Oberhünigen 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 in
Switzerland.
History
Oberhünigen is first mentioned in 1148 as ''Huningen superior''. Until 1980 it was an
exclave of the municipality of
Schlosswil
Schlosswil is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Schlosswil merged into the municipality of Grosshöchstetten.
History
Schlossw ...
.
[
Throughout its history, Oberhünigen was a small farming village on the edge of the forest. It was part of the court of Wil until 1834 when it became an exclave of Schlosswil. Even after it left the political municipality of Schlosswil, it remained 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 o ...
.[
]
Geography
Oberhünigen has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 38.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 57.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 3.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
During the same year, housing and buildings made up 1.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.0%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 11.5% is used for growing crops and 26.2% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[
The municipality includes the village of Oberhünigen, 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 Äbersold and individual farm houses on the Kurzenberg. Until 1980 it was an exclave of Schlosswil.
More than half of the municipality is covered by the ''Toppwald'' (Topp Forest).
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Konolfingen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.[Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 4 April 2011
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 ''Per fess Sable two Swan Heads issuant Argent beaked Or and of he last.''
Demographics
Oberhünigen has a population () of . , 1.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -2.1%. Migration accounted for -0.6%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.3%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 8 May 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 ...
(285 or 96.3%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
is the second most common (6 or 2.0%) and Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
is the third (2 or 0.7%). There is 1 person who speaks French.[
, the population was 46.4% male and 53.6% female. The population was made up of 150 Swiss men (45.2% of the population) and 4 (1.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 177 Swiss women (53.3%) and 1 (0.3%) non-Swiss women.][Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 106 or about 35.8% were born in Oberhünigen and lived there in 2000. There were 135 or 45.6% who were born in the same canton, while 27 or 9.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 15 or 5.1% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.1%.][
, there were 135 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 137 married individuals, 14 widows or widowers and 10 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 35 households that consist of only one person and 16 households with five or more people. , a total of 112 apartments (93.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 7 apartments (5.8%) were seasonally occupied and one apartment was empty.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011 The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.53%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 43.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (16.8%), the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU) (11.1%) and the Social Democratic Party (SP) (9.1%). In the federal election, a total of 149 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 60.8%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Oberhünigen had an unemployment rate of 0.81%. , there were a total of 85 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 50 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 22 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 constructi ...
and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 19 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 5 businesses in this sector.[ There were 172 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.1% of the workforce.
there were a total of 59 ]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. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 32, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 14 of which 11 or (78.6%) were in manufacturing and 2 (14.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 13. In the tertiary sector; 3 or 23.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 30.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 38.5% were in education.
, there were 7 workers who commuted into the municipality and 104 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 14.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 11.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 47.7% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 222 or 75.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 16 or 5.4% 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 let ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 48 individuals (or about 16.22% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 6 (or about 2.03% of the population) who were Islamic. 17 (or about 5.74% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 11 individuals (or about 3.72% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Oberhünigen about 119 or (40.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 32 or (10.8%) 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 32 who completed tertiary schooling, 65.6% were Swiss men, 25.0% were 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 ...
.[Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document]
accessed 4 January 2012
, there were 6 students in Oberhünigen who came from another municipality, while 23 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberhunigen
Municipalities of the canton of Bern