Bürchen (
Walliser German: ''Birchu'') is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the district of
Raron
Raron () is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
Raron is first mentioned around 1101–1200 as ''Rarogni''. In 1146 it was mentioned as ''Rarun''.
A settlement on the Heidnischbiel, a buria ...
in the German-speaking part of the
canton of
Valais
Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...
in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.
History
Bürchen is first mentioned in 1307 as ''ze Birke''. In 1363 it was mentioned as ''Birkonberg'', in 1441 as ''Birchen'' and in 1755 as ''Betula''.
[
]
Geography
Bürchen has an area, , of . Of this area, 25.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 55.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 13.6% is unproductive land.[
The municipality is located in the Westlich Raron district. It consists several ]hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
on a high terrace above the southern side of the Rhone valley.
The proposed merger of the municipalities of Eggerberg, Ausserberg
Ausserberg is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
Ausserberg is first mentioned in 1378 as ''Leucrun''. In 1401 it was mentioned as ''mons episcopi'' and in 1523 it was ''mons exterior''.
G ...
, Bürchen, Baltschieder
Baltschieder is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
Baltschieder is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Ponczirrum''. In 1286 it ...
, Visp
Visp (; ; ) is the capital of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Geography
Visp lies in the Rhône valley, at the confluence of the Vispa and the Rhône, west of Brig-Glis.
Visp has an area, , of . Of this a ...
and Visperterminen
Visperterminen (Walser German: ''Tärbinu'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
Visperterminen is first mentioned in th ...
was rejected by the residents.[Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 17 February 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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
is ''Azure, three Mullets f SixOr.''
Demographics
Bürchen has a population () of . , 3.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 0.8%. It has changed at a rate of 1.5% due to migration and at a rate of 1.3% due to births and deaths.
accessed 13-October-2011German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
(658 or 97.9%) as their first language, French is the second most common (5 or 0.7%) and Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
is the third (3 or 0.4%). There is 1 person who speaks Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
.[
, the population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The population was made up of 355 Swiss men (49.4% of the population) and 8 (1.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 348 Swiss women (48.4%) and 8 (1.1%) non-Swiss women.][Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls]
accessed 24 August 2011 Of the population in the municipality, 485 or about 72.2% were born in Bürchen and lived there in 2000. There were 93 or 13.8% who were born in the same canton, while 50 or 7.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 20 or 3.0% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.4%.][
, there were 279 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 344 married individuals, 41 widows or widowers and 8 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 236 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.8 persons per household.[ There were 46 households that consist of only one person and 25 households with five or more people. , a total of 233 apartments (27.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 538 apartments (63.7%) were seasonally occupied and 74 apartments (8.8%) 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 1.4 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.34%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Sights
The entire Turtig/Wandfluh region (which is shared between Bürchen, Raron and Unterbäch) is 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 ...
.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 76.38% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (14.71%), the SP (7.59%) and the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
(0.93%). In the federal election, a total of 446 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 is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
was 74.5%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 318 votes were cast, of which 21 or about 6.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 53.1%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 439 votes were cast, of which 7 or about 1.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 74.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Bürchen had an unemployment rate of 0.8%. , there were 57 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 20 businesses involved in this sector. 30 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 7 businesses in this sector. 85 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 ...
, with 24 businesses in this sector.[ There were 296 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 34.1% of the workforce.
the total number of ]full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement 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 use ...
jobs was 127. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 30, of which 22 were in agriculture and 8 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 29 of which 2 or (6.9%) were in manufacturing and 27 (93.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 68. In the tertiary sector; 5 or 7.4% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 12 or 17.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 34 or 50.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 7.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 5 or 7.4% were in education.
, there were 19 workers who commuted into the municipality and 177 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 9.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 27.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 50% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 606 or 90.2% were Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, while 21 or 3.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...
. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 member of an Orthodox church, and there were 8 individuals (or about 1.19% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 9 (or about 1.34% of the population) who were Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic. 9 (or about 1.34% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...
or atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 21 individuals (or about 3.13% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Bürchen about 224 or (33.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 31 or (4.6%) have completed additional higher education (either university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
or a ''Fachhochschule
A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...
''). Of the 31 who completed tertiary schooling, 83.9% were Swiss men, 16.1% were Swiss women.[
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 57 students in the Bürchen school system. The ]education system
The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...
in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend 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 cen ...
. During that school year, there was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 14 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
. In Bürchen there were a total of 4 classes and 57 students in the primary school. The secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Bürchen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 42 students from Bürchen who attended schools outside the municipality.[
Bürchen is home to the ''Schul- und Gemeindebibliothek'' (municipal library of Bürchen). The library has () 3,709 books or other media, and loaned out 2,792 items in the same year. It was open a total of 100 days with average of 3 hours per week during that year.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries]
accessed 14 May 2010
Winter sports
Part of Bürchen is a ski-region, which is connected to the ski-region of Törbel
Törbel is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Valais in Switzerland. The highest point is the peak of the Augstbordhorns at .
History
Törbel is first me ...
. In winter 2007/2008 a new chairlift has been built.
References
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burchen
Municipalities of Valais