Although the final vote in the town meeting came down firmly against its cessation of independence (42 against versus 2 in favor), the Grand Council approved of its incorporation into Brugg on January 1, 1901. Brugg thus saw its surface area doubled. Agriculture had never played a significant role in the town's economy, but various circumstances led to the rise of Brugg as the "Farmers Metropolis" ("Bauernmetropole") at the start of the 20th century. The "Landwirtschaftliche Winterschule," a training institute for farmers, was opened in 1887 and moved into a new building on Baslerstrasse in 1901. The selection of Brugg as the seat of the Swiss Farmers' Union (Schweizerischer Bauernverband) was purely coincidental: The wife of the Union's husband was from Brugg and did not want to move. The Union itself was therefore relocated to Brugg from Bern. The small farmers secretariat developed over time into one of the largest special interest groups in Switzerland. Cattle trade also emerged as an important industry following the completion of the railroad. The Market Hall (Markthalle) evolved into one of the most important national transshipment hubs by 1930. The cattle market was ultimately shut in 1997 and moved to Brunegg. Catholics, whose portion of the population rose greatly due to the arrival of factory workers, were allowed to build their own church in 1907, about 400 years after the Reformation and Brugg's subsequent conversion to Protestantism. In 1911 the town's gas work was brought online (closure in 1967) on territory ceded to Brugg from Windisch at no cost. The economic boom came to an end during World War I, during which many residents were forced to live under the subsistence level. During the National Strike (Landesstreik) in 1918 strikes impacted all factories in town. The global economic depression also hit Brugg hard, contributing to high unemployment and the closing of a number of businesses. Under the influence of the Nazi seizure of power in Germany in 1933, there were multiple demonstrations and counterdemonstrations organized by the National Front and opposition groups in town, which drew up to 3,000 participants at their peak. From 1935 until 1939 there was an active NSDAP organization in town, the members of which, though, were all German laborers. After the constraints and restrictions of World War II, the town entered another period of rapid economic growth that lasted three decades. The almost-euphoric economic expansion led to plans for