Münchringen is a former

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 ...

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 ...

. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Münchringen and

Scheunen Scheunen is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Scheunen and Münchringen merged into the municipality of Jegenstorf.

merged into the municipality of

Jegenstorf Jegenstorf is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the former municipality of Ballmoos merged into Jegenstorf and on 1 January 2014 Münchringen and Scheunen mer ...

.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 13 December 2014

History

Münchringen is first mentioned around 1261-63 as ''Munderchingen''. The Holzmühle settlement was first mentioned in 1271. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a cluster of

Hallstatt era The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries B ...

grave mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

at Hursch and Waldäcker. By the 13th century Münchringen and Holzmühle were both owned by the

Counts of Kyburg The Kyburg family (; ; also Kiburg) was a noble family of ''grafen'' (counts) in the Duchy of Swabia, a cadet line of the counts of Dillingen, who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries ruled the County of Kyburg, corresponding to much of wha ...

and were part of the Kyburg low court in Alchenflüh. After the extinction of the Kyburg line, the villages came under

's control. In 1518 the villages successfully requested that they would henceforth be administered from Kernenried. Following 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 ...

, Münchringen became part of the Fraubrunnen district. In 1844-45, the formerly independent hamlet of Holzmühle became part of the political municipality of Münchringen. However, Holzmühle remained 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 ...

. In 1944-46, levees and canals helped control the Urtenen river and prevent periodic flooding. The completion of a highway on the municipal border in 1965 encouraged population and industrial growth in Münchringen. The formerly agricultural village is now

commuter town 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 ...

with almost four fifths of the working population traveling to the region around Bern for work.

Geography

2011-04-17 Balonveturo (Foto Dietrich Michael Weidmann) 159

Before the merger, Münchringen had a total area of . Of this area, or 76.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 10.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 10.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.5% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.4% 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 6.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 66.3% is used for growing crops and 10.4% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The former municipality is located in the Urtenen valley. It includes the village of Münchringen and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Holzmühle. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Fraubrunnen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.

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 ''Per pale Gules and Argent overall a Ploughshare conjoined with a Patriarchal Cross and in chief two Mullets all chounterchanged.''

Demographics

Münchringen had a population (as of 2011) of 596.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 22 January 2014 , 2.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals.
accessed 4 January 2012 Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of 8.5%. Migration accounted for 7.7%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.3%. 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 ...

(513 or 96.2%) as their first language, French is the second most common (4 or 0.8%) and Romansh is the third (4 or 0.8%). 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 49.1% male and 50.9% female. The population was made up of 277 Swiss men (47.1% of the population) and 12 (2.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 294 Swiss women (50.0%) and 5 (0.9%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 117 or about 22.0% were born in Münchringen and lived there in 2000. There were 271 or 50.8% who were born in the same canton, while 105 or 19.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 26 or 4.9% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.9%. , there were 200 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 293 married individuals, 22 widows or widowers and 18 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 37 households that consist of only one person and 22 households with five or more people. , a total of 194 apartments (98.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2 apartments (1.0%) were seasonally occupied and one apartment was 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 1.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.43%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1020 height:210 PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:540 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:78 text:"78" bar:1850 from:start till:266 text:"266" bar:1860 from:start till:258 text:"258" bar:1870 from:start till:235 text:"235" bar:1880 from:start till:235 text:"235" bar:1888 from:start till:205 text:"205" bar:1900 from:start till:198 text:"198" bar:1910 from:start till:193 text:"193" bar:1920 from:start till:217 text:"217" bar:1930 from:start till:230 text:"230" bar:1941 from:start till:224 text:"224" bar:1950 from:start till:232 text:"232" bar:1960 from:start till:224 text:"224" bar:1970 from:start till:271 text:"271" bar:1980 from:start till:447 text:"447" bar:1990 from:start till:503 text:"503" bar:2000 from:start till:533 text:"533"

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) which received 21.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (16.9%), the Swiss People's Party (SVP) (16.8%) and the Evangelical People's Party (EVP) (11.5%). In the federal election, a total of 301 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 64.0%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Münchringen had an unemployment rate of 1.33%. , there were a total of 59 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 26 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 8 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 4 businesses in this sector. 25 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 9 businesses in this sector. There were 309 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.7% of the workforce. there were a total of 42

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 17, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 6 of which 3 were in manufacturing and 3 were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 19. In the tertiary sector; 3 or 15.8% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 10.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 9 or 47.4% were technical professionals or scientists, and 2 or 10.5% were in health care. , there were 35 workers who commuted into the municipality and 262 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.5 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 24.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 55% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 63 or 11.8% 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 413 or 77.5% 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 ...

. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 member of an Orthodox church, there were 5 individuals (or about 0.94% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 34 individuals (or about 6.38% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was

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 were 4 individuals who were

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 ...

. 12 (or about 2.25% 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 16 individuals (or about 3.00% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Münchringen about 246 or (46.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 83 or (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, 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 83 who completed tertiary schooling, 75.9% were Swiss men, 24.1% 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 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 12 students attending classes in Münchringen. There was one kindergarten class with all 12 students. Of the kindergarten students, 8.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 25.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document
accessed 4 January 2012 , there were 72 students from Münchringen who attended schools outside the municipality.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Munchringen Former municipalities of the canton of Bern Populated places disestablished in 2014