Kappelen (french: Chapelle) 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
Seeland administrative district 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 ...
in
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
Kappelen is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Capella''.
[
The ]Roman
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 letter ...
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
between Aventicum
Aventicum was the largest town and capital of Roman Switzerland (Helvetia or Civitas Helvetiorum). Its remains are beside the modern town of Avenches.
The city was probably created ''ex nihilo'' in the early 1st century AD, as the capital of t ...
and Petinesca
Petinesca is an archeological site on the territory of Studen, a community of the Canton of Bern, in Switzerland, where Celtic and Roman vestiges were found.
Celtic and Roman vestiges
The site lies at the SE edge of the Jensberg mountain. Celt ...
ran along the present day border of the municipality. During the Middle Ages, one of the major landowners in the village was the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau. The count granted Frienisberg Abbey
Frienisberg Abbey is a former Cistercian religious house in the Swiss municipality of Seedorf in the Canton of Bern.
History
In 1131 Count Udelhard of Saugern granted his land at Frienisberg to the Cistercian Lützel Abbey. In 1138, the Lüt ...
land in Kappelen in 1225 and 1267. They gave Gottstatt Monastery patronage over the village church in 1247. The monastery held that right until 1528, when it was taken by 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 ...
. Even after they granted land to the monasteries, the counts retained the right to collect a tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
from the village. The Counts of Neuchâtel-Aarberg originally had the right to hold the low court in the village. In 1367 this right went to Nidau
Nidau is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Nidau is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Nidowe''. In 1352, it was recorded in Latin as ''Nydow''.
The remains of a number of sti ...
and in 1377-79 it went to the city of Bern. At that time the village became part of the bailiwick
A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...
of Aarberg
Aarberg is a historic town and a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Aarberg lies 20 kilometers from Bern above the river Aare. With an area of , Aarberg borders Bargen, Kappelen, Lyss, Rade ...
. The neighboring village (and now part of the municipality) of Werdthof, the right to hold the low court in Werdthof and the chapel of St. Margaret (mentioned between 1231 and 1300, now demolished) were all given to Frienisberg Monastery in the 13th century.[
The village church of St. Martin was first mentioned in 1228. It was destroyed in 1290 and rebuilt soon there after. It was rebuilt and expanded in 1682.
The ]Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.
Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...
river flooded periodically, destroying or damaging the village, until the construction of the Hagneck
Hagneck is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Archeological discoveries
Traces of early and late Bronze Age settlements have been found in the Hagneck marshland, which is part of ...
Canal in 1868–78. After construction of the canal the swampy land around the village slowly drained, creating additional farm land. In the mid 19th century agriculture changed from growing produce and breeding horses to breeding livestock and dairy farming. The first cheese maker opened in Kappelen in 1868. Starting around 1900, the farms switched to growing sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
s for the sugar factory in Aarberg. Agriculture has remained important in the local economy though a freight yard operated between 1954 and 1968. Between 1970 and 1974 there was a cantonal Civil Defense Training Center in the village. In 1982-83 a regional office and maintenance depot of the cantonal construction department opened. While the village has no rail connection, it has been serviced by a bus from Biel
, french: Biennois(e)
, neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin
, twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany)
B ...
and Aarberg since 1967 and the private Biel-Kappelen Airport.[
]
Geography
Kappelen has an area of . Of this area, or 73.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 14.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 10.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.5% is unproductive land.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 67.7% is used for growing crops and 4.8% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.[
The municipality is located on what used to be the left bank of the ]Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.
Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...
river. It consists of the village of Kappelen and the village section of Werdthof.
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 a Chapel Argent roofed Gules''. The chapel (german: Kappelle) on 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 ...
.
Demographics
Kappelen has a population () of . , 4.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 31.3%. Migration accounted for 29.5%, while births and deaths accounted for 2.4%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 4 May 2012
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 ...
(970 or 87.2%) as their first language, Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
is the second most common (18 or 1.6%) and 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 third (17 or 1.5%). There are 13 people who speak French, 5 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 49.5% male and 50.5% female. The population was made up of 589 Swiss men (46.9% of the population) and 33 (2.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 615 Swiss women (48.9%) and 2 (0.2%) non-Swiss women.][Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 349 or about 31.4% were born in Kappelen and lived there in 2000. There were 467 or 42.0% who were born in the same canton, while 108 or 9.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 116 or 10.4% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.5%.][
, there were 467 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 517 married individuals, 87 widows or widowers and 41 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 405 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household.[ There were 110 households that consist of only one person and 30 households with five or more people. , a total of 387 apartments (91.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 21 apartments (5.0%) were seasonally occupied and 14 apartments (3.3%) 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 11.1 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.32%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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bar:1850 from:start till:639 text:"639"
bar:1860 from:start till:557 text:"557"
bar:1870 from:start till:605 text:"605"
bar:1880 from:start till:836 text:"836"
bar:1888 from:start till:776 text:"776"
bar:1900 from:start till:799 text:"799"
bar:1910 from:start till:859 text:"859"
bar:1920 from:start till:841 text:"841"
bar:1930 from:start till:843 text:"843"
bar:1941 from:start till:860 text:"860"
bar:1950 from:start till:866 text:"866"
bar:1960 from:start till:904 text:"904"
bar:1970 from:start till:900 text:"900"
bar:1980 from:start till:856 text:"856"
bar:1990 from:start till:919 text:"919"
bar:2000 from:start till:1112 text:"1,112"
Politics
In the 2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
the most popular party was the SVP which received 52.84% 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 ...
(15.52%), the FDP (9.83%) 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 ...
(7.98%). In the federal election, a total of 377 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 44.8%.
Economy
, Kappelen had an unemployment rate of 1.4%. , there were 113 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 31 businesses involved in this sector. 293 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 26 businesses in this sector. 153 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 29 businesses in this sector.[
the total number of ]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 was 477. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 76, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 269 of which 154 or (57.2%) were in manufacturing and 116 (43.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 132. In the tertiary sector; 27 or 20.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 3 or 2.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 18 or 13.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 2.3% were in the information industry, 41 or 31.1% were technical professionals or scientists, and 20 or 15.2% were in health care.
, there were 153 workers who commuted into the municipality and 389 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.5 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 9% used public transportation to get to work, and 54.6% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 67 or 6.0% 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 ...
, while 822 or 73.9% 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 ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 5 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.45% of the population), and there were 34 individuals (or about 3.06% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 90 (or about 8.09% of the population) who were Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic. There was 1 person who was Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 65 (or about 5.85% 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 ...
or 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 43 individuals (or about 3.87% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Kappelen about 424 or (38.1%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 116 or (10.4%) 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 116 who completed tertiary schooling, 69.0% were Swiss men, 23.3% were Swiss women and 4.3% were non-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 2009–10 school year, there were a total of 131 students attending classes in Kappelen. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 17 students in the municipality. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 89 students. Of the primary students, 5.6% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens). During the same year, there were 2 lower secondary classes with a total of 25 students. There were 4.0% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 4.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language.[Schuljahr 2009/10 pdf document]
accessed 4 January 2012
, there was one student in Kappelen who came from another municipality, while 60 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
Transport
Kappelen is home to Biel-Kappelen Airport, which has an ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
code of LSZP.
References
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Bern