Safenwil

Safenwil
Coat of arms
Safenwil Show map of Switzerland Safenwil Show map of Canton of Aargau
Location of Safenwil
Coordinates: 47°19′N 7°59′E / 47.317°N 7.983°E / 47.317; 7.983Coordinates: 47°19′N 7°59′E / 47.317°N 7.983°E / 47.317; 7.983
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Aargau
District	Zofingen
Area
• Total	5.99 km2 (2.31 sq mi)
Elevation	483 m (1,585 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	3,695
• Density	620/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Postal code	5745
SFOS number	4283
Surrounded by	Gretzenbach (SO), Kölliken, Oftringen, Uerkheim, Walterswil (SO), Zofingen
Website	www.safenwil.ch SFSO statistics

Safenwil is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.

The first settlement in the area was a Roman era estate on a mule track from the Wigger valley toward Vindonissa. This was followed by a small Alamanni camp or settlement. The Eberkopf (German: Boar's Head) rock carvings date back to 893 AD, though the modern village of Safenwil is first mentioned in 924 as Sabenewilare. In the 13th century the village was under the rule Belp. In the 14th century the Ifenthal family ruled over the village from Scherenberg castle. With the conquest of the Aargau in 1415, the village came under the authority of Bern. Under Bernese rule, Safenwil was located in the Lenzburg District. In 1415 Bern took over the high court rights in the village. The low court right was held by Gösgen in Solothurn after 1458. In 1665 this court also went to Bern. In 1803 it became part of the newly formed Canton of Aargau and was assigned to the Zofingen district. School houses were built in Safenwil in 1730, 1829–30, 1908, 1969 and 1999.

In 1304, Zofingen monastery built the St. Ulrich's Chapel in Safenwil. During the Protestant Reformation, Bern destroyed the chapel. Before the Reformation, Safenwil was part of the Gretzenbach parish. Between 1528-1616 it was in the Zofingen parish, and after 1616 it was part of the Kölliken parish. In 1865 it became an independent parish, and built its own church in 1866-67.

Around 1770 Bern built the regional road from Bern to Zurich through the village. Then, in 1877, Swiss Federal Railways included it on the Aarau-Zofingen line. Since 1967, the A1 motorway cuts through the town. The good transportation links allowed the town to grow. Around 1820 the first factory, a weaving and dyeing factory, opened in Safenwil. The Hüssy factory remained open for over a century, closing in 1934. In 1897 the Hochuli knitting factory opened near the train station. In the 19th and 20th centuries several other factories opened, while other residents commuted to factories in Zofingen and Schönenwerd. In 1920, 14% of the jobs were in agriculture, while 75% were in industry. By 2005 most of the heavy industry had moved out and only 19% worked in industry while 77% worked in the services sector. In 1951, the car import company Emil Frey moved into the municipality. This company employs approximately 230 workers and shapes the local labor market and the village.