Twann-Tüscherz or Douanne-Daucher in French 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
Biel/Bienne 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 ...
. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of
Tüscherz-Alfermée
Tüscherz-Alfermée, Daucher-Alfermée in French, was a municipality in the district of Nidau in the Swiss canton of Bern. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Tüscherz-Alfermée and Twann merged into the municipality of Twann-Tüscherz.
H ...
and
Twann
Twann (french: Douanne ) was a municipality in the district of Nidau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Tüscherz-Alfermée and Twann merged into the municipality of Twann-Tüscherz.
History
Twann is f ...
merged into the municipality of Twann-Tüscherz.
History
Twann is first mentioned in 1185 as ''Duana'' and again in 1225 as ''Tuanna''.
Tüscherz is first mentioned around 1230 as ''Tusschiers'' and in 1267 as ''Tuschers'' while Alfermée was first mentioned in 1276 ''Alphermme''.
Twann
![Twannberg3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Twannberg3.JPG)
Just outside the Twann railway station is a large and well preserved
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 ...
lakeside settlement. It was discovered in the mid 19th century and in 1974-76 about 10% of the total site was excavated. Almost 20 different village existed at the site between 3838 and 2976 BC. The longest a single village was inhabited was only 24 years. The small huts () were only temporary and most had to be repaired after less than four years and replaced after sixteen. The huts stood in serried ranks either longitudinally or transversely oriented to the lake. The hut floors had a layer of
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
to keep them dry and a clay hearth in the center. The residents used hoes, sticks and simple plows to raise grain which was eaten as a porridge or bread. They raised domestic cattle, sheep and goats constantly and hunted animals, mostly
red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...
, as needed. They often fished in the lake. They wore clothes made of woven flax and bark fibers. An incised ceramic vessel shows trade links to
Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...
and a rock crystal shows that they traded with other alpine villages. About half of their flint tools came from local flint sources, while the rest of the flint came from distant regions including, southern Germany, the southern Rhone Valley and Champagne. One copper knife blade was also discovered at the site.
[
The other prehistoric sites include a ]Roman
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 letter ...
cremation grave in Rogget, early medieval
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
finds in Gaicht and a burial ground in Gauchete.
The settlement of Rogget northeast of Wingreis was first mentioned in 1235. During the 14th century it was abandoned, probably due to a massive rock slide.
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 ...
Twann was the capital 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 Lords of Twann. In 1250, however, their line died out and it was inherited by the Baron de Diesse. Shortly thereafter it went to the Vaumarcus family and then the Bolligen family. The Bolligens held Twann until 1422 when they sold it to the 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 ...
ese Schultheiss Rudolf Hofmeister. He established it as a Twingrecht or lower jurisdiction with a judge in 1426. Rights over parts of the village were held by a number of different nobles, but by 1470 the right to hold a court in Twann was split between Bern and the Prince-Bishopric of Basel
The Prince-Bishopric of Basel (german: Hochstift Basel, Fürstbistum Basel, Bistum Basel) was an ecclesiastical principality within the Holy Roman Empire, ruled from 1032 by prince-bishops with their seat at Basel, and from 1528 until 1792 at Po ...
.[
The village church of St. Martin was first mentioned in 1228 and belonged to the ]diocese of Lausanne
The Bishop of Lausanne (French: ''Évêque de Lausanne'') was a Prince-Bishop of the Holy Roman Empire (since 1011) and the Ordinary of the diocese of Lausanne, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lausannensis'').
Bern secularized the bishopric in ...
. The first church was built in the 9th or 10th century. This building was replaced in the 13th century and again in the 15th century. The current appearance of the church comes from Abraham Dünz the Elder's renovation in 1666-67. In 1237 Kuno von Twann gave the right to appoint the village priest to the Münchenbuchsee Commandery
The Münchenbuchsee Commandery was a medieval commandery of the Knights Hospitaller in the Swiss municipality of Münchenbuchsee in the Canton of Bern.
History
During the 12th century, the area around Münchenbuchsee was part of the lands of th ...
. During the 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 in ...
, the Commandery was dissolved and in 1528 control over the church went to Bern.[
The local economy was based on ]viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
, fishing and animal husbandry. Weekly markets allowed the residents to buy any grain that they needed. Many of the vineyards were owned by Bernese nobles or by Engelberg Abbey
Engelberg Abbey (german: Kloster Engelberg) is a Benedictine monastery in Engelberg, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland. It was formerly in the Diocese of Constance, but is now in the Diocese of Chur. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels and ...
, Münchenbuchsee Commandery and Fraubrunnen Abbey
Fraubrunnen Abbey (german: Kloster Fraubrunnen; la, Fons beatae Mariae; in English, "spring, or well, or fountain of urLady" and "of the Blessed irginMary" respectively) is a former Cistercian nunnery in the municipality of Fraubrunnen in the ...
. After the Reformation, the monastery vineyards were acquired by Bern and leased out to local farmers. In Wingreis, the Rebhaus Thormanngut, a vineyard 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 ...
, was built in the 16th century for Bernese patricians.[
For most of the history of Twann, the main transportation mode was by ship. The first road that connected Twann to Biel was built in 1835-38. About twenty years later it was followed by the Biel-Neuchatel railway line in 1858-60. The expansion of the railway and the highway, in 1969-78, separated the village completely from the lake. While viticulture is still important to the village, tourism, a shipyard and a construction company are also important parts of the local economy. In 1977-80 a vacation village was built on the Twannberg. It was sold and converted into a hotel in 2009.][
]
Tüscherz-Alfermée
Tüscherz and Alfermée were part of the lands of the Counts of Neuchatel-Nidau, until 1388 when the counts died out and the land was acquired by Bern. Originally it was part of the 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 or m ...
of Sutz which was located on the opposite side of the lake. The priest at Sutz allowed the Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
to be read in the chapel above Tüscherz. After 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 in ...
the chapel was closed, but it remained part of the Sutz parish until the parish was dissolved in 1876. Tüscherz and Alfermée then became part of the parish of Twann. In 2010 the parishes of Twann / Tüscherz-Alfermée and Ligerz merged to become the Pilgerweg Bielersee parish.[
Viticulture and fishing dominated the villages, because there was little land for growing grain. Some of the residents even rented fields across the lake in Sutz. Many of the vineyards were owned by monasteries, hospitals and lower nobility or burghers of Bern, Biel and Nidau. Several vineyard estates were owned by St. Urban's Abbey, including the Schünen estate which was bought in 1256 and later abandoned and the Convalet estate which was owned by the Abbey until 1848. In the 18th century it was expanded into a large manor house but it was demolished in 1859. The Biel/Bienne road (built in 1838), the Biel/Bienne-Neuchatel railroad (built 1860) and the A5 motorway (1973) isolate the villages from the lake. The lower village of Alfermée was built on land won from the lake after the Jura water correction in 1868-91 but was demolished in 1969 to clear land for the motorway. Until 1973 the primary school was located in the municipality, then it relocated to Twann. The vineyards are still an important industry, though now about two-thirds of the working population commute to Biel/Bienne for work.][
]
Geography
Twann-Tüscherz has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 24.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 64.8% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 8.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 2.8% 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 3.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.9%. All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 9.3% is used for growing crops and 9.1% is pasturage, while 5.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.[
It is located on the northern shore of ]Lake Biel
__NOTOC__
Lake Bienne or Lake Biel (french: Lac de Bienne ; german: Bielersee) is a lake in western Switzerland. Together with Lake Morat and Lake Neuchâtel, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies approxim ...
and is made up of the villages of Twann, Wingreis, Tüscherz and Alfermée along with part of the village of Kleintwann, the settlements of Gaicht () and Twannberg () on a terrace in the Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...
and St. Peters Island (Sankt Petersinsel) in the lake.
Demographics
Twann-Tüscherz has a population () of . , 8.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -1.8%. Migration accounted for -1.7%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.4%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 11 October 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 ...
(87%) as their first language, French is the second most common (6.9%) 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 (0.6%).[
, the population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female. The population was made up of 511 Swiss men (44.9% of the population) and 50 (4.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 531 Swiss women (46.6%) and 4 (0.4%) non-Swiss women.][Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 15.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 24.2%.[
, there were 198 households that consist of only one person and 13 households with five or more people. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.5 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 3.6%. In 2011, single family homes made up 54.0% of the total housing in the municipality.
]
Historic Population
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Colors=
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id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)
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PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:90 right:100
Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160
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id:TW value:yellowgreen legend:Twann
id:TU value:green legend:Tüscherz-Alfermée
id:TO value:blue legend:Combined_Twann-Tüscherz
PlotData=
color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center
bar:1850 from: 0 till:865 text:"865" color:TW
bar:1860 from: 0 till:981 text:"981" color:TW
bar:1870 from: 0 till:958 text:"958" color:TW
bar:1880 from: 0 till:976 text:"976" color:TW
bar:1890 from: 0 till:872 text:"872" color:TW
bar:1900 from: 0 till:854 text:"854" color:TW
bar:1910 from: 0 till:748 text:"748" color:TW
bar:1920 from: 0 till:845 text:"845" color:TW
bar:1930 from: 0 till:794 text:"794" color:TW
bar:1940 from: 0 till:735 text:"735" color:TW
bar:1950 from: 0 till:886 text:"886" color:TW
bar:1960 from: 0 till:879 text:"879" color:TW
bar:1970 from: 0 till:847 text:"847" color:TW
bar:1980 from: 0 till:768 text:"768" color:TW
bar:1990 from: 0 till:810 text:"810" color:TW
bar:2000 from: 0 till:865 text:"865" color:TW
bar:1850 from: 865 till:1127 text:"262" color:TU
bar:1860 from: 981 till:1313 text:"332" color:TU
bar:1870 from: 958 till:1250 text:"292" color:TU
bar:1880 from: 976 till:1361 text:"385" color:TU
bar:1890 from: 872 till:1198 text:"326" color:TU
bar:1900 from: 854 till:1163 text:"309" color:TU
bar:1910 from: 748 till:1013 text:"265" color:TU
bar:1920 from: 845 till:1144 text:"299" color:TU
bar:1930 from: 794 till:1078 text:"284" color:TU
bar:1940 from: 735 till:983 text:"248" color:TU
bar:1950 from: 886 till:1190 text:"304" color:TU
bar:1960 from: 879 till:1253 text:"374" color:TU
bar:1970 from: 847 till:1164 text:"317" color:TU
bar:1980 from: 768 till:1063 text:"295" color:TU
bar:1990 from: 810 till:1081 text:"271" color:TU
bar:2000 from: 865 till:1148 text:"283" color:TU
bar:2010 from: 0 till:1105 text:"1,105" color:TO
World heritage site
It is home to the Twann Bahnhof prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.[UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps]
/ref>
Twann Bahnhof is one of the best dated prehistoric lakeside settlements. The wooden piles have been dendrochronological
Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...
ly dated to 3838-3768 BC, 3702-3698 BC, 3662 BC, 3649-3631 BC, 3622-3607 BC, 3596-3573 BC, 3563-3532 BC, 3405-3391 BC, 3176-3166 BC and 3093-3074 BC. The site was discovered in the mid-1870s during digging of a well. One large scale excavation was carried out in 1974-76, while test borings in 1984-87 indicated that some of the archeological layers extend far into the lake. The total site is estimated to cover , but only were excavated in 1974-76. The underwater portion of the site has not been explored. A few years after the excavation the results of the studies were published in a 20 volume collection, which is considered the definitive reference on the neolithic development in western Switzerland.
Heritage sites of national significance
The Former Clunic 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 ...
at St. Peter's Island, the former Thormanngut building and the ''Fraubrunnen'' house are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The villages of Tüscherz and Twann 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 Wingreis are all 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 SVP which received 25.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS
SPS may refer to:
Law and government
* Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO
* NATO Science for Peace and Security
* Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy
* The Standard Procurement System, fo ...
(21.4%), the BDP Party (17.7%) and the FDP (14.8%). In the federal election, a total of 493 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 53.6%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Twann-Tüscherz had an unemployment rate of 1.76%. , there were a total of 422 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 132 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 50 businesses involved in this sector. 51 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 16 businesses in this sector. 239 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 39 businesses in this sector.[ Of the working population, 17.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.4% used a private car.][
In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Twann-Tüscherz making 150,000 CHF was 12%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 17.6%. 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.
]
Religion
In 2000 about 67.8% of the population belonged to a Protestant church, 14.8% 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 ...
and 11.2% had no religious affiliation.[
]
Education
In Twann-Tüscherz about 53% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 26.4% 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 ...
'').[
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 2009-10 school year, there were a total of 137 students attending classes in Twann-Tüscherz. There were 2 kindergarten classes with a total of 20 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 15.0% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 15.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 72 students. Of the primary students, 8.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 8.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 3 lower secondary classes with a total of 45 students.[Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document]
accessed 4 January 2012
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twann-Tuscherz
Municipalities of the canton of Bern
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern