In 1415 the Confederates conquered Aargau. Kirchleerau now belonged to the subject territory of the city of Bern, the so-called Bernese Aargau. From the 15th century on, the village was part of the Lordship of Rued, a judicial district within the Office of Lenzburg. The owners of the lordship exercised the lower jurisdiction and were the most important landowners. After various noble families from the surrounding area had been in possession of the manor, it  was acquired in 1520 by the Lords of May, who originally came from Italy. Their residence was Rued Castle in the neighboring Rued Valley. In 1528 the Bernese introduced the Reformation. In March 1798, the French invaded Switzerland, deprived the "Gracious Lords" of Bern of their power and proclaimed the Helvetic Republic. Since then Kirchleerau has belonged to the canton of Aargau. It was not until 1834 that the May sold their last remaining rights to the canton. Until well into the 20th century, agriculture shaped the life of the community. Since the beginning of the 1960s, the population has  increased by more than half due to increased building activity. Geography. Kirchleerau has an area, , of . Of this area, or 41.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 50.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 8.5% is settled (buildings or roads). Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 21.6% is used for growing crops and 18.1% is pastures, while 1.8% is used for orchards or vine crops . The municipality is located in the Zofingen district, in an eastern side valley to the Suhre river valley ("Suhrental"). Coat of arms. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is "Azure a Church Argent windowed and doored Sable and roofed Gules on a Base Vert." The church () makes this an example of canting. Demographics. Kirchleerau has a population () of . , 6.4% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 1.1%. Most of the population () speaks German (97.3%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 1.0%) and French being  third ( 0.3%). The age distribution, , in Kirchleerau is; 64 children or 8.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 74 teenagers or 9.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 82 people or 11.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 117 people or 15.7% are between 30 and 39, 130 people or 17.4% are between 40 and 49, and 114 people or 15.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 85 people or 11.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 49 people or  6.6% are between 70 and 79, there are 28 people or 3.8% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 3 people or 0.4% who are 90 and older. , there were 17 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 121 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 146 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 296 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. there were 163 single family homes (or 51.4% of the total) out of a total of 317 homes  and apartments. There were a total of 0 empty apartments for a 0.0% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4 new units per 1000 residents. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 49.07% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (12.87%), the SP (12.75%) and the CVP (7.18%). In the federal election, a total of 283 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 47.9%. The historical population is given in the following table: Economy. , Kirchleerau had an unemployment rate of 1.61%. , there were  67 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 20 businesses involved in this sector. 94 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 9 businesses in this sector. 442 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 21 businesses in this sector. Religion. From the , 126 or 18.0% were Roman Catholic, while 492 or 70.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Education. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Kirchleerau about 76.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or  a "Fachhochschule"). Of the school age population (), there are 59 students attending primary school in the municipality.