Wahlern is a former

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 ...

of the canton of Bern in Switzerland 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 Schwarzenburg is a municipality in the district of Bern-Mittelland in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2011 through the merger of the municipalities of Wahlern and Albligen. History Albligen Albligen is first mentio ...

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

Oberbalm Oberbalm, is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Oberbalm is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Balmes''. The village grew up around a medieval pilgrimage site. It was part of the ...

Rüeggisberg Rüeggisberg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Rüeggisberg is first mentioned in 1075 as ''mons Richeri''. In 1224 it was mentioned as ''Ruogersperg''. The oldest ...

, Rüschegg,

Guggisberg Guggisberg (Bernese German ''Guggishbärg'' ) is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Swiss canton of Bern. History Guggisberg is first mentioned in 1076 as ''Mons Guchani''. The next earliest reference to the com ...

Alterswil Alterswil 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 speaking Canton of Fribourg. On 1 January 2021 the ...

St. Antoni St. Antoni (french: Saint-Antoine; frp, Sent-Antèno ) is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sense (district), Sense in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. It is ...

Heitenried Heitenried (formerly in french: Essert; frp, Èssèrts ) 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 ...

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 (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 f ...

(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''). 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 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 are 73 businesses in this sector. 1189 people are 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 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, the ''Frühmesskapelle'' at Käppeligässli 5, the ''Rossgrabenbrücke'' (bridge, shared with

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 re ...

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.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