Rohrbachgraben 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
Oberaargau administrative district in the
canton of
Bern in
Switzerland.
History
Rohrbachgraben was a municipality created out of widely scattered settlements and farms around the Rohrbach stream. Until the modern era it was politically part of the village of
Rohrbach Rohrbach or Röhrbach may refer to:
Places Municipalities in Switzerland
*Rohrbach, Switzerland, in the canton of Bern
Municipalities in Germany
*Rohrbach, Bavaria, in the district of Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria
*Rohrbach, Birkenfeld, in the district o ...
. 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 ...
the entire region was part of a district of the land owned by the
Abbey of St. Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot ...
.
Agriculture still dominates the local economy. In 2009 there were still over 40 active farms in the municipality.
The municipality has its own primary school district. It is part of the
Kleindietwil
Kleindietwil is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011 Klei ...
secondary school district.
[
]
Geography
Rohrbachgraben has an area of . Of this area, or 69.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 27.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 2.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 19.4% is used for growing crops and 47.4% is pastures, while 2.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[
The municipality is a widely scattered collection of small farms and settlements without a central village. It consists of the ]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 farm houses of Flückigen, Gansenberg, Glasbach, Kaltenegg, Liemberg, Matten, Wald and Wil.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Aarwangen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Oberaargau.[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 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 ''Impalled Argent a Bear rampant to sinister Sable langued and viriled Gules and Vert a Bar wavy of the first.'' The wavy line symbolizes both the stream (german: bach) and the channel (german: graben).
Demographics
Rohrbachgraben has a population () of . , 2.3% 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 -8.5%. Migration accounted for -3.3%, while births and deaths accounted for -2.2%.
accessed 11-June-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 ...
(432 or 99.1%) as their first language, with the rest speaking Albanian.[
, the population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The population was made up of 211 Swiss men (49.3% of the population) and 5 (1.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 207 Swiss women (48.4%) and 5 (1.2%) non-Swiss women.][
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.4%.][
, there were 204 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 206 married individuals, 22 widows or widowers and 4 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 31 households that consist of only one person and 32 households with five or more people. , a total of 132 apartments (87.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 12 apartments (7.9%) were seasonally occupied and 7 apartments (4.6%) 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 2.42%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 37.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the EDU Party (19.3%), the BDP Party (18.3%) and the EVP Party (16.2%). In the federal election, a total of 190 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 58.6%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Rohrbachgraben had an unemployment rate of 1.02%. , there were a total of 143 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 102 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 36 businesses involved in this sector. 9 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. 32 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 8 businesses in this sector.[
there were a total of 97 ]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 63, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 25. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 44.0% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 8.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 12.0% were technical professionals or scientists and 6 or 24.0% were in education.
, there were 23 workers who commuted into the municipality and 119 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 5.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 6.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 44.1% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 11 or 2.5% 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 374 or 85.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 80 individuals (or about 18.35% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 4 (or about 0.92% of the population) who were Islamic. 4 (or about 0.92% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 3 individuals (or about 0.69% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Rohrbachgraben about 152 or (34.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 30 or (6.9%) 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 30 who completed tertiary schooling, 73.3% were Swiss men, 26.7% 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 7 students in Rohrbachgraben who came from another municipality, while 31 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Bern