Villmergen

The area was first settled between 500 and 58 BC, though no records and little evidence survives of this settlement. During the Roman era there were at least two villas, one at Heidenhübel and the other on the Schwarzhalde. The first mention of the modern village was in 1185 when it was mentioned as Vilmaringen. In 1273 the Kyburger counts sold Villmergen to the House of Habsburg. A Kyburg castle was mentioned in the village in 1315. However no clear evidence of this castle has been discovered. Most likely it was on the Heidenhübel which is south-west of the village, since in 1927 a square foundation was discovered there.
In 1337 the patronage right to the village church was held by the knightly family of Hallwyl. About a century later, in 1425, the rights to the church transferred to the Benedictine Muri Abbey. Between 1525-1531 the Protestant Reformation entered the village, though much of the population remained with the Catholic Church. On 24 January 1656 and again on 24 July 1712, the First War of Villmergen and the Toggenburg War were fought near the village. These two battles were between the Reformed and Catholic Swiss cantons. The Protestant side victory in the Second Battle of Villmergen, brought an end to Catholic hegemony in the Swiss Confederation, and prevented further conflict until the renewed outbreak of civil war in 1847, the Sonderbund war, that led to the formation of Switzerland as a federal state.

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