Kirchdorf 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 in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of

Gelterfingen Gelterfingen is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Gelterfingen, Mühledorf and Noflen merged into the municipality of Kirchd ...

, Mühledorf and

Noflen Noflen is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Gelterfingen, Mühledorf and Noflen merged into the municipality of Kirchdorf. ...

merged into the municipality of Kirchdorf.

History

Kirchdorf is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Chilthorf''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are several La Tène graves near the current cemetery. A prehistoric earthwork in the Gestelenwald may have had a village near it. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

a number of local nobles and

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

owned rights or land in the village. From the 13th until the 15th century several monasteries bought or received much of the village. In 1507-08 Jakob von Wattenwyl acquired all the scattered rights and land holdings and combined them into a single ''

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 ...

''. He than sold the territory and Kirchdorf passed through a number of owners. In 1645, the village council acquired the Kirchdorf court, which they then sold to Bern for 1,000 pounds. The village church of St. Ursus was built during the Middle Ages. It first appears in a historical record in 1228 as the center of a large

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 ...

. Today it is still the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

for several surrounding municipalities. The current church was built in 1872-74, after the medieval church was destroyed in a fire. The village is located between the

Emmental The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme (river), Emme and Ilfis (river), Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to ...

and Schwarzburg regions and has always made a little money off the trade route. Beginning in the 1970s the population began increasing as commuters moved into Kirchdorf. Today, about two-thirds of the workers commute to jobs in other towns and cities. The local economy is based on agriculture, small businesses, gravel mining and a regional landfill. The Tannacker home and workshop for the handicapped also provides some jobs.

Geography

Kirchdorf has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 67.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 17.8% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 11.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.7% 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 3.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.9% of the area All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 41.3% is used for growing crops and 22.3% is pasturage, while 4.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 1.5% is in lakes and 0.3% is in rivers and streams. The municipality includes the village of Kirchdorf together with other

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 ...

and individual houses. It is located on a terrace between 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 descen ...

valley and 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 ...

(Gürbe valley), it also is bordered by Gerzensee Lake. The parish of Kirchdorf includes

Jaberg Jaberg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Jaberg is first mentioned in 1259 as ''Jagberc''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Hallstatt burial mound. Du ...

Kienersrüti Kienersrüti is a former municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipality of Kienersrüti merged into the municipality of Uttigen.Mühledorf,

and

Uttigen Uttigen is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipality of Kienersrüti merged into the municipality of Uttigen.Gelterfingen Gelterfingen is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Gelterfingen, Mühledorf and Noflen merged into the municipality of Kirchd ...

, Gerzensee, Kirchdorf (BE), Mühledorf and Noflen are considering a merger on 1 January 2017 into the new municipality with an, , undetermined name.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 12 December 2013 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 Bern-Mittelland.
accessed 4 April 2011 File:Gerzensee bynight1.jpg, The lake "Gerzensee", seen from Kirchdorf. Image:Gerzensee_inwinter.jpg, The lake in winter. Image:view_from_kirchdorf.jpg, Great view from Kirchdorf: Alps of the Bernese Oberland.

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 ''Gules a Butcher Axe Argent and on the Flanks of the last two Oxen Heads Sable horned, ringed and langued of the first.''

Demographics

Kirchdorf has a population () of . , 3.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 2 years (2010-2012) the population has changed at a rate of 8.2%. Migration accounted for 7.0%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.0%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 1 April 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 ...

(792 or 96.7%) as their first language, French is the second most common (10 or 1.2%) and Romansh is the third (3 or 0.4%). 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 49.4% male and 50.6% female. The population was made up of 385 Swiss men (47.3% of the population) and 17 (2.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 401 Swiss women (49.3%) and 11 (1.4%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 270 or about 33.0% were born in Kirchdorf and lived there in 2000. There were 408 or 49.8% who were born in the same canton, while 80 or 9.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 49 or 6.0% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.0%. , there were 346 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 396 married individuals, 44 widows or widowers and 33 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 96 households that consist of only one person and 28 households with five or more people. , a total of 308 apartments (93.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 13 apartments (3.9%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (2.7%) 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 14.7559591373 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.0075566751%. In 2011, single family homes made up 51.8% 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:2000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:400 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:50 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width: 35 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:326 text:"326" bar:1850 from:start till:679 text:"679" bar:1860 from:start till:660 text:"660" bar:1870 from:start till:668 text:"668" bar:1880 from:start till:710 text:"710" bar:1888 from:start till:639 text:"639" bar:1900 from:start till:605 text:"605" bar:1910 from:start till:602 text:"602" bar:1920 from:start till:607 text:"607" bar:1930 from:start till:589 text:"589" bar:1941 from:start till:591 text:"591" bar:1950 from:start till:640 text:"640" bar:1960 from:start till:535 text:"535" bar:1970 from:start till:564 text:"564" bar:1980 from:start till:675 text:"675" bar:1990 from:start till:784 text:"784" bar:2000 from:start till:819 text:"819" bar:2010 from:start till:798 text:"798" bar:2018 from:start till:1844 text:"1,844"

Heritage sites of national significance

The granary at Filgesse 31 in Mühledorf is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Kirchdorf is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 38.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (15.2%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (11.9%) 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 ...

(9.5%). In the federal election, a total of 584 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 55.1%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Kirchdorf had an unemployment rate of 1.18%. , there were a total of 337 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 103 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 86 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 17 businesses in this sector. 148 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 43 businesses in this sector. There were 430 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.7% of the workforce. there were a total of 180

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 74, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 38 of which 15 or (39.5%) were in manufacturing and 23 (60.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 68. In the tertiary sector; 7 or 10.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 7 or 10.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 8 or 11.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 9 or 13.2% were in the information industry, 8 or 11.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 8 or 11.8% were in education and 14 or 20.6% were in health care. , there were 88 workers who commuted into the municipality and 293 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 137 workers (60.9% of the 225 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Kirchdorf.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 13.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 56% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Kirchdorf making 150,000 CHF was 12.2%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18%. 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 356 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 131 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There was one person who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Kirchdorf was 126,605 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. In 2011 a total of 0.5% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

Religion

From the , 654 or 79.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 43 or 5.3% 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 was 1 member of an Orthodox church, there were 2 individuals (or about 0.24% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 44 individuals (or about 5.37% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 2 (or about 0.24% of the population) who were Muslim. There were 1 individual who belonged to another church. 53 (or about 6.47% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 19 individuals (or about 2.32% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Kirchdorf about 61.4% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 23.3% 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 ...

or a '' Fachhochschule''). Of the 113 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 75.2% were Swiss men, 23.0% 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 98 students attending classes in Kirchdorf. There were no kindergarten classes in the municipality. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 82 students. Of the primary students, 2.4% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 2.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there was one lower secondary class with a total of 16 students. 6.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2011/12 pdf document
accessed 9 May 2013 , there were a total of 72 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 69 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 3 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 58 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

External links

* * Kirchgemeinde Kirchdorf http://www.kirchdorf.ch/ * {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern