Merenschwand

Merenschwand is a municipality in the district of Muri in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. The municipality of Benzenschwil merged on 1 January 2012 into Merenschwand.

==History== The earliest evidence of human settlement is a lake side village from the Late Bronze Age. The lake has since silted up and is now part of the Rütiweid meadow. The modern municipality of Merenschwand is first mentioned in the 12th Century as Meriswanden, though this comes from a 14th Century copy of the original. In 1263 it was mentioned as Meriswandon. There are indications of a knightly family and a castle near Merenschwand, but no definitive evidence has been found. Merenschwand was under the authority of the Homberg family until 1293, and then under the authority of the Lords of Hünenberg and Schär. In 1393 Merenschwand bought its independence with the help of a loan from Lucerne. As many of the former residents of the village had become citizens of Lucerne, in 1394 the village formally became part of the city of Lucerne and the residents were granted Lucerne citizenship. Merenschwand thus became the center of the bailiwick of Merenschwand. They chose their own vogt from among the patricians of Lucerne. In 1810 and 1813 the municipalities of Mühlau and Benzenschwil joined the bailiwick. Until 1798, the municipality enjoyed a relatively autonomous administration under a local bailiff. The gasthof (combination hotel and restaurant) Zum Schwanen (from the 17th century) served as a court and community center. thumb|left|Freiämtersturm, Johann Heinrich Fischer assembles his men The municipality was, in 1802, temporarily part of the Canton of Zug, and then in 1803 it became part of the Canton of Aargau. In 1830, the Zum Schwanen innkeeper, Johann Heinrich Fischer led some 6,000 men in the so-called Freiämtersturm to Aarau and forced the assembly to accept a new, democratic cantonal constitution.