Oberwil im Simmental 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
Frutigen-Niedersimmental 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
Oberwil is first mentioned in 1278 as ''Oberwile''.
[
During the ]Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
era (20,000-10,000 BC) humans lived in several caves above the valley floor during the summer. The caves, Schnurenloch, Mamilchloch, Zwergliloch and Chniechälebalm, contained about 5,000 bones from the now extinct cave bear
The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...
which the inhabitants had butchered. While no human remains were discovered, a number of stone tools were found. Today the tools and bones are at the Historical Museum of Bern
The Bern Historical Museum (german: Bernisches Historisches Museum, french: Musée d’Histoire de Berne) is the second largest historical museum in Switzerland. It was designed by the Neuchâtel architect André Lambert and built in 1894. Since ...
while the caves can be visited with tour groups. These caves and other nearby rock shelter
A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...
s continued to be used through the 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 ...
, the 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 ...
and into 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 ...
. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
, Alamanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
tribes settled in the Simmen valley and established villages and alpine pastures.
In 994, the royal estate at Wimmis and part of Oberwil was donated to Selz Abbey
Selz Abbey or Seltz Abbey (german: Kloster Selz; french: Abbaye de Seltz) is a former monastery and Imperial abbey in Seltz, formerly Selz, in Alsace, France.
History
The Benedictine monastery, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, was founded in ab ...
in Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
. In 1276, Wimmis and Oberwil were given to the new Augustinian Augustinian may refer to:
*Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine
*Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs
*Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo
* Canons Regular of Sain ...
Därstetten
Därstetten is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Därstetten is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Tarenchat''. The village of Weissenburg was first mentioned around ...
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...
. During the Middle Ages, two castles Festi and Heidenmauer were built above the valley floor. However no records of the castles are still in existence and both have fallen into ruin. By the 12th century the remaining settlements and land were owned by the Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
von Weissenburg. In 1439 all the Weissenburg lands, including Oberwil and the surrounding settlements, were acquired 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 ...
. During the 16th century the entire Simmen valley converted from subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
to raising cattle and producing cheese from milk. Today, while the municipality has some small businesses and tourism, the main industry is still agriculture.[
The village church of St. Mauritius was built by the Freiherr von Weissenburg and is first mentioned in 1228. The original church was expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries.][
]
Geography
Oberwil im Simmental has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 51.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 33.8% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 2.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 11.5% 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 1.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. A total of 27.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.8% is pasturage and 32.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 7.3% is unproductive vegetation and 4.2% is too rocky for vegetation.[
The large municipality spreads across much of the Simmental (Simmen valley) and the meadows and forests of the surrounding mountains. It consists of the Bäuerten (farming collectives) of Oberwil, Hintereggen, Pfaffenried, Bunschen and Waldried.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Niedersimmental, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Frutigen-Niedersimmental.][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 ''Per fess Argent a Castle Gules and Vert.''
Demographics
Oberwil im Simmental has a population () of . , 3.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -1.4%. Migration accounted for -1.6%, while births and deaths accounted for 0%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 7 November 2013
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 ...
(796 or 99.1%) as their first language. There is one person who speaks French and one that speaks Romansh.[
, the population was 50.7% male and 49.3% female. The population was made up of 394 Swiss men (48.9% of the population) and 14 (1.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 382 Swiss women (47.5%) and 15 (1.9%) non-Swiss women.][Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 514 or about 64.0% were born in Oberwil im Simmental and lived there in 2000. There were 222 or 27.6% who were born in the same canton, while 31 or 3.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 19 or 2.4% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 55.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 24.1%.][
, there were 295 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 437 married individuals, 61 widows or widowers and 10 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 83 households that consist of only one person and 28 households with five or more people. , a total of 284 apartments (64.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 115 apartments (26.1%) were seasonally occupied and 41 apartments (9.3%) 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 1.2 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.38%. In 2011, single family homes made up 44.0% of the total housing in the municipality.
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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bar:1764 from:start till:855 text:"855"
bar:1850 from:start till:1405 text:"1,405"
bar:1860 from:start till:1359 text:"1,359"
bar:1870 from:start till:1285 text:"1,285"
bar:1880 from:start till:1291 text:"1,291"
bar:1888 from:start till:1201 text:"1,201"
bar:1900 from:start till:1225 text:"1,225"
bar:1910 from:start till:1023 text:"1,023"
bar:1920 from:start till:1101 text:"1,101"
bar:1930 from:start till:987 text:"987"
bar:1941 from:start till:1057 text:"1,057"
bar:1950 from:start till:1076 text:"1,076"
bar:1960 from:start till:990 text:"990"
bar:1970 from:start till:909 text:"909"
bar:1980 from:start till:922 text:"922"
bar:1990 from:start till:929 text:"929"
bar:2000 from:start till:803 text:"803"
bar:2010 from:start till:788 text:"788"
Heritage sites of national significance
The ''Venner'' house is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Oberwil im Simmental 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 Pfaffenried are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.
Sites of national importance
Types
The types are based on t ...
.
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 61.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU) (13.8%), the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (11.3%) and the Social Democratic Party (SP) (5.3%). In the federal election, a total of 365 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 56.0%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Oberwil im Simmental had an unemployment rate of 0.73%. , there were a total of 349 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 220 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 84 businesses involved in this sector. 65 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 14 businesses in this sector. 64 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 394 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.1% of the workforce.
there were a total of 244 ]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 140, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 58 of which 16 or (27.6%) were in manufacturing and 41 (70.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 46. In the tertiary sector; 18 or 39.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 7 or 15.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 12 or 26.1% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 4.3% were the insurance or financial industry, and 1 was a technical professional or scientist.
, there were 29 workers who commuted into the municipality and 142 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 252 workers (89.7% of the 281 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Oberwil im Simmental.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 10.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 48% used a private car.[
In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Oberwil im Simmental making 150,000 CHF was 12.7%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18.7%. 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 291 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 43 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 9 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The greatest number of workers, 91, made between 50,000 and 75,000 CHF per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Oberwil im Simmental was 106,435 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF.
In 2011 a total of 1.1% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.
]
Religion
From the , 692 or 86.2% 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 14 or 1.7% 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 2 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.25% of the population), and there were 64 individuals (or about 7.97% 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 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 12 (or about 1.49% 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 16 individuals (or about 1.99% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Transport
Oberwil im Simmental sits on the Spiez–Zweisimmen line and is served by trains at the Oberwil im Simmental
Oberwil im Simmental is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Oberwil is first mentioned in 1278 as ''Oberwile''.
During the Paleolithic era (20,000-10,000 BC) h ...
and Enge im Simmental railway stations.
Education
In Oberwil im Simmental about 44.5% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 5.3% 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 24 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 87.5% were Swiss men, 12.5% 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 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 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 63 students attending classes in Oberwil im Simmental. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 7 students in the municipality. The municipality had 2 primary classes and 47 students. During the same year, there was one lower secondary class with a total of 9 students.[Schuljahr 2011/12 pdf document]
accessed 9 May 2013
, there were a total of 18 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 17 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while one student came from another municipality. During the same year, 81 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Bern
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern