Eppenberg-Wöschnau 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
Olten in the
canton of
Solothurn
Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains.
The town is ...
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
Eppenberg is first mentioned in 1294 as ''in Eppenberg''. At the same time, Wöschnau was mentioned as ''in Weschnowe''.
[
]
Geography
Eppenberg-Wöschnau has an area, , of . Of this area, or 36.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 43.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 18.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.8% is either rivers or lakes.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data . Retrieved 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 3.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.6%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, 42.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 26.0% is used for growing crops and 9.9% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[
The municipality is located in the Olten district, on the border with the ]Canton of Aargau
Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau.
Aargau is one of the most northerly cantons of Switzerland, by th ...
. Eppenberg, in a clearing on a high plateau, is a mostly agricultural village. Wöschnau is located on a small terrace along the Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.
Its total length from its source to i ...
river and is a suburb of Aarau
Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...
with several small businesses.
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 ''Tierced per fess Gules, Argent and Sable overall a Sickle Azure handled Or.''
Demographics
Eppenberg-Wöschnau has a population () of . , 32.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Superweb database – Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
. Retrieved 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -11.3%.
. Retrieved 7 April 2011
Most of the population () speaks German
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 ...
(268 or 81.0%), with Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
being second most common (16 or 4.8%) and 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 ...
being third (14 or 4.2%). There are 2 people who speak French and 1 person who speaks Romansh.[
, the gender distribution of the population was 55.2% male and 44.8% female. The population was made up of 105 Swiss men (35.4% of the population) and 59 (19.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 106 Swiss women (35.7%) and 27 (9.1%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 74 or about 22.4% were born in Eppenberg-Wöschnau and lived there in 2000. There were 45 or 13.6% who were born in the same canton, while 122 or 36.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 87 or 26.3% were born outside of Switzerland.][
In there was 1 death of a Swiss citizen and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population decreased by 1. There was 1 Swiss man and 2 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2 non-Swiss men and 2 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 5 and the non-Swiss population increased by 9 people. This represents a ]population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...
of 1.3%.[
The age distribution, , in Eppenberg-Wöschnau is; 22 children or 6.6% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 50 teenagers or 15.1% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 26 people or 7.9% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 91 people or 27.5% are between 25 and 44, and 101 people or 30.5% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 33 people or 10.0% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 8 people or 2.4% who are over 80.
, there were 132 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 164 married individuals, 14 widows or widowers and 21 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000]
. Retrieved 2 February 2011
, there were 137 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household.[ There were 40 households that consist of only one person and 13 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 138 households that answered this question, 29.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 2 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 40 married couples without children, 44 married couples with children There were 9 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 1 household that was made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 49 single family homes (or 58.3% of the total) out of a total of 84 inhabited buildings. There were 20 multi-family buildings (23.8%), along with 7 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.3%) and 8 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (9.5%). Of the single family homes 1 were built before 1919, while 2 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (14) were built between 1971 and 1980.][Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 – Gebäude und Wohnungen]
. Retrieved 28 January 2011
there were 169 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 72. There were 2 single room apartments and 48 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 132 apartments (78.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 14 apartments (8.3%) were seasonally occupied and 23 apartments (13.6%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.4 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 7.02%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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bar:1798 from:start till:134 text:"134"
bar:1829 from:start till:195 text:"195"
bar:1850 from:start till:183 text:"183"
bar:1860 from:start till:164 text:"164"
bar:1870 from:start till:195 text:"195"
bar:1880 from:start till:199 text:"199"
bar:1888 from:start till:221 text:"221"
bar:1900 from:start till:266 text:"266"
bar:1910 from:start till:286 text:"286"
bar:1920 from:start till:240 text:"240"
bar:1930 from:start till:246 text:"246"
bar:1941 from:start till:248 text:"248"
bar:1950 from:start till:291 text:"291"
bar:1960 from:start till:359 text:"359"
bar:1970 from:start till:439 text:"439"
bar:1980 from:start till:384 text:"384"
bar:1990 from:start till:387 text:"387"
bar:2000 from:start till:331 text:"331"
Heritage sites of national significance
The Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
hilltop settlement of ''Buechholz'' is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 31.88% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (20.87%), the CVP (16.89%) and the FDP (14.99%). In the federal election, a total of 76 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 39.2%.
Economy
, Eppenberg-Wöschnau had an unemployment rate of 3.8%. , there were 9 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 101 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. 46 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 9 businesses in this sector.[ There were 181 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.0% 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 139. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 6, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 97 of which 24 or (24.7%) were in manufacturing and 73 (75.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 36. In the tertiary sector; 26 or 72.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 22.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, .Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3
. Retrieved 28 January 2011
, there were 145 workers who commuted into the municipality and 147 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb]
. Retrieved 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 21% used public transportation to get to work, and 55.8% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 103 or 31.1% 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 87 or 26.3% 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 were 8 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.42% of the population), there were 4 individuals (or about 1.21% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 7 individuals (or about 2.11% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 32 (or about 9.67% 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. There was 1 person who was Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 88 (or about 26.59% 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 ...
.[
]
Education
In Eppenberg-Wöschnau about 140 or (42.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 25 or (7.6%) 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 25 who completed tertiary schooling, 52.0% were Swiss men, 12.0% were Swiss women, 20.0% were non-Swiss men.[
, there were 43 students from Eppenberg-Wöschnau who attended schools outside the municipality.][
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eppenberg-Woschnau
Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Solothurn