Stocken-Höfen 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 administrative district of
Thun
, neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg
, twintown =
, website = www.thun.ch
Thun (french: Thou ...
in the
canton of
Bern in
Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of
Niederstocken
Niederstocken is a former municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Niederstocken, Oberstocken and Höfen merged into the new municipality of Sto ...
,
Oberstocken
Oberstocken is a former municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Oberstocken, Niederstocken and Höfen merged into the new municipality of Stocke ...
and
Höfen merged into the municipality of Stocken-Höfen.
[Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 13 December 2014
History
Höfen
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a single
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 ...
artifact which was found in the Hofallmend. 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 ...
a small hunting estate, known as the ''Turm zu Stocken'' or ''Friedberg'', was built above the
Amsoldingersee
Amsoldingersee is small lake adjacent to the town of Amsoldingen, in the Upper Gürbetal. It is located near the city of Thun, Switzerland. The lake has a surface area of 38 hectares and a maximum length of 1.1 km and width of 500 m. The ma ...
. Very little is known of its early history, but in 1308 the
Duke of Austria
This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, t ...
granted it to the knightly Amsoldingen family. The village of Höfen grew up around the estate and was part of the Amsoldingen lands and Amsoldingen
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 o ...
. By the 15th century disputes over village farming land established the borders of the village. The Amsoldingens held the estate for almost two centuries, but gave it up in 1492. It passed through several other owners until it became part of the Blumenstein ''
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 ...
'' in 1642. Later the estate was abandoned and fell into ruins.
Traditionally the villagers raised livestock which they took to
Thun
, neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg
, twintown =
, website = www.thun.ch
Thun (french: Thou ...
to sell. In the 20th century, many of the residents began commuting to jobs in Thun or neighboring cities. Beginning in the 1980s the population began to grow and the Schindlern-Kistlern neighborhood was built.
Niederstocken
Niederstocken is first mentioned in 1351 as ''Stogken''.
[
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Stone Age tool production site on the Stockenfluh mountain. 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 village was part of the lands and 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 o ...
of the college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
of canons at Amsoldingen. In 1485 the office of canon was abolished and the Amsoldingen lands were acquired by Bern. In 1505, it was incorporated into the Bernese district of Thun, where it remained until 1803. At that time it joined the Niedersimmental District. Between 1898 and 1926 the Stockentalbahn railroad company unsuccessfully attempted to build a railroad through the Stockental valley including Niederstocken. In 1921 a road was built to the municipality. There were several unsuccessful attempts to combine the villages of Oberstocken and Niederstocken, the most recent was in 1988. Today the municipality remains generally isolated and has retained its agrarian character.[
The village was part of the parish of Amsoldingen until 1485, when it joined the Reutigen parish. In 1481, Hans Schütz, built a chapel in the village. By 1556 Niederstocken accepted the new faith of the ]Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
and the village chapel was demolished.
Oberstocken
Oberstocken is first mentioned in 1351 as ''Stogken''.
During the Middle Ages the village was part of the lands and parish of the college of canons at Amsoldingen. In 1485 the office of canon was abolished and the Amsoldingen lands were acquired by Bern. In 1505, it was incorporated into the Bernese district of Thun, where it remained until 1803. At that time it joined the Niedersimmental District. Between 1898 and 1926 the Stockentalbahn railroad company unsuccessfully attempted to build a railroad through the Stockental valley to Oberstocken. There were several unsuccessful attempts to combine the villages of Oberstocken and Niederstocken, the most recent was in 1988.
Geography
The former municipalities that now make up Stocken-Höfen have a total combined area of .
Demographics
The total population of Stocken-Höfen () is .
Historic population
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Colors=
id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)
ImageSize = width: auto height:500 barincrement:45
PlotArea = top:20 left:35 bottom:90 right:35
Legend = columns:3 left:20 top:70 columnwidth:160
AlignBars = justify
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:1000
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
AlignBars = justify
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0
Colors=
id:HO value:yellowgreen legend:Höfen
id:NI value:green legend:Niederstocken
id:OB value:blue legend:Oberstocken
PlotData=
color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center
bar:1850 from: 0 till:456 text:"456" color:HO
bar:1860 from: 0 till:427 text:"427" color:HO
bar:1870 from: 0 till:436 text:"436" color:HO
bar:1880 from: 0 till:396 text:"396" color:HO
bar:1890 from: 0 till:366 text:"366" color:HO
bar:1900 from: 0 till:342 text:"342" color:HO
bar:1910 from: 0 till:358 text:"358" color:HO
bar:1920 from: 0 till:295 text:"295" color:HO
bar:1930 from: 0 till:291 text:"291" color:HO
bar:1940 from: 0 till:323 text:"323" color:HO
bar:1950 from: 0 till:341 text:"341" color:HO
bar:1960 from: 0 till:354 text:"354" color:HO
bar:1970 from: 0 till:374 text:"374" color:HO
bar:1980 from: 0 till:385 text:"385" color:HO
bar:1990 from: 0 till:394 text:"394" color:HO
bar:2000 from: 0 till:398 text:"398" color:HO
bar:1850 from: 456 till:696 text:"240" color:NI
bar:1860 from: 427 till:678 text:"251" color:NI
bar:1870 from: 436 till:692 text:"256" color:NI
bar:1880 from: 396 till:641 text:"245" color:NI
bar:1890 from: 366 till:589 text:"223" color:NI
bar:1900 from: 342 till:538 text:"196" color:NI
bar:1910 from: 358 till:555 text:"197" color:NI
bar:1920 from: 295 till:501 text:"206" color:NI
bar:1930 from: 291 till:506 text:"215" color:NI
bar:1940 from: 323 till:537 text:"214" color:NI
bar:1950 from: 341 till:600 text:"259" color:NI
bar:1960 from: 354 till:571 text:"217" color:NI
bar:1970 from: 374 till:588 text:"214" color:NI
bar:1980 from: 385 till:612 text:"227" color:NI
bar:1990 from: 394 till:666 text:"272" color:NI
bar:2000 from: 398 till:689 text:"291" color:NI
bar:1850 from: 696 till:919 text:"223" color:OB
bar:1860 from: 678 till:910 text:"232" color:OB
bar:1870 from: 692 till:926 text:"234" color:OB
bar:1880 from: 641 till:869 text:"228" color:OB
bar:1890 from: 589 till:781 text:"192" color:OB
bar:1900 from: 538 till:717 text:"179" color:OB
bar:1910 from: 555 till:734 text:"179" color:OB
bar:1920 from: 501 till:704 text:"203" color:OB
bar:1930 from: 506 till:702 text:"196" color:OB
bar:1940 from: 537 till:765 text:"228" color:OB
bar:1950 from: 600 till:843 text:"243" color:OB
bar:1960 from: 571 till:830 text:"259" color:OB
bar:1970 from: 588 till:814 text:"226" color:OB
bar:1980 from: 612 till:821 text:"209" color:OB
bar:1990 from: 666 till:882 text:"216" color:OB
bar:2000 from: 689 till:952 text:"263" color:OB
Civil Defense
Oberstocken is designated as a civil defense evacuation site, with over 350 small bunkers. The main civil defense building is temporarily used as a garage which houses 16 vehicles.''Willkommen in Oberstocken: Porträt unserer Gemeinde''
in German
References
External links
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stocken-Hofen
Municipalities of the canton of Bern