Mézières (; ) 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
Glâne in the
canton of
Fribourg
or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...
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
Mézières is first mentioned in 1179 as ''de Maseriis''.
[
On 1 January 2004 the former municipality of Berlens merged into the municipality of Mézières.][Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 4 April 2011
Geography
Mézières has an area, , of . Of this area, or 79.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 13.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes.
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010[
The municipality is located on the Romont-Bulle road.
]
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 ''Per pale, Argent three bars gemmel Gules and Gules a Grape slipped Or.''
Demographics
Mézières has a population () of . , 7.9% 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 7.8%. Migration accounted for 8.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.5%.
accessed 16-November-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 ...
is the third (11 or 1.6%). There are 2 people who speak 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 50.4% male and 49.6% female. The population was made up of 452 Swiss men (46.1% of the population) and 42 (4.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 449 Swiss women (45.8%) and 37 (3.8%) non-Swiss women.][Canton of Fribourg Statistics]
accessed 3 November 2011 Of the population in the municipality, 271 or about 40.2% were born in Mézières and lived there in 2000. There were 259 or 38.4% who were born in the same canton, while 85 or 12.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 46 or 6.8% were born outside of Switzerland.[
The age distribution, , in Mézières is; 153 children or 16.8% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 127 teenagers or 13.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 108 people or 11.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 138 people or 15.1% are between 30 and 39, 133 people or 14.6% are between 40 and 49, and 96 people or 10.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 78 people or 8.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 44 people or 4.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 32 people or 3.5% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 2 people or 0.2% who are 90 and older.][
, there were 294 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 337 married individuals, 26 widows or widowers and 17 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 309 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.9 persons per household.[ There were 44 households that consist of only one person and 30 households with five or more people. , a total of 231 apartments (96.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2 apartments (0.8%) were seasonally occupied and 6 apartments (2.5%) 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 7 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.11%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Heritage sites of national significance
The Castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
and Saint-Pierre-au-Liens Church are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Mézières is 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 ...
.
File:Château_de_Mézières_Oct_2010.jpg, Mézières Castle
File:Saint-Pierre-au-Liens_Mézières_Oct_2010.jpg, Saint-Pierre-au-Liens Church
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 30.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (21.5%), the CVP (21.0%) and the FDP (11.3%).[Canton of Fribourg National Council Election of 23 October 2011 Statistics]
accessed 3 November 2011
The SVP received about the same percentage of the vote as they did in the 2007 Federal election (27.9% in 2007 vs 30.7% in 2011). The SPS moved from third in 2007 (with 21.7%) to second in 2011, the CVP moved from second in 2007 (with 25.4%) to third and the FDP retained about the same popularity (15.6% in 2007). A total of 335 votes were cast in this election, of which 1 or 0.3% was invalid.
Economy
, Mézières had an unemployment rate of 2.5%. , there were 84 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 32 businesses involved in this sector. 41 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 8 businesses in this sector. 72 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 17 businesses in this sector.[ There were 309 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.0% 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 161. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 60, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 39 of which 11 or (28.2%) were in manufacturing and 28 (71.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 62. In the tertiary sector; 36 or 58.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 3.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 8 or 12.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 4.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 3 or 4.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 9.7% were in education.
, there were 42 workers who commuted into the municipality and 219 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 5.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 7.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 68.5% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 600 or 89.0% 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 28 or 4.2% 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 14 individuals (or about 2.08% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 8 (or about 1.19% 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. 22 (or about 3.26% 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 8 individuals (or about 1.19% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Mézières about 202 or (30.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 40 or (5.9%) 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 40 who completed tertiary schooling, 67.5% were Swiss men, 25.0% were Swiss women.[
The Canton of Fribourg 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 cen ...
, 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 a three or four year optional upper Secondary school. The upper Secondary school is divided into gymnasium (university preparatory) and vocational programs. After they finish the upper Secondary program, students may choose to attend a Tertiary school or continue their apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
.Chart of the education system in Canton Fribourg
During the 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 98 students attending 5 classes in Mézières. A total of 229 students from the municipality attended any school, either in the municipality or outside of it. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 21 students in the municipality. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 77 students. During the same year, there were no lower secondary classes in the municipality, but 56 students attended lower secondary school in a neighboring municipality. There were no upper Secondary classes or vocational classes, but there were 22 upper Secondary students and 45 upper Secondary vocational students who attended classes in another municipality. The municipality had no non-university Tertiary classes, but there were 3 non-university Tertiary students and 5 specialized Tertiary students who attended classes in another municipality.[
, there was one student in Mézières who came from another municipality, while 52 residents attended schools outside the municipality.][
]
References
External links
*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mezieres, Fribourg
Municipalities of the canton of Fribourg
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Fribourg