Unterkulm

Both Roman ruins near the church and late-Roman coins at Sonnenhof indicate that the area near Unterkulm was settled during the Roman era. However, Unterkulm is first mentioned in 1045 as Chulenbare though this is for both Unterkulm and Oberkulm. In 1303 it was mentioned as ze Nideren-Kulme which is the first mention of Unterkulm individually. Until 1566 Unter- and Oberkulm formed a tithe district , though their political separation was probably earlier. In the 12th and 13th Centuries the area was ruled by the Lenzburg family, then the Kyburgs and finally the Habsburgs. By 1300 parts of the village were also owned by the monasteries of Schänis, Beromünster and Engelberg as well as local aristocratic families and the Dukes of Austria. In the 14th and 15th Centuries the Knights Hospitaller houses at Klingnau and Biberstein, and the collegiate church at Zofingen also became landholders in Unterkulm. After the conquest by Bern in 1415, Unterkulm remained part of the Court on Kulm in the District of Lenzburg until 1798. During the Helvetic Republic it was a district capital.

The village church was built around 1045 and was dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. A major fresco cycle was added in the early 14th century. Its tower houses the oldest clock tower in service , built by the Winterthur watchmaker Laurentz Liechti. In 1528 the Protestant Reformation was introduced to the parish of Kulm. The parish consisted of Unterkulm, Oberkulm, Teufenthal and Dürrenäsch, though Dürrenäsch left the parish in 1614. The catholic chapel of Unterkulm is part of the parish of Menziken-Reinach and since 1957 has its own church.

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