Blumenstein is 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 administrative district of

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

, 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 ...

History

Blumenstein is first mentioned in 1305 as ''Bluomenstein''. Tannenbühl, which became Outer-Blumenstein in 1859, was first mentioned in 1316 as Tannenbuel. Inner-Blumenstein was sold in 1348 by Peter von Raron to the city of

. Soon thereafter they sold the villages to a family that renamed themselves ''von Blumenstein''. They may have built a castle above the Fallbach as an ancestral seat. In 1386, they sold the village and over the following centuries portions of the village and surroundings were sold or inherited several times. The castle fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1606. In 1642 the last owner, Hans Franz von Wattenwyl, sold the village back to Bern. Under Bernese rule, it became part of the

Seftigen Seftigen is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Seftigen is first mentioned in 1277 as ''Seftingen''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Roman estate house discovere ...

district court. In 1652 Blumenstein and Thierachern were both assigned to the district of

. Following the 1798 French invasion, Blumenstein became part of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

district of Oberseftigen. Five years later, with the collapse of the Republic and 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 ...

, it was assigned to the

Thun District Thun District was one of the 25 administrative districts in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Its capital was the municipality of Thun. The district had an area of 285 km2 and consists of 27 municipalities A municipality is usually a single ...

. The village church of St. Niklaus was probably built in the 11th century. It first appears in the records in 1285. In the 14th century a new building was built on the site of the original church. Natural mineral springs were discovered in the municipality in the 16th century. Beginning in 1900, the springs became the center of a local spa and health resort. Traditionally most of the residents farmed or raised dairy cattle in alpine meadows. Today about half of the jobs in the municipality are still in agriculture. Just over half of the work force commutes to jobs in nearby cities. The

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Tannenbühl, Reckenbühl, Bodenzingen and Bühl formed the court of Tannenbühl, which first appears in records during the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

as a part of the ''

Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

'' of Strättligen. In 1594 it became part of the ''Herrschaft'' of Thierachern. A few years later, in 1607, the city of Bern acquired Thierachern and added it into the Thun District. Originally it was part of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Amsoldingen Amsoldingen is a municipality in the Thun administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Amsoldingen is first mentioned in 1175 as ''Ansoltingen''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are the remains of a possi ...

. In 1528 Bern adopted the new faith of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and all the parishes in the Canton converted. However, later Protestant offshoots like the

Anabaptists Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

were not welcome in the Bern. When they began to settle in the area around Tannenbühl, the church at Amsoldingen was too distant to effectively control the new faith. In 1676 Tannenbühl was assigned to the Blumenstein parish as Outer-Blumenstein. Joining the Blumenstein parish gradually led to closer ties between the two communities and in 1859, they joined into a single political municipality.

Geography

Blumenstein has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 48.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 39.9% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 3.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 6.5% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 During the same year, housing and buildings made up 2.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. A total of 36.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.6% is used for growing crops and 15.3% is pasturage and 23.8% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 4.1% is unproductive vegetation and 2.4% is too rocky for vegetation. The municipality is located in the Stockental and upper

Gürbetal Gürbetal (Gürbe Valley) in Switzerland lies between the towns of Bern and Thun, west of the Aare. It contains the municipality of Seftigen and those that surround it. The valley is named after the river Gürbe, which flows through it. The largest ...

. It includes the village of Blumenstein and the

of Wäsemli, Eschli, Gassen and Rüdeli (all part of Inner-Blumenstein), Lochmannsbühl, Reckenbühl, Bodenzingen and Tannenbühl (known as Outer-Blumenstein). During the 19th Century, what is now Outer-Blumenstein was an independent municipality, known as Tannenbühl. In 1859 it became part of Blumenstein. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Thun, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Thun.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 4 April 2011

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

is ''Azure three Lilies Or issuant from as many Rocks Argent.'' The coat of arms is an example of

canting arms Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. French heralds used the term (), as they would sound out the name of the armiger. Many armorial allus ...

with the lilies (german: Blumen) and the rocks (german: Stein).

Demographics

Blumenstein has a population () of . , 3.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Between the last 2 years (2010-2012) the population changed at a rate of 1.1%. Migration accounted for 1.5%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.5%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 13 August 2014 Most of the population () speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(1,158 or 97.1%) as their first language,

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

is the second most common (21 or 1.8%) and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

is the third (4 or 0.3%). There are 2 people who speak

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. , the population was 51.2% male and 48.8% female. The population was made up of 582 Swiss men (49.7% of the population) and 17 (1.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 554 Swiss women (47.3%) and 18 (1.5%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 455 or about 38.2% were born in Blumenstein and lived there in 2000. There were 514 or 43.1% who were born in the same canton, while 93 or 7.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 61 or 5.1% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 20.5%. , there were 493 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 576 married individuals, 73 widows or widowers and 50 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 147 households that consist of only one person and 37 households with five or more people. , a total of 453 apartments (90.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 33 apartments (6.6%) were seasonally occupied and 14 apartments (2.8%) were empty.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 , the construction rate of new housing units was 7.6 new units per 1000 residents. In 2012, single family homes made up 45.6% of the total housing in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width: auto height:200 barincrement:45 PlotArea = top:20 left:40 bottom:20 right:35 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1200 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:200 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:40 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width: 35 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:443 text:"443" bar:1850 from:start till:1077 text:"1,077" bar:1860 from:start till:944 text:"944" bar:1870 from:start till:938 text:"938" bar:1880 from:start till:957 text:"957" bar:1888 from:start till:858 text:"858" bar:1900 from:start till:814 text:"814" bar:1910 from:start till:814 text:"814" bar:1920 from:start till:899 text:"899" bar:1930 from:start till:955 text:"955" bar:1941 from:start till:965 text:"965" bar:1950 from:start till:1071 text:"1,071" bar:1960 from:start till:1121 text:"1,121" bar:1970 from:start till:1049 text:"1,049" bar:1980 from:start till:1022 text:"1,022" bar:1990 from:start till:1144 text:"1,144" bar:2000 from:start till:1192 text:"1,192" bar:2010 from:start till:1145 text:"1,145"

Economy

, Blumenstein had an unemployment rate of 1.21%. , there were a total of 413 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 64 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 26 businesses involved in this sector. 170 people were 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 were 25 businesses in this sector. 180 people were 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 52 businesses in this sector. There were 619 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.6% of the workforce. there were a total of 260

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employee, employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to me ...

jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 49, of which 46 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 121 of which 79 or (65.3%) were in manufacturing and 42 (34.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 90. In the tertiary sector; 18 or 20.0% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 14 or 15.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 17 or 18.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 12 or 13.3% were in education and 16 or 17.8% were in health care. , there were 164 workers who commuted into the municipality and 396 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 223 workers (57.6% of the 387 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Blumenstein.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 13.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 54.3% used a private car. The local and cantonal tax rate in Blumenstein is one of the lowest in the canton. In 2012 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Blumenstein making 150,000 CHF was 11.9%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 17.9%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in 2011, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide average was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively. In 2010 there were a total of 486 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 136 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 6 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The greatest number of workers, 151, made between 50,000 and 75,000 CHF per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Blumenstein was 102,844 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 131,244 CHF. In 2011 a total of 0.7% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

Heritage sites of national significance

The village Swiss Reformed church is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire

and churches of Blumenstein, Wäsemli and Eschli are part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 42.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (15.5%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (13.5%) and the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU) (6.0%). In the federal election, a total of 476 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

was 49.6%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Religion

From the , 954 or 80.0% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

, while 60 or 5.0% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 46 individuals (or about 3.86% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 37 (or about 3.10% of the population) who were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. 29 (or about 2.43% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 65 individuals (or about 5.45% of the population) did not answer the question.

Climate

Between 1981 and 2010 Blumenstein had an average of 138.4 days of rain or snow per year and on average received of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. The wettest month was July during which time Blumenstein received an average of of rain or snow. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 12.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation was May, with an average of 14, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year was January with an average of of precipitation over 10.6 days., the Blumenstein weather station elevation is 655 meters above sea level.

Education

In Blumenstein about 54.1% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 13.4% have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

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 ...

''). Of the 92 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 80.4% were Swiss men, 15.2% were Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

. During the 2012-13 school year, there were a total of 119 students attending classes in Blumenstein. There were a total of 42 students in the German language kindergarten classes in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 4.8% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens). The municipality's primary school had 63 students in German language classes. Of the primary students, 1.6% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, the lower secondary school had a total of 14 students. There were 7.1% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 14.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The remainder of the students attend a private or special school.Datei der Gemeinde- und Schultabellen
accessed 23 July 2014 , there were a total of 204 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 133 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 71 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 53 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern