Ballmoos was a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of

Fraubrunnen Fraubrunnen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Büren zum Hof, Etzelkofen, Grafenried, Limpach, Mülchi, Schalunen and Zauggen ...

in the canton of

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. On 1 January 2010 the municipality of Ballmoos merged into the municipality of

Jegenstorf Jegenstorf is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the former municipality of Ballmoos merged into Jegenstorf and on 1 January 2014 Münchringen and Scheunen mer ...

History

Ballmoos is first mentioned in 1270 as ''Banemos''. Several

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

artifacts have been found in the area, but there is no evidence of a settlement. A family of

Ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minis ...

, unfree knights, that served the House of Kyburg came from Ballmoos. The major land owner was the

Order of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

Münchenbuchsee Münchenbuchsee is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is famous as the birthplace of the painter Paul Klee. On 1 January 2023 the former municipality of Diemerswil merged to f ...

. Following the

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

of the monasteries (1528), Ballmoos became part of the ''

Landvogtei During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' of Münchenbuchsee. Following the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion ...

in 1803, it became part of the District of Fraubrunnen.

Geography

Ballmoos has an area of . Of this area, 73.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.7%) is non-productive (rivers or glaciers). Ballmoos consists entirely of individual houses scattered throughout the borders of the municipality.

Demographics

Ballmoos has a population () of 55, all Swiss citizens. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -3.5%. Most of the population () speaks German (98.4%), with the rest speaking French. In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 58% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the

SPS SPS may refer to: Law and government * Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO * NATO Science for Peace and Security * Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy * The Standard Procurement System, fo ...

(20.7%), the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

(13.7%) and the CVP (1.6%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 39.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 41% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.7%. In Ballmoos about 60% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). Ballmoos has an unemployment rate of 12%. , there no one employed in the primary economic sector. 1 person is employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...

and there is 1 business in this sector. 4 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, with no businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 08-Jun-2009 The historical population is given in the following table:

References

External links

* {{Authority control Former municipalities of the canton of Bern Populated places disestablished in 2010