Schenkenberg Valley, Switzerland

The Schenkenberg Valley is situated in the Brugg district of the Swiss canton of Aargau. It is approximately 5 km long, extending from the Aar (Aare) river in the east to the Staffelegg pass in the west. In the north and south, the valley is bounded by two High Chain Jura ridges.  Elevations range from approximately 380 m above sea level to some 630 m. The villages Schinznach-Dorf and Veltheim occupy the entrance to the valley, near the Aar river. Further up along the course of the Talbach, which runs through the valley, are Oberflachs and Thalheim. Part of a fertile region, the valley was historically a sought-after possession, as evidenced by the Wildenstein castle in Veltheim, the Kasteln castle in Oberflachs, and, overlooking Thalheim, the ruin of the Schenkenberg castle. The latter sits atop the mountain of the same name, which goes back to the original owners of the castle, the patrician Schenken family. Next to mixed farming, viniculture has been an important part of the local economy since Roman times. Uncultivated land is covered by deciduous and mixed forest. The language spoken in the Schenkenberg Valley is a dialect of High Alemannic, or alternatively, an Aargau variety of Swiss German. Researcher:Juliette Huber