Oeschgen

Oeschgen
Coat of arms
Oeschgen Show map of Switzerland Oeschgen Show map of Canton of Aargau
Location of Oeschgen
Coordinates: 47°31′N 8°1′E / 47.517°N 8.017°E / 47.517; 8.017Coordinates: 47°31′N 8°1′E / 47.517°N 8.017°E / 47.517; 8.017
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Aargau
District	Laufenburg
Area
• Total	4.38 km2 (1.69 sq mi)
Elevation	342 m (1,122 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	944
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Postal code	5072
SFOS number	4175
Surrounded by	Eiken, Frick, Kaisten
Website	www.oeschgen.ch SFSO statistics

Oeschgen is a municipality in the district of Laufenburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.

The earliest traces of human settlement include several individual Stone Age items, and evidence of Bronze Age and Roman era settlements. Modern Oeschgen is first mentioned in 1234 as Escecon. In 1242 it was mentioned as Eschincon.

The village was first owned by the Lords of Eschkon from the 13th to 15th centuries. They were vassals of Rheinfelden and occasionally the Habsburgs. From the mid-14th century until 1797, Oeschgen was part of the Austrian-Habsburg District of Laufenburg. In 1803 it was part of the Canton of Fricktal when it joined the new Canton of Aargau. The rights to low justice were held by the Lords of Grünenberg, then from 1475 until 1797 by the Lords of Schönau. In 1597-98 the Lords of Schönau built a manor house in the village. This manor later became the municipal administration building and was renovated between 1971-75. In the Second World War an internment camp for Polish soldiers was built near the village.

The Lords of Schönau held the patronage right of the church of St. Cosmas and St. Damian. The church was probably from the late 12th century and a new building was built in 1912.

Until the 19th century the major sources of income were viticulture and grain. By the start of the 21st century Oeschgen had become mostly residential, with some small businesses. Most of the workers commute to the agglomeration of Basel and into Frick.

Oeschgen has an area, as of 2009^[update], of 4.38 square kilometers (1.69 sq mi). Of this area, 2.95 km² (1.14 sq mi) or 67.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.8 km² (0.31 sq mi) or 18.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.62 km² (0.24 sq mi) or 14.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km² (7.4 acres) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.