Wahlern is a former municipality of the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

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 ...

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 ...

and seat of the Bern-Mittelland administrative district. On 1 January 2011, the former municipalities of Wahlern and

Albligen Albligen (former French name: Albenon) is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011, the former municipalities of Wahlern and Albligen merged into the new muni ...

merged in the new municipality of Schwarzenburg.

Geography

The municipality is called ''Wahlern'', although the chief settlement shares the name of the administrative district, Schwarzenburg. It is known as one of the transmitters of the

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

radio station Schweizer Radio International. Other settlements in the municipality include Lanzenhäusern and Steinenbrünnen. Wahlern lies in the Alpenvorland south of the

Sense River The river Sense (german: Sense; french: Singine; frp, Singena, locally ) is a right tributary of the river Saane in Switzerland. It is a border river between the Cantons of Fribourg and Bern. Its source rivers, the ''Kalte Sense'', coming from ...

. Wahlern has an area of . Of this area, 63.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 27.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.9%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The neighboring municipalities are: Köniz, Oberbalm, Rüeggisberg,

Rüschegg Rüschegg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is also a Swiss Reformed Church parish. History Rüschegg is first mentioned around 1417-28 as ''Ruesseg''. Until 1860 Rüsc ...

, Guggisberg, Alterswil,

St. Antoni St. Antoni (french: Saint-Antoine; frp, Sent-Antèno ) is a former municipality in the district of Sense in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a large majority of German speakers in the mostly French spe ...

, Heitenried,

and

Ueberstorf Ueberstorf is a municipality in the district of Sense in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a large majority of German speakers in the mostly French speaking Canton of Fribourg. History Ueberstorf is fi ...

Demographics

Wahlern has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 6197.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB
, online database – ''Datenwürfel für Thema 01.2 - Bevölkerungsstand und -bewegung'' accessed 29 September , 4.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 2.5%. Most of the population () speaks German (95.9%), with French being second most common ( 0.7%) and Albanian being third ( 0.7%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 44.6% 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 ...

(19%), the FDP (10.5%) 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 ...

(10.1%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.6%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Wahlern about 74.1% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University 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 ...

''). Wahlern has an unemployment rate of 1.18%. , there were 606 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 206 businesses involved in this sector. 1076 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 73 businesses in this sector. 1189 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 176 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 13-Jul-2009

Transportation

Schwarzenburg is the terminal station of the Bern-Schwarzenburg-Bahn, which opened in 1907 and today forms part of the BLS AG. Lanzenhäusern also has a station. There is no postal code for Wahlern; mail is instead shipped to 3150 Schwarzenburg or 3148 Lanzenhäusern.

Heritage sites of national significance

The farm house ''Aeckenmatt'' at Aeckenmatt 6, the ruins of

Grasburg Castle Grasburg Castle is a ruined castle in the municipality of Schwarzenburg of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the largest castle ruin in the Canton of Bern. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. History According to leg ...

, the ''Frühmesskapelle'' at Käppeligässli 5, the ''Rossgrabenbrücke'' (bridge, shared with Rüeggisberg),

Schwarzenburg Castle Schwarzenburg Castle (german: Schloss Schwarzenburg) is a castle in the municipality of Schwarzenburg of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. History The castle was built in 1573–76 to repla ...

and the granary at Henzischwand 298 A are all listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The entire village of Schwarzenburg and the hamlets of Äckenmatt and Elisried are designated as 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 ...

.ISOS site
accessed 26-May-2010 File:Grasburg Ruins Wahlern Sep2010.jpg, Ruins of Grasburg Castle File:Schloss Schwarzenburg, Nordwestansicht.jpg, Castle Schwarzenburg File:Chäppeli 001.jpg, ''Frühmesskapelle''

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities of the canton of Bern Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern Populated places disestablished in 2011