Muri, Aargau

Immediately west of the monastery lies the community of Wey, slightly more than a kilometer south of the district Langdorf (formerly known as Dorfmuri).

East of the railway line, at a distance of half a kilometer of the village is Egg.

Türmelen, a hamlet, which lies directly on the eastern boundary of the municipality, is now merged with Egg.

Muri is located in the upper end of the Bünztal at the foot of Lindenberg, Covering all districts, with one exception lie in a plane at an altitude from 450 to 480 meters (1,480 to 1,570 ft).

In the west the slope rises evenly, where Langenmatt lies at an altitude of 570 meters (1,870 ft).

The neighboring communities are Aristau in the Northeast, Merenschwand in the east, Benzenschwil in the southeast, Geltwil in the southwest, Buttwil in the west and Boswil in the northwest.

Several findings suggest that colonisation of the area happened during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

Close to Hallstatt Era is one Mound, which was discovered in 1929 near the southern boundary of the municipality.

From the 1st century AD, smaller Roman settlements existed, but these were destroyed by the Alamanni by 260.

This allowed them to settle here in the 8th or 9th century, calling their settlement Murah, from the Latin murus after the many Roman low walls they found.

Radbot, Count of Habsburg and Ida of Lorraine founded Muri Abbey in 1027.

With the backing of the Habsburgs, it became more powerful over time, and acquired an extensive estate in the Swiss plateau before rising to become an important spiritual and cultural center.

The parish included not only the present day Muri, but also Aristau, Buttwil and Geltwil.

A large minority of the population of Muri became Protestants in 1529, but were re-Catholicised after the Second War of Kappel (1531).

Religious riots broke out in early January 1841 in the Freiamt, directed against the state government.

This hit the town by surprise, since they now had to take on tasks which had previously been settled by the monastery, such as education.

In March 1798, Napoleon I abolished the Old Swiss Confederacy and proclaimed the Helvetic Republic.

The continuation after Rotkreuz (with connection to the Gotthardbahn) was delayed for financial reasons and only took place on 1 December 1881.

The former Benedictine Muri Abbey, the Leontiusbrunnen (fountain) at Leontiusplatz, the so-called Klosterscheune near the Abbey at Klosterhof 197 and the granary at Hasli 233 are all listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.

[5] The entire hamlet of Hasli is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

In the Cloister with the valuable Glass painting cycle of the 16th Century is the Habsburg crypt.

The age distribution, as of 2008[update], in Muri is; 788 children or 11.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 853 teenagers or 12.6% are between 10 and 19.

[10] The historical population is given in the following table:[4] From the 2000 census[update], 4,172 or 63.7% were Roman Catholic, while 1,088 or 16.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In addition, he implements the decisions of the municipal assembly and the tasks that were assigned to him by the canton and the Confederation.

View of Muri-Langdorf, with Albis and Üetliberg in the background
Muri c. 1870.
Etching by Heinrich Müller
Aerial view by Walter Mittelholzer (1923)
Muri Abbey from the inside
Shield of Muri
Church in Muri