Oberwil bei Büren 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 in
Switzerland.
History
Oberwil bei Büren is first mentioned in 1236 as ''Oberwile''.
[
Various ]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 ...
, 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 prin ...
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 lette ...
items have been found around the municipality. 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 ...
it was part of the Strassberg ''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 ...
''. Between 1388 and 1393, the entire Strassberg lands were acquired by Bern. Oberwil bei Büren became part of the newly created Bernese bailiwick of Büren.[
The Church of St. Mauritius was first mentioned in 1275, but it stands on the foundations of earlier churches. The first was an ]early medieval
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
wooden church from the 7th or 8th century. The first brick church was built on the site in the 9th or 10th century. Four further churches were built before the choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
was completely rebuilt in 1506-07. The most recent renovation of the church was in the 17th century.[
Throughout its history the village has remained a rural, agricultural place. Since there are very few jobs in the municipality about two-thirds of the working population commute. Many of which have very long commutes to Bern or Zurich.][
]
Geography
Oberwil bei Büren has an area of . Of this area, or 56.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 35.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 8.5% is settled (buildings or roads).[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 40.6% is used for growing crops and 14.6% is pastures.[
The municipality is located on the western side of the Bucheggberg plateau.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Büren, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Seeland.]
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 ''Azure a Harrow Or ringed Argent.''
Demographics
Oberwil bei Büren has a population () of . , 6.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012 Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of 6.1%. Migration accounted for 3.7%, while births and deaths accounted for 2.8%.
accessed 21-August-2012German
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 ...
(750 or 97.9%) as their first language, French is the second most common (7 or 0.9%) 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 an ...
is the third (4 or 0.5%). and 1 person who speaks Romansh.[
, the population was 50.1% male and 49.9% female. The population was made up of 370 Swiss men (46.3% of the population) and 31 (3.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 380 Swiss women (47.5%) and 19 (2.4%) non-Swiss women.][
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 62.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16%.][
, there were 294 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 390 married individuals, 47 widows or widowers and 35 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 84 households that consist of only one person and 17 households with five or more people. , a total of 310 apartments (93.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 9 apartments (2.7%) were seasonally occupied and 12 apartments (3.6%) 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 2.5 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.06%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Sights
The entire village of Oberwil bei Büren is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 40.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the BDP Party (26.7%), the SPS (10.1%) 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 ...
(5.6%). In the federal election, a total of 294 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 46.7%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Oberwil bei Büren had an unemployment rate of 0.67%. , there were a total of 198 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 73 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 24 businesses involved in this sector. 84 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. 41 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 19 businesses in this sector.[
there were a total of 159 ]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 50, of which 47 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 77 of which 57 or (74.0%) were in manufacturing, 13 or (16.9%) were in mining and 8 (10.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 32. In the tertiary sector; 5 or 15.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 31.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 4 or 12.5% were in education.
, there were 65 workers who commuted into the municipality and 330 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 5.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 8.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 61.3% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 35 or 4.6% 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 ...
, while 651 or 85.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 30 individuals (or about 3.92% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 8 (or about 1.04% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 3 individuals who were 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 ...
. 33 (or about 4.31% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 19 individuals (or about 2.48% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Oberwil bei Büren about 333 or (43.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 83 or (10.8%) 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 83 who completed tertiary schooling, 81.9% were Swiss men, 14.5% 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 ...
.[Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document]
accessed 4 January 2012
, there was one student in Oberwil bei Büren who came from another municipality, while 28 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
Einwohnergemeinde Oberwil b. Büren
—Official site
Burgergemeinde Oberwil
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberwil Bei Buren
Municipalities of the canton of Bern