Burgistein 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: Thou ...

in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

History

Burgistein is first mentioned in 1266 as ''Burgstein'' and in 1271 as ''Burgenstein''. The oldest traces of a settlement in the area include scattered

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

artifacts and

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denom ...

. During the Early to

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...

there was a

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

on Bühlhölzli hill. Across from Bühlhölzli, on Schönegg hill, are the ruins of Blankenberg Castle, which was demolished in the second half of the 14th century. During the 13th century, Jordan I of Thun began buying up farming villages and land in the

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 ...

and surrounding valleys. In 1260 he combined the scattered estates into a ''

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 ...

'' and built Burgistein Castle. By 1266 he was calling himself Jordan von Burgistein after the castle. In 1340, after the Bernese victory in the

Battle of Laupen The Battle of Laupen was fought in June 1339, between Bern and its allies on one side, and Freiburg together with feudal landholders from the County of Burgundy and Habsburg territories on the other. Bern was victorious, consolidating its positio ...

in the previous year, Burgistein Castle was destroyed in retaliation for Burgistein support against Bern. The castle was rebuilt several years later. In 1397 the Burgistein family died out and the castle was inherited by Werner Münzer. Over the following century it passed through numerous owners until 1484 when the Bernese Schultheiss Jakob von Wattenwyl acquired it. The Wattenwyl family owned the castle until 1714, when it passed to the Graffenried family. The 14th-century castle was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries. Burgistein has always been 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 o ...

of Thurnen, even after the village church was built in 1959. Beginning in the 1970s the municipality began to gradually change from farming communities into

bedroom communities A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for the nearby cities of Bern and

Geography

Burgistein has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 76.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 13.0% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 9.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 During the same year, housing and buildings made up 5.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.5%. A total of 10.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 31.7% is used for growing crops and 41.0% is pasturage, while 3.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Burgistein is a scattered settlement without a central village. The closest thing it has to a center is the old village that grew up around the former castle, Burgistein-Dorf on Längenberg-Gurnigel. The municipality includes 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 Weier, Niederschönegg, Äbnit and Plötsch, as well as the new developments of Burgistein-Station (which include Grossmatt, Burgiwil, Pfandersmatt), all in the

. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Seftigen, 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 vi ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

is ''Per bend sinister Argent and Sable and in the first a Semi Deer salient issuant Gules.''

Demographics

Burgistein has a population () of . , 2.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last year (2010-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -1.3%. Migration accounted for -0.9%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.6%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 20 March 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 **Ge ...

(1,007 or 97.9%) as their first language,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

is the second most common (5 or 0.5%) and French is the third (3 or 0.3%). There is 1 person who speaks

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 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 505 Swiss men (48.8% of the population) and 14 (1.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 501 Swiss women (48.5%) and 14 (1.4%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 365 or about 35.5% were born in Burgistein and lived there in 2000. There were 511 or 49.7% who were born in the same canton, while 78 or 7.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 49 or 4.8% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 22.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.1%. , there were 442 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 496 married individuals, 57 widows or widowers and 34 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 102 households that consist of only one person and 30 households with five or more people. , a total of 378 apartments (89.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 36 apartments (8.5%) were seasonally occupied and 10 apartments (2.4%) 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 3.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.85%. In 2011, single family homes made up 55.2% 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:488 text:"488" bar:1850 from:start till:1089 text:"1,089" bar:1860 from:start till:1010 text:"1,010" bar:1870 from:start till:1087 text:"1,087" bar:1880 from:start till:1117 text:"1,117" bar:1888 from:start till:1050 text:"1,050" bar:1900 from:start till:972 text:"972" bar:1910 from:start till:1024 text:"1,024" bar:1920 from:start till:997 text:"997" bar:1930 from:start till:1009 text:"1,009" bar:1941 from:start till:1027 text:"1,027" bar:1950 from:start till:952 text:"952" bar:1960 from:start till:925 text:"925" bar:1970 from:start till:918 text:"918" bar:1980 from:start till:884 text:"884" bar:1990 from:start till:974 text:"974" bar:2000 from:start till:1029 text:"1,029" bar:2010 from:start till:1002 text:"1,002"

Heritage sites of national significance

The Castle is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 39.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (19.3%), the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (15.1%) and 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 f ...

(7.3%). In the federal election, a total of 433 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 Univ ...

was 53.1%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Burgistein had an unemployment rate of 1.36%. , there were a total of 319 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 103 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 39 businesses involved in this sector. 118 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 constructi ...

and there were 13 businesses in this sector. 98 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 27 businesses in this sector. There were 512 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.1% of the workforce. there were a total of 262

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

jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 66, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 109 of which 64 or (58.7%) were in manufacturing and 45 (41.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 87. In the tertiary sector; 42 or 48.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 6 or 6.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 16 or 18.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 4.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 8 or 9.2% were in education. , there were 166 workers who commuted into the municipality and 369 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 143 workers (46.3% of the 309 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Burgistein.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 19.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 53.7% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Burgistein making 150,000 CHF was 12.9%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 19%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in the same year, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide average was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively. In 2009 there were a total of 452 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 117 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 2 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The greatest number of workers, 150, made between 50,000 and 75,000 CHF per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Burgistein was 116,923 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. In 2011 a total of 2.3% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

Religion

From the , 834 or 81.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 64 or 6.2% 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 let ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.19% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 30 individuals (or about 2.92% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 8 (or about 0.78% of the population) who were Muslim. There was 1 person who was

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. 73 (or about 7.09% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 16 individuals (or about 1.55% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Burgistein about 56.7% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 15.6% 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 ...

or a '' Fachhochschule''). Of the 95 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 64.2% were Swiss men, 29.5% 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 ce ...

, 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 trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

. During the 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 97 students attending classes in Burgistein. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 17 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 5.9% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 11.8% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 67 students. Of the primary students, 1.5% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 3.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there was one lower secondary class with a total of 13 students. There were 7.7% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 15.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2011/12 pdf document
accessed 9 May 2013 , there were a total of 105 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 104 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while one student came from another municipality. During the same year, 49 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

Notes

:1 The Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte (GSK) lists these dates as 1484 and 1714, while the

Historical Dictionary of Switzerland The ''Historical Dictionary of Switzerland'' is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland that aims to take into account the results of modern historical research in a manner accessible to a broader audience. The encyclopedia is publish ...

says 1493 and 1717

External links

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