Wald 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 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 ...

History

In January 2004 it incorporated the two independent municipalities of

Zimmerwald Zimmerwald was an independent municipality in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland until 31 December 2003. It is located on a hill in the proximity of the city of Bern in the Bernese Mittelland. On 1 January 2004 Zimmerwald united with the municipality ...

and

Englisberg Englisberg is a village in the district of Seftigen in Canton Bern, Switzerland. On January 1, 2004, the independent municipality merged with Zimmerwald to form the new municipality of Wald BE. Situated on the Längenberg, above the valle ...

. *

, population: 201 *

, population: 870 Englisberg is first mentioned in 1166 as ''Endlisperc''. Zimmerwald was first mentioned in 1296 as ''Zymmerwalt''. Until 1902 it was officially known as ''Obermuhlern und Zimmerwald''.

Englisberg

Englisberg first appears in a historic record with the Kyburg

Ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minis ...

(unfree knights in the service of a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

overlord) family of Englisberg. By the 15th century

ese

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 owned the village and surrounding ''

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 ...

''. The right to hold court in the ''Herrschaft'' was sold to the villagers in 1570 and then split into 70 shares. This situation remained until the 18th century, when Bernese patricians bought the majority of the shares back. It was originally 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 Belp, but in 1699 became an independent parish. The village economy always relied on agriculture. However, by 1900 fewer workers were needed on the farms and the population began to decline. A

poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...

opened in 1890 and eventually became the Kühlewil nursing home, which is now a major employer in the village.

Zimmerwald

The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are several

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 ...

artifacts found at Äppenacker.

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 ...

artifacts and a

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is :Calcium carbonate, Ca ...

have been discovered scattered around the municipal area. The village and surrounding lands were owned by several Bernese families as well as

Interlaken Abbey , order = Augustinians , established = by 1133 , disestablished = 1528 , mother = , dedication = , diocese = Lausanne , churches = , founder = Ba ...

Köniz Köniz (, ) is a statistical town, however considers itself still as a village, and a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district right on the southern border to Bern in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The municipality of Kön ...

and

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 ...

s and the Obere Spital in Bern. In 1528 Bern adopted 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 in ...

, secularized the monasteries and acquired their estates, including Zimmerwald. The village was combined to form the court of Obermuhlern and Zimmerwald in the Seftigen District. Until 1697 it was part of the large parish of Belp, then it formed an independent parish with the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in Zimmerwald. In 1641 the wealthy Bernese Werdt family built a hunting lodge in the village. In 1860 the Pension Beau Séjour was built in the park near the lodge. The Pension became famous, when in 1915, the

Zimmerwald Conference The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 to 8, 1915. It was the first of three international socialist conferences convened by anti-militarist socialist parties from countries that were originally neutral d ...

was held there. The Zimmerwald Conference was the first of three international socialist conferences convened by anti-militarist socialist parties from countries that were originally neutral during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Zimmerwald movement grew out of the conferences. The delegates included

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

and

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

. Eventually the Pension was demolished and no trace remains of the building. In 1956 the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

opened the

Zimmerwald Observatory The Zimmerwald Observatory (german: Observatorium Zimmerwald) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the AIUB, the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern. Built in 1956, it is located at Zimmerwald, 10 kilometers south of B ...

in the municipality. In 1988 a satellite monitoring station was added. Today, the village economy still relies mostly on farming and raising livestock.

Geography

Wald has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 74.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 19.2% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 6.3% is settled (buildings or roads).Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 During the same year, housing and buildings made up 3.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. A total of 17.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 40.1% is used for growing crops and 32.7% is pasturage, while 1.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. On 1 January 2004 the former municipalities of

and

merged into the municipality of Wald (BE).Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 13 December 2014 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.

Demographics

Wald has a population () of . , 5.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Between the last 2 years (2010-2012) the population changed at a rate of 0.8%. Migration accounted for -0.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.9%.
accessed 6 May 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 **Ger ...

(97.7%) as their first language,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

is the second most common (0.6%) 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 (0.5%). , the population was 48.9% male and 51.1% female. The population was made up of 550 Swiss men (46.8% of the population) and 24 (2.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 568 Swiss women (48.3%) and 33 (2.8%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.0% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 20.9%. , there were 118 households that consist of only one person and 33 households with five or more people. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.9%. In 2011, single family homes made up 48.5% of the total housing in the municipality.

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:40 bottom:90 right:35 Legend = columns:3 left:20 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1400 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:300 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:60 start:0 Colors= id:ZI value:yellowgreen legend:Zimmerwald id:EN value:green legend:Englisberg id:WA value:blue legend: Wald PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 0 till:810 text:"810" color:ZI bar:1860 from: 0 till:838 text:"838" color:ZI bar:1870 from: 0 till:791 text:"791" color:ZI bar:1880 from: 0 till:809 text:"809" color:ZI bar:1890 from: 0 till:754 text:"754" color:ZI bar:1900 from: 0 till:648 text:"648" color:ZI bar:1910 from: 0 till:687 text:"687" color:ZI bar:1920 from: 0 till:740 text:"740" color:ZI bar:1930 from: 0 till:686 text:"686" color:ZI bar:1940 from: 0 till:703 text:"703" color:ZI bar:1950 from: 0 till:697 text:"697" color:ZI bar:1960 from: 0 till:660 text:"660" color:ZI bar:1970 from: 0 till:688 text:"688" color:ZI bar:1980 from: 0 till:882 text:"882" color:ZI bar:1990 from: 0 till:932 text:"932" color:ZI bar:2000 from: 0 till:885 text:"885" color:ZI bar:1850 from: 810 till:1085 text:"275" color:EN bar:1860 from: 838 till:1146 text:"308" color:EN bar:1870 from: 791 till:1079 text:"288" color:EN bar:1880 from: 809 till:1075 text:"266" color:EN bar:1890 from: 754 till:1007 text:"253" color:EN bar:1900 from: 648 till:1215 text:"567" color:EN bar:1910 from: 687 till:1264 text:"577" color:EN bar:1920 from: 740 till:1284 text:"544" color:EN bar:1930 from: 686 till:1213 text:"527" color:EN bar:1940 from: 703 till:1241 text:"538" color:EN bar:1950 from: 697 till:1261 text:"564" color:EN bar:1960 from: 660 till:1170 text:"510" color:EN bar:1970 from: 688 till:1221 text:"533" color:EN bar:1980 from: 882 till:1340 text:"458" color:EN bar:1990 from: 932 till:1342 text:"410" color:EN bar:2000 from: 885 till:1262 text:"377" color:EN bar:2010 from: 0 till:1175 text:"1175" color:WA

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 36.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (18.0%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (12.5%) 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 ...

(7.8%). In the federal election, a total of 812 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 59.8%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Wald had an unemployment rate of 1.04%. , there were a total of 498 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 164 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 59 businesses involved in this sector. 16 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 construction. ...

and there were 8 businesses in this sector. 318 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 63 businesses in this sector. there were a total of 343

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employee, employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to me ...

jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 122, of which 113 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 10 of which 9 or (90.0%) were in manufacturing and 1 was in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 211. In the tertiary sector; 10 or 4.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 6 or 2.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 10 or 4.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 1.4% were technical professionals or scientists, and 160 or 75.8% were in health care. Of the working population, 18.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 45.5% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Wald making 150,000 CHF was 12.7%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18.7%. 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 533 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 188 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 5 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Wald was 119,159 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. In 2011 a total of 0.4% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

Religion

In 2000 about 83.2% of the population belonged to a Protestant church, 9.4% 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 5.2% had no religious affiliation.

Education

In Wald about 57.6% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 27% 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 2011–12 school year, there were a total of 84 students attending classes in Wald. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 18 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 11.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 5.6% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 3 primary classes and 66 students. Of the primary students, 6.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 10.6% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2011/12 pdf document
accessed 9 May 2013

Prominent citizens and residents

Gottlieb Gruner
(1756-1830), pastor, naturalist and philanthropist * (1943), Swiss politician * (1926-2001), Chancellor of Canton Basel-Landschaft * Gunvor Guggisberg (1974), Swiss entertainer
Lars Guggisberg
(1977), Swiss politician * (1985), Swiss hockey player
Ron Guggisberg
legislator, state assembly of North Dakota * Rudolf Guggisberg (1947), Swiss politician * (1947), Swiss soccer player, national league * Dominique Jann (1977), actor *

Rudolf Joder Rudolf Joder (born 10 June 1950 in Zimmerwald) is a Swiss politician. He was a member of the Swiss National Council representing the canton of Berne from 1999 to 2015 and the president of the Bernese branch of the Swiss People's Party. Joder se ...

(1950), Swiss politician, National Council *

Bruno Messerli Bruno Messerli (17 September 1931, in Belp – 4 February 2019) was a Swiss geographer and university professor who focused on high mountains and highland-lowland linkages. He was appointed Full Professor of Geomorphology in 1968 by the Univers ...

(1931), geographer
Hans Rudolf Streit
(1910-1982), Swiss federal official

Swiss politician *

Mark Streit Mark Thomas Streit (born 11 December 1977) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was formerly the captain of both the New York Islanders and the Swiss national team. Streit was one of the few swingmen in the NHL who could pl ...

(1977), Swiss hockey player * Niklaus von Tscharner](1935–2016), civil engineer, mayor of Zimmerwald, president of the Pfistern Guild, citizen's councillor, administrator of Kühlewil asylum * Judith Wyder (1988), athlete

References

External links

* {{Municipalities of the administrative district of Bern-Mittelland