Plagne () 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
Jura bernois administrative district in the
canton of
Bern in
Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking
Bernese Jura
Bernese Jura (french: Jura bernois, ) is the name for the French-speaking area of the Swiss canton of Bern, and from 2010 one of ten administrative divisions of the canton.
Comprising the three French-speaking districts in the northern part of the ...
(''Jura Bernois''). On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Plagne and
Vauffelin
Vauffelin () is a former municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Vauffe ...
merged into the new municipality of
Sauge
Sauge () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Jura bernois (administrative district), Jura bernois administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French ...
.
History
Plagne is first mentioned in 1311 as ''Blenn'', though this comes from a 1441 copy of the original document. In 1610 it was mentioned as ''Plaentsch''. The municipality was formerly known by its German name ''Plentsch'', however, that name is no longer used.
[
In 1311 Plagne was part of a ]fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
owned by the Basel Cathedral
Basel Minster (German: ''Basler Münster'') is a religious building in the Swiss city of Basel, originally a Catholic cathedral and today a Reformed Protestant church.
The original cathedral was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and G ...
that was granted to Bourkard de La Roche. It was part of the seigniory In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple.
''Nulle terre ...
of Erguel
Erguël is an medieval seigniory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Basel, and under protectorate of Biel/Bienne, under military jurisdiction from 1335, in the now called valley of St.-Imier, in the now Bernese Jura, Switzerland.
The Sire of the ...
which was owned by the Prince Bishop of Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
. After the 1797 French victory and the Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...
, Plagne became part of the French Département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
of Mont-Terrible
Mont-Terrible was a department of the First French Republic, with its seat at Porrentruy.
The Mont Terrible for which the department was named is now known as , a peak of 804 metres near Courgenay (now in the canton of Jura, Switzerland). The ...
. A few years later, it became part of the Département of Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...
. After Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's defeat and the Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
, Plagne was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815. In 1862 a fire destroyed the village core and it had to be rebuilt in the following years.[
During the Early Modern Era, in addition to agriculture, some of the residents mined a small ore deposit south of Les Ferrières or mined white pottery clay. At the end of the 18th Century many residents began making watch parts in home workshops. Beginning in the 1970s the village's population grew rapidly as commuters to ]Biel/Bienne
, french: Biennois(e)
, neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin
, twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany)
...
moved out to Plagne.[
]
Geography
Before the merger, Plagne had a total area of .[ Of this area, or 33.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 61.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 4.7% 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 3.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.2%. Out of the forested land, 54.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 7.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.4% is used for growing crops and 16.8% is pastures and 10.2% is used for alpine pastures.[
The former municipality is located on the mountain slopes above the ]Vauffelin
Vauffelin () is a former municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Vauffe ...
valley.
On 31 December 2009 District de Courtelary, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Arrondissement administratif Jura bernois.
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 ''Per pale Or and Gules overall three Cauldrons counterchanged.''
Demographics
Plagne had a population (as of 2011) of 364.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
/ref> , 2.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals.
accessed 4 January 2012[
Most of the population () speaks French (300 or 76.3%) as their first language, ]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 ...
is the second most common (83 or 21.1%) and 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 ...
is the third (3 or 0.8%).[
, the population was 50.4% male and 49.6% female. The population was made up of 177 Swiss men (49.0% of the population) and 5 (1.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 174 Swiss women (48.2%) and 5 (1.4%) non-Swiss women.][
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 52.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 27.4%.][
, there were 149 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 200 married individuals, 22 widows or widowers and 22 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 43 households that consist of only one person and 13 households with five or more people. , a total of 154 apartments (62.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 71 apartments (28.9%) were seasonally occupied and 21 apartments (8.5%) were empty.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011 The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.55%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 34.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (19.2%), 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 ...
(10.7%) and the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (9.1%). In the federal election, a total of 107 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 36.0%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Plagne had an unemployment rate of 0.8%. , there were a total of 50 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 8 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 5 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 3 businesses in this sector. 37 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 11 businesses in this sector.[
there were a total of 36 ]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 6, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 5 of which 3 were in manufacturing and 2 were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 25. In the tertiary sector; 2 or 8.0% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 16.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 6 or 24.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 8.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 3 or 12.0% were in education and 3 or 12.0% were in health care.
, there were 12 workers who commuted into the municipality and 147 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 12.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 12.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 67.4% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 55 or 14.0% 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 270 or 68.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 10 individuals (or about 2.54% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Islamic. 54 (or about 13.74% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 8 individuals (or about 2.04% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Plagne about 149 or (37.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 38 or (9.7%) 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 38 who completed tertiary schooling, 52.6% were Swiss men, 39.5% 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 were 25 students from Plagne who attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
Website of the municipality of Plagne
{{Authority control
Former municipalities of the canton of Bern