Aesch (sometimes written as Aesch BL in order to distinguish it from other "Aesches"; Swiss German: Ääsch) is a town and a municipality in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland. Almost all of its area is located on the left, western bank of the Birs and is a suburb of Basel.

The Neolithic gravesite in the Gmeiniwald is listed as a heritage site of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance (1995), p. 65.

History Aesch is first mentioned in 1252 as Esch.

Prehistoric Aesch The area around Aesch was inhabited as far back as the Upper Paleolithic, as the graves at Gmeiniwald show. The Dolmen graves of the A-Schwörstadt type date from about the 3rd millennium BC. Gmeiniwald was discovered in 1907, and excavated in 1907 and again in 1909. A central, rectangular grave chamber of was found under a shallow mound of about in diameter. The grave contained the skeletal remains of 47 individuals, including 14 children, as well as evidence of cremation burials. The grave also contained arrows, spears and flint knives, animal tooth pendants, a mallet made of red sandstone and quartzite, and pottery fragments.

In 1977, along the Fluhstrasse, the remains of a middle Bronze Age settlement were discovered. The settlement dates from 1500 to 1300 BC and includes a fireplace and stone settings, the foundation of a house, and pot shards. In Känelacker in 1923, a shop used for casting bronze from about 1300 BC was discovered. The site included copper cake and bronze fragments, including two medium-sized winged axes and various partially decorated plates and sickles. Late Bronze Age artifacts and pottery from 1300 to 800 BC were found at the old tram depot on the main road and along the road to Lerch.

Roman era and middle ages

During the Roman era there were three Roman estates from the 1st-4th Century, and traces of their viticulture have been found near the modern town of Aesch. During the Early Middle Ages, cemeteries were located in Steinacker (7th Century) and in Saalbünten (now part of the church, probably from the 8th-10th Centuries). These finds cast doubt on the traditional idea that Aesch grew out of the 12th Century church farm that belonged to the church of Pfeffingen. Frohberg Castle was first mentioned in 1292, but by 1356 was in decline.

Early modern era This area was part of the bishop's bailiwick of Pfeffingen from the 13th Century until 1519, when it was inherited by the Count of Thierstein. It was owned by that family until 1792. During that time, it was administered by the landvogt of Pfeffingen. Between 1583 and 1792, the landvogt's office was held by the Blarer family. In 1566, the bishop built a brick barn and in 1611 the bishop had a new wine-press built.

In 1702, Aesch became the bailiwick seat, and the bailiff moved into Blarer Castle, which had been built in 1604–07. After the construction of the Angensteiner bridge, Aesch became a customs station. The Customs House at the "Mugge" was built in 1715.

The inhabitants of this area were part of the parish of Pfeffingen. In 1672 the Blarer family donated a chapel (dedicated to St. Joseph) to the village. In the Late Middle Ages there was a nunnery along the Klus, however there are scant written records or archeological evidence of the building. The residents of Aesch, like the rest of the bailiwick of Pfeffingen, did not hold citizens' rights in the city of Basel. However, in 1529 they converted to the Protestant Reformation along with Basel. Between 1582 and 1588, the village stood in the center of the last successful Counter-Reformation efforts of the Bishop of Basel, Jacob Christoph Blarer of Wartensee. Due to its border location, Aesch suffered repeated looting and pillaging, during the Thirty Years War (1618–48) and other religious conflicts of this era. Due to the repeated attacks, very few buildings from before the 17th Century survived.

The farming village was dominated by vineyards, due to fertile soils, mild climate and sunny slopes. In 1745 there were six coopers (barrel makers) living in the village and the village farmers and rural poor were hired by the village farmers.

After the short-lived Rauracian Republic (1792–93), the village was under French rule from 1793 to 1815. Between 1793 and 1800 it was part of the Département of Mont-Terrible and then in 1800-1815 it was part of the Département of Haut-Rhin. As part of Haut-Rhin, it became a separate parish in 1803. The parish church of St. Joseph was built in 1819-20 and rebuilt in 1938–39. In 1815, the entire Birseck region, including Aesch, was awarded to the Canton of Basel. During the revolutions of 1830, revolutionary political leaders, including Anton von Blarer, rose to prominence in Aesch. In late 1830, a liberty pole with the slogan "Freedom or death" was erected in Aesch.

Modern Aesch

Until the 20th Century Aesch retained its predominantly agricultural character even though some companies moved in. These companies included the Stoecklin rope factory (1865) and the Vogel fabricated metal products factory (1876). The number of acres under cultivation as vineyards dropped sharply during the late 19th Century. In 1846 there were , while in 1906 it had dropped to . The local farmers fought back with phylloxera eradication and a wine cooperative, so that Aesch now has the largest proportion of vineyards in Basel-Country. In 1985 there were of vineyards under cultivation.

Despite the accessibility of the Jura Bahn railway from Basel to Delémont (built in 1875) and the tram line Basel-Aesch (in 1907), very few industrial and commercial companies moved into Aesch until after World War II. In the post-war years, companies in the metal processing, mechanical engineering and pharmaceutical industry settled in the new industrial zones. The correction of the river Birs in 1970 opened up further industrial land. The number of farms decreased from 88 (1929) to 21 (1980) to 16 (1999). Strong population growth has led to brisk construction activity, including the entirely new settlement of Neu-Aesch which was built in 1987. In 1990, 54% of the jobs were in the services sector, and 74% of workers were commuters. In 1851, Blarer Castle was bought by the municipality and converted into a school house. It was auctioned off and renovated in 1959 into a modern office building.

Geography

Aesch has an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 16.4% is forested. Of the remainder, or 36.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data accessed 25 March 2010

Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 5.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 18.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.1% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.8%. Of the forested land, 14.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 31.4% is used for growing crops and 8.7% is pastures, while 6.9% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, almost exclusively on the left bank of the Birs. Today, it is part of the agglomeration of Basel. It consists of the linear village of Aesch along the road between Birseck and the Laufen valley.

Coat of arms The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent, a Spear-point Sable bendwise, in chef sinister a Mullet (of Six) Gules.Flags of the World.com accessed 20 February 2011

Demographics Aesch has a population () of . , 22.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 0.8%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 20 February 2011

Most of the population () speaks German (8,258 or 84.8%), with Italian language second (540 or 5.5%), and French third (139 or 1.4%). There are 9 people who speak Romansh.

, the gender distribution of the population was 49.4% male and 50.6% female. The population was composed of 7,863 Swiss citizens (76.8% of the population), and 2,372 non-Swiss residents (23.2%). Of the population in the municipality 2,303 or about 23.7% were born in Aesch and lived there in 2000. There were 1,615 or 16.6% who were born in the same canton, while 3,522 or 36.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,036 or 20.9% were born outside of Switzerland.

In there were 55 live births to Swiss citizens and 23 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in the same time span there were 80 deaths of Swiss citizens and 10 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 25 while the foreign population increased by 13. There were 4 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 43 non-Swiss men and 33 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 27 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 62 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.9%.

The age distribution, , in Aesch is; 668 or 6.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old (children), and 1,428 or 14.0% are between 7 and 19 (teenagers). Of the adult population, 1,207 people or 11.8% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,320 people or 12.9% are between 30 and 39, 1,722 people or 16.8% are between 40 and 49, and 2,144 people or 20.9% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 1,319 people or 12.9% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 427 people or 4.2% who are over 80.Canton of Basel-Land Statistics, Wohnbevölkerung nach Nationalität und Konfession per 30. September 2010 accessed 16 February 2011

, there were 3,831 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 4,953 married individuals, 441 widows or widowers and 510 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 accessed 2 February 2011

, there were 4,079 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 1,188 households that consist of only one person and 198 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 4,148 households that answered this question, 28.6% were households made up of just one person and 25 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 1,245 married couples without children, 1,296 married couples with children. There were 266 single parents with a child or children. There were 59 households that were made up unrelated people and 69 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.

there were 1,291 single-family homes (or 68.3% of the total) out of a total of 1,891 inhabited buildings. There were 360 multi-family buildings (19.0%), along with 155 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.2%) and 85 other-use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.5%). Of the single-family homes, 71 were built before 1919, while 87 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single-family homes (313) were built between 1961 and 1970.Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen accessed 28 January 2011