Toffen 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
Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the
canton of
Bern in
Switzerland. It lies approximately 10 km south of the city of
Bern.
The palace situated there,
Toffen Castle
Toffen Castle (german: Schloss Toffen) is a Baroque country estate in Toffen, Canton of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
History
The construction date of Toffen Castle is unknown. It first appears in a r ...
, is a
heritage site of national significance.
History
![Toffen Guerbe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Toffen_Guerbe.jpg)
Toffen is first mentioned in 1148 as ''Toffen''.
[
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a ]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 ...
grave which was discovered near the castle. During the Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
there was a manor house near Bodenacker. In addition to the house, Roman coins and ceramics have been found around the municipality. The Romans also quarried Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...
stone from the area and the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word for Tuff, ''tofus'' probably becoming Toffen. By the 13th century it was part of the ''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 ...
'' of 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 Belp- Montenach. Around 1300 the village was acquired by another noble family and for several centuries it was owned by a number of different noble families. By the mid-14th century Bern ruled over the village and the owners now included Bernese patrician
Patrician may refer to:
* Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage
* Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
families.[
The castle was first mentioned in 1306 and was the center of the local ''Herrschaft''. In 1507 Bartholomew May expanded and renovated it into a late ]Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
country manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
. In 1628 Loy Knoblauch redesigned the entire interior. In 1671-73 Johann Georg renovated the castle into a Baroque manor. Around 1750 Georg Samuel von Werdt expanded and renovated the castle again. Following the 1798 French invasion, and the creation of the Helvetic Republic the owners of the castle lost their medieval rights to rule over, judge and punish the villagers. However, they retained ownership of the castle and it remained in private hands.[
The Gürbe river correction projects of 1855 to 1911 drained the swampy valley floor and opened up additional farm and settlement land. The construction of the Gürbetal railroad in 1901 made it easier for residents to move to and from the municipality. In the 1960s, good road and rail links allowed it to grow into a ]bedroom community
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for the growing city of Bern. In the 1980s, Toffen became part of the Bern agglomeration
Agglomeration may refer to:
* Urban agglomeration, in standard English
* Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as " city cluster".
* Economies of ag ...
. Today over 80% of the population commutes to jobs in Bern and surrounding communities. However, there is still a small farming and dairy industry in Toffen.[
]
Geography
Toffen has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 62.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 19.4% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 16.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
During the same year, industrial buildings made up 1.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 8.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.3%. A total of 17.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 38.4% is used for growing crops and 22.2% is pasturage, while 1.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[
The municipality is located in the ]Gürbetal
Gürbetal (Gürbe Valley) in Switzerland lies between the towns of Bern and Thun, west of the Aare. It contains the municipality of Seftigen and those that surround it. The valley is named after the river Gürbe, which flows through it. The largest ...
and stretches from the eastern slope of the Längenberg to the foot of the Belpberg. It consists of the village of Toffen and 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 ...
of Breitloon and Heitere.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Seftigen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.[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 ''Gules a Swan passant Argent beaked and membered Or.''
Demographics
Toffen has a population () of . , 8.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 2 years (2010-2012) the population has changed at a rate of 2.0%. Migration accounted for 1.5%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.2%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 28 April 2014
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 ...
(2,112 or 95.0%) as their first language, French is the second most common (28 or 1.3%) and Albanian is the third (18 or 0.8%). There are 11 people who speak 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 ...
and 5 people who speak Romansh.[
, the population was 48.5% male and 51.5% female. The population was made up of 1,075 Swiss men (43.9% of the population) and 113 (4.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,176 Swiss women (48.0%) and 86 (3.5%) non-Swiss women.][Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 509 or about 22.9% were born in Toffen and lived there in 2000. There were 1,182 or 53.2% who were born in the same canton, while 289 or 13.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 182 or 8.2% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.0% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.3%.][
, there were 900 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,139 married individuals, 89 widows or widowers and 95 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 282 households that consist of only one person and 50 households with five or more people. , a total of 888 apartments (93.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 41 apartments (4.3%) were seasonally occupied and 24 apartments (2.5%) 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 6.8 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.4%. In 2011, single family homes made up 62.2% of the total housing in the municipality.
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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bar:1850 from:start till:691 text:"691"
bar:1860 from:start till:667 text:"667"
bar:1870 from:start till:719 text:"719"
bar:1880 from:start till:746 text:"746"
bar:1888 from:start till:629 text:"629"
bar:1900 from:start till:667 text:"667"
bar:1910 from:start till:707 text:"707"
bar:1920 from:start till:822 text:"822"
bar:1930 from:start till:809 text:"809"
bar:1941 from:start till:780 text:"780"
bar:1950 from:start till:820 text:"820"
bar:1960 from:start till:901 text:"901"
bar:1970 from:start till:1265 text:"1,265"
bar:1980 from:start till:1645 text:"1,645"
bar:1990 from:start till:1970 text:"1,970"
bar:2000 from:start till:2223 text:"2,223"
bar:2010 from:start till:2429 text:"2,429"
Heritage sites of national significance
Toffen Castle
Toffen Castle (german: Schloss Toffen) is a Baroque country estate in Toffen, Canton of Bern, Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
History
The construction date of Toffen Castle is unknown. It first appears in a r ...
is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 30.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (22.0%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (15.9%) 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 ...
(6.9%). In the federal election, a total of 998 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 54.4%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Toffen had an unemployment rate of 1.83%. , there were a total of 568 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 54 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 18 businesses involved in this sector. 111 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 24 businesses in this sector. 403 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 98 businesses in this sector.[ There were 1,251 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce.
there were a total of 444 ]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 31, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 109 of which 22 or (20.2%) were in manufacturing and 87 (79.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 304. In the tertiary sector; 204 or 67.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 2.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 11 or 3.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 20 or 6.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 18 or 5.9% were in education and 10 or 3.3% were in health care.
, there were 292 workers who commuted into the municipality and 997 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 254 workers (46.5% of the 546 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Toffen.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 29.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.7% used a private car.[
In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Toffen making 150,000 CHF was 12.4%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18.2%. 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 1,113 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 459 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 6 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Toffen was 116,652 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF.
In 2011 a total of 1.6% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.
]
Religion
From the , 1,675 or 75.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 224 or 10.1% 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 ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 19 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.85% of the population), and there were 68 individuals (or about 3.06% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 28 (or about 1.26% of the population) who were Muslim. There were 6 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 ...
, 2 individuals who were Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 134 (or about 6.03% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 65 individuals (or about 2.92% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Toffen about 59.8% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 19.9% 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 282 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 72.0% were Swiss men, 23.4% were Swiss women, 3.2% were non-Swiss men.][
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 ...
.
During the 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 222 students attending classes in Toffen. There were 2 kindergarten classes with a total of 35 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 17.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 17.1% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 8 primary classes and 151 students. Of the primary students, 7.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 7.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 2 lower secondary classes with a total of 36 students. There were 2.8% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 11.1% have a different mother language than the classroom language.[Schuljahr 2011/12 pdf document]
accessed 9 May 2013
, there were a total of 207 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 193 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 14 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 108 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Bern
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern