Grossaffoltern 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 Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is known for its stork colony.

History

Grossaffoltern is first mentioned in 1216 as ''Affoltron''. The oldest evidence of humans in the Grossaffoltern area are

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 p ...

objects at Vorimholz, an Early

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 ...

ax blade depot at Munimatte and Bronze Age items at Kosthofen. There are at least 38

Hallstatt era The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries B ...

grave mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

scattered around the municipality. The area was also inhabited 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 ...

and the

Early Middle Ages 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 ...

. During the Middle Ages it was owned by the House of Zähringen until that family died out, when it was inherited by the Kyburgs. Under the Zähringens and the Kyburgs, during the 13th and 14th centuries, it was part of the district of Oltigen. In 1412, Grossaffoltern and the surrounding villages came under Bernese control. It was originally part of the bailiwick of Oltigen until that was dissolved in 1483, when it became part of the bailiwick of

Aarberg Aarberg is a historic town and a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Aarberg lies 20 kilometers from Bern above the river Aare. With an area of , Aarberg borders Bargen, Kappelen, Lyss, Rad ...

allocated. Under the Helvetic Republic, in 1798, Grossaffoltern was in the

Zollikofen Zollikofen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is a suburb of the city of Bern. It is home to the Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL). Geography Zollikofen has an area of . Of th ...

district before switching back to the Aarberg district in 1803. The village church of St. Stephen was first mentioned in 1275. The current church building is from 1510 to 1524, though it was built on top of the foundations of two 12th or 13th century churches. The church tower is from the 14th century. In 1383 it was given by Anna of Kyburg-Nidau to the monastery of Klingental near Basel. The monastery sold the church in 1416 to the

Abbey of Frienisberg Frienisberg Abbey is a former Cistercian religious house in the Swiss municipality of Seedorf in the Canton of Bern. History In 1131 Count Udelhard of Saugern granted his land at Frienisberg to the Cistercian Lützel Abbey. In 1138, the Lützel ...

. Under Frienisberg it became 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, ...

of the local

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 o ...

in 1451. The parish came under Bernese control in 1528. Even today, the economy of municipality remains strongly agrarian. In 1835-44 the cantonal road from Bern to

Biel/Bienne , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) ...

was built passing through Grossaffoltern. This was followed in 1864 by a railroad and in 1983 by a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

, all of which boosted the local economy. Due to the good transportation connections, starting the 1960s, the number of commuters living in Grossaffoltern rose sharply. In 1967, Grossaffoltern and six surrounding villages merged into a single municipality to streamline government and centralize services.

Geography

Grossaffoltern has an area of . Of this area, or 62.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 26.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 10.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 49.0% is used for growing crops and 11.8% is pastures, while 1.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located on the western edge of the Rapperswil Plateau in the Lyssbach valley. It consists of seven villages; the religious and administrative center of Grossaffoltern, Ammerzwil, Vorimholz, Wingarte, Suberg, Kosthofen and Ottiswil as well as a number of scattered farm houses.

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 ''Or an Apple tree Vert issuant from a base of the same and fructed Gules.''

Demographics

Grossaffoltern has a population () of . , 4.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of -0.2%. Migration accounted for 0.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.8%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 2 May 2012 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 ...

(2,700 or 96.4%) as their first language, French is the second most common (23 or 0.8%) and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

is the third (16 or 0.6%). There are 12 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 ...

. , the population was 50.6% male and 49.4% female. The population was made up of 1,336 Swiss men (48.0% of the population) and 72 (2.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,317 Swiss women (47.3%) and 5 (0.2%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 846 or about 30.2% were born in Grossaffoltern and lived there in 2000. There were 1,283 or 45.8% who were born in the same canton, while 413 or 14.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 169 or 6.0% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.8%. , there were 1,135 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,421 married individuals, 136 widows or widowers and 108 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 1,105 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 256 households that consist of only one person and 79 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,075 apartments (91.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 63 apartments (5.4%) were seasonally occupied and 32 apartments (2.7%) 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 1.8 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.27%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1020 height:210 PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:2800 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:600 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:120 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:785 text:"785" bar:1850 from:start till:1722 text:"1,722" bar:1860 from:start till:1705 text:"1,705" bar:1870 from:start till:1594 text:"1,594" bar:1880 from:start till:1720 text:"1,720" bar:1888 from:start till:1670 text:"1,670" bar:1900 from:start till:1818 text:"1,818" bar:1910 from:start till:1847 text:"1,847" bar:1920 from:start till:1884 text:"1,884" bar:1930 from:start till:1922 text:"1,922" bar:1941 from:start till:1957 text:"1,957" bar:1950 from:start till:2007 text:"2,007" bar:1960 from:start till:2063 text:"2,063" bar:1970 from:start till:2229 text:"2,229" bar:1980 from:start till:2235 text:"2,235" bar:1990 from:start till:2419 text:"2,419" bar:2000 from:start till:2800 text:"2,800"

Politics

In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 37.49% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (21.18%), the FDP (14.37%) 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 ...

(12.78%). In the federal election, a total of 1,053 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 48.1%.

Economy

, Grossaffoltern had an unemployment rate of 0.8%. , there were 182 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 61 businesses involved in this sector. 165 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 34 businesses in this sector. 211 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. the total number of

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 was 408. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 115, of which 113 were in agriculture and 2 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 144 of which 69 or (47.9%) were in manufacturing and 75 (52.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 149. In the tertiary sector; 38 or 25.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 5.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 28 or 18.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 2.7% were in the information industry, 16 or 10.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 21 or 14.1% were in education and 3 or 2.0% were in health care. , there were 153 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,118 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 16.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.9% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 2,191 or 78.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 248 or 8.9% 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 11 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.39% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.07% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 144 individuals (or about 5.14% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 13 (or about 0.46% of the population) who were Muslim. There were 3 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 ...

. 187 (or about 6.68% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 72 individuals (or about 2.57% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Grossaffoltern about 1,206 or (43.1%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 366 or (13.1%) 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 366 who completed tertiary schooling, 69.4% were Swiss men, 24.9% were Swiss women, 3.6% were non-Swiss men and 2.2% were non-Swiss women. 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 2009–10 school year, there were a total of 226 students attending classes in Grossaffoltern. There were 3 kindergarten classes with a total of 48 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 10.4% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 2.1% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 9 primary classes and 178 students. Of the primary students, 5.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 12.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language. , there were 4 students in Grossaffoltern who came from another municipality, while 167 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Grossaffoltern is home to the ''Bibliothek Grossaffoltern'' library. The library has () 7,624 books or other media, and loaned out 14,646 items in the same year. It was open a total of 165 days with average of 8 hours per week during that year.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries
accessed 14 May 2010

References

External links

Official Website of the municipality
{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern