Kiesen 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
Bern-Mittelland 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
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a
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 parts ...
stone ax which was found at Rotachen. Other prehistoric finds include scattered late-
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 ...
items and tools and
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 ...
coins. The village Kiesen is first mentioned in 1236 as ''Chisun''. At that time much of the village was owned by
Interlaken Abbey
, order = Augustinians
, established = by 1133
, disestablished = 1528
, mother =
, dedication =
, diocese = Lausanne
, churches =
, founder = B ...
. Beginning in the 14th century, it was owned by several noble families from the city 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 1579, a fire destroyed most of the buildings in the village.
[Municipal website - History]
accessed 29 April 2013 In 1668 a wealthy family built a country manor house on the remains of a medieval castle on the edge of the village. It passed through a couple of hands before the Effinger family of Wildegg bought it in 1776. In 1793 they rebuilt the manor house into its current appearance. In 1815, Rudolf Emanuel Effinger, built a dairy and cheese maker's shop on the estate's grounds. This was the first cheese maker in the Canton of Bern. The estate dairy encouraged farmers throughout the Canton to switch to dairy farming during the 19th century and led to the development of the cheese industry in Bern.
[ The estate was rebuilt and renovated and sold to the Dollfus family of Volckersberg, who held it until 1993. The estate dairy became the Dairy Museum in 1974.][
Until the Aare water correction project of 1826, the village had maintained their own flood control system. In 1830 a bridge was built over the river, replacing the local ferry. A dock was also built on the river around this time. The Bern-]Thun
, neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg
, twintown =
, website = www.thun.ch
Thun (french: Thoune) ...
railway built a station in Kiesen in 1859. However, the traditional character of the village remained mostly intact until the construction of the A6 motorway in 1971. A number of farms were moved and marshes were drained. Beginning in the 1980s many commuters moved into the village to take advantage of the convenient transportation links.[
]
Geography
Kiesen has an area of . Of this area, or 53.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 26.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 17.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.2% 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 4.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 9.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 41.5% is used for growing crops and 10.9% is pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is in lakes and 2.6% is in rivers and streams.[
It is located along the banks of the Chisen and Rotachen Rivers where they flow into the Aare River.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Konolfingen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.][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 ''Or a Merchant's Mark Sable between two Flames Gules issuant from a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert.''
Demographics
Kiesen has a population () of . , 4.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. From 2010 to 2013 the population changed at a rate of 7.4%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 15 April 2016 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 ...
(708 or 95.4%) 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 (9 or 1.2%) and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...
is the third (7 or 0.9%). There are 4 people who speak French, 3 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 ...
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.[
, the population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female. The population was made up of 390 Swiss men (46.5% of the population) and 18 (2.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 412 Swiss women (49.2%) and 18 (2.1%) non-Swiss women.][Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 193 or about 26.0% were born in Kiesen and lived there in 2000. There were 387 or 52.2% who were born in the same canton, while 99 or 13.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 51 or 6.9% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 22% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 66.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.8%.][
, there were 321 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 356 married individuals, 33 widows or widowers and 32 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 87 households that consist of only one person and 24 households with five or more people. , a total of 286 apartments (94.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 9 apartments (3.0%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (3.0%) 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 28.6 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.79%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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bar:1850 from:start till:437 text:"437"
bar:1860 from:start till:430 text:"430"
bar:1870 from:start till:469 text:"469"
bar:1880 from:start till:432 text:"432"
bar:1888 from:start till:424 text:"424"
bar:1900 from:start till:433 text:"433"
bar:1910 from:start till:432 text:"432"
bar:1920 from:start till:460 text:"460"
bar:1930 from:start till:463 text:"463"
bar:1941 from:start till:519 text:"519"
bar:1950 from:start till:549 text:"549"
bar:1960 from:start till:538 text:"538"
bar:1970 from:start till:597 text:"597"
bar:1980 from:start till:627 text:"627"
bar:1990 from:start till:697 text:"697"
bar:2000 from:start till:742 text:"742"
bar:2010 from:start till:838 text:"838"
Heritage sites of national significance
The Schlossgut is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Politics
In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 33.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (15.8%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (12.3%) and the Green Liberal Party (GLP) (5.8%). In the federal election 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 48.97%.[SFSO]
accessed 15 April 2016
Economy
, Kiesen had an unemployment rate of 0.86%. , there were a total of 398 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 34 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 66 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 11 businesses in this sector. 298 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 41 businesses in this sector.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 15 April 2016
there were a total of 190 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 24, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 95 of which 84 or (88.4%) were in manufacturing and 8 (8.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 71. In the tertiary sector; 14 or 19.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 2.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 19 or 26.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 16 or 22.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 8 or 11.3% were in education and 2 or 2.8% were in health care.
, there were 158 workers who commuted into the municipality and 311 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 25.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 47.7% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 560 or 75.5% 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 85 or 11.5% 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 were 3 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.40% of the population), and there were 64 individuals (or about 8.63% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 10 (or about 1.35% 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. 41 (or about 5.53% 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 11 individuals (or about 1.48% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Climate
Between 1981 and 2010 Kiesen had an average of 128.2 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 August during which time Kiesen received an average of of rain or snow. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 11.7 days. The month with the most days of precipitation was May, with an average of 13.1, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year was February with an average of of precipitation over 8.7 days.[, the Kiesen weather station elevation is 535 meters above sea level.]
Education
In Kiesen about 330 or (44.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 106 or (14.3%) 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 106 who completed tertiary schooling, 67.0% were Swiss men, 26.4% were Swiss women, 4.7% were non-Swiss men.[
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 2010–11 school year, there were a total of 81 students attending classes in Kiesen. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 11 students in the municipality. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 70 students. Of the primary students, 1.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language.[Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document]
accessed 4 January 2012
, there were 20 students in Kiesen who came from another municipality, while 53 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
Kiesen is home to the ''Gemeindebibliothek Kiesen'' (municipal library of Kiesen). The library has () 4,471 books or other media. It was open a total of 160 days with average of 5 hours per week during that year.]
accessed 14 May 2010
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Bern
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern