Höfen is a former

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 administrative district of

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

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 ...

. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Höfen, Niederstocken and

Oberstocken Oberstocken is a former municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Oberstocken, Niederstocken and Höfen merged into the new municipality of Stocken ...

merged into the new municipality of

Stocken-Höfen Stocken-Höfen is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Niederstocken, Oberstocken and Höfen merged into the municipality of Stocken-Höfen.< ...

.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 13 December 2014

Geography

Before the merger, Höfen had a total area of . Of this area, or 74.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 16.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 1.7% is unproductive land.
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. 14.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 23.9% is used for growing crops and 48.2% is pastures, while 2.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, 1.7% is unproductive vegetation. The lake Uebeschisee is located partially in the former municipality.

Demographics

Höfen had a population (as of 2011) of 444. , 2.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -3.5%. Most of the population () speaks German (98.7%), with French being second most common ( 0.3%) and Rhaeto-romance being third ( 0.3%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 49.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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 ...

(12.3%), the SPS (11.6%) and the local small left-wing parties (10.7%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 29.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Höfen about 77.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

or additional higher education (either university 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 ...

''). Höfen has an unemployment rate of 0.92%. , there were 65 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 26 businesses involved in this sector. 9 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 3 businesses in this sector. 56 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 ...

, with 10 businesses in this sector."Key figures: Regional portraits 2013: Communes" (2013) Swiss Federal Statistical Office
pages 1917–1918, accessed 12 October 2015 The historical population is given in the following table:

References

External links

Official website of the municipality
in * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofen Former municipalities of the canton of Bern