Schüpfen 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
Seeland administrative district 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 ...
of
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 ...
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
Schüpfen is first mentioned in 1208 as ''Scuphon''.
[
Prehistoric traces of a settlement in the area include ]Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
and Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
artifacts, along with Hallstatt
Hallstatt () is a small town in the district of Gmunden District, Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Sa ...
and La Tene grave mounds. The area remained inhabited during the Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
and Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
. The Ministerialis
The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...
(unfree knights in the service of a feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
overlord) family of Schüpfen ruled the village for the Zähringens and Kyburgs from 1208 until 1405. Schüpfen was a center of local administration for several surrounding communities. In 1405, the Lords of Mattstetten inherited Schüpfen from the Schüpfen family. They then donated the village and surrounding lands to the Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...
s at Münchenbuchsee Commandery
The Münchenbuchsee Commandery was a medieval commandery of the Knights Hospitaller in the Swiss municipality of Münchenbuchsee in the Canton of Bern.
History
During the 12th century, the area around Münchenbuchsee was part of the lands of the ...
. During the 14th century, Frienisberg Abbey
Frienisberg Abbey is a former Cistercian religious house in the Switzerland, Swiss municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of Seedorf, Bern, Seedorf in the Canton of Bern.
History
In 1131 Count Udelhard of Saugern granted his land at Frienisb ...
bought much of the property in the village. After the secularization of the Abbey in 1528, the village became part of the 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 ...
ese bailiwick
A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ.
In English, the original French combi ...
of Frienisberg. After the 1798 French invasion, it became part of the District of Zollikofen
Zollikofen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is a suburb of the city of Bern.
It is home to the Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL).
Geography
Zollikofen has an area of . Of th ...
under the Helvetic Republic
The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...
. After the Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, French Consulate, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 to abolish the Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Old Swiss Confederacy, Switzerland by F ...
in 1803, it was transferred to the Aarberg
Aarberg is a List of towns in Switzerland, historic town and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Seeland (administrative district), Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Aarberg lies from Bern abov ...
District.[
The village church was first mentioned in 1268 and was rebuilt in 1741-42, though the new building retained the medieval bell tower.][
The local economy has traditionally relied heavily on agriculture, though around 1850 many farms shifted to cattle and dairy production. Currently agriculture remains important in the surrounding hamlets and villages, while Schüpfen is a center of trade and light industry. The Bern-]Biel
Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...
cantonal road was first built in 1835-44 and connected Schüpfen to larger towns. This first large road was supplemented by a railroad in 1864 and a highway in 1983. The good transportation links allowed Schüpfen residents to easily commute to Bern, Biel and Lyss for work or school. In the 1970s new housing developments for the growing number of commuters grew up along the major roads and railway.[
]
Geography
Schüpfen has an area of . Of this area, or 55.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 32.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 10.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.4%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 42.9% is used for growing crops and 11.7% is pastures, while 1.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[
The municipality is located in the Lyssbach valley and on the Frienisberg and Rapperswil plateaus. It consists of the villages of Schüpfen, Bundkofen, Schwanden, Ziegelried, Saurenhorn, Schüpberg, Allenschwil, Wintersschwil and Bütschwil as well as scattered farm houses.
]
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 ''Gules three Wings Argent, two addorsed and third in fess.''
Demographics
Schüpfen has a population () of . , 6.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Statistical office of the Canton of Bern]
accessed 4 January 2012 Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 3.9%. Migration accounted for 0.1%, while births and deaths accounted for 2.3%.
accessed 11-May-2012
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 ...
(3,142 or 94.7%) as their first language, French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
is the second most common (36 or 1.1%) and Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
is the third (30 or 0.9%). There are 21 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 ...
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.[
, the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The population was made up of 1,538 Swiss men (45.1% of the population) and 137 (4.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,648 Swiss women (48.4%) and 84 (2.5%) non-Swiss women.] Of the population in the municipality, 962 or about 29.0% were born in Schüpfen and lived there in 2000. There were 1,518 or 45.8% who were born in the same canton, while 496 or 14.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 240 or 7.2% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 63.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.1%.][
, there were 1,438 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,577 married individuals, 163 widows or widowers and 140 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 338 households that consist of only one person and 91 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,247 apartments (92.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 58 apartments (4.3%) were seasonally occupied and 48 apartments (3.5%) 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 0.3 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.69%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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bar:1764 from:start till:926 text:"926"
bar:1850 from:start till:1992 text:"1,992"
bar:1860 from:start till:1979 text:"1,979"
bar:1870 from:start till:2102 text:"2,102"
bar:1880 from:start till:2269 text:"2,269"
bar:1888 from:start till:2095 text:"2,095"
bar:1900 from:start till:2194 text:"2,194"
bar:1910 from:start till:2309 text:"2,309"
bar:1920 from:start till:2348 text:"2,348"
bar:1930 from:start till:2150 text:"2,150"
bar:1941 from:start till:2273 text:"2,273"
bar:1950 from:start till:2357 text:"2,357"
bar:1960 from:start till:2404 text:"2,404"
bar:1970 from:start till:2495 text:"2,495"
bar:1980 from:start till:2269 text:"2,269"
bar:1990 from:start till:2820 text:"2,820"
bar:2000 from:start till:3318 text:"3,318"
Sights
The entire village of Schwanden and the hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
of Winterswil are 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 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 31.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the BDP Party (19.5%), the SPS (19.2%) 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 ...
(8.3%). In the federal election, a total of 1,384 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 51.9%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election]
accessed 8 May 2012
Economy
, Schüpfen had an unemployment rate of 1.13%. , there were a total of 1,035 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 182 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 67 businesses involved in this sector. 197 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 35 businesses in this sector. 656 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 99 businesses in this sector.[
there were a total of 779 ]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. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 116, of which 113 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 179 of which 65 or (36.3%) were in manufacturing, 3 or (1.7%) were in mining and 101 (56.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 484. In the tertiary sector; 121 or 25.0% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 101 or 20.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 27 or 5.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 1.7% were in the information industry, 10 or 2.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 24 or 5.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 35 or 7.2% were in education and 121 or 25.0% were in health care.
, there were 390 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,305 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 25.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 51.4% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 343 or 10.3% 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 2,517 or 75.9% 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 16 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.48% of the population), there were 6 individuals (or about 0.18% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 166 individuals (or about 5.00% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 4 individuals (or about 0.12% of the population) who were 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 28 (or about 0.84% 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 were 6 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 223 (or about 6.72% 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 82 individuals (or about 2.47% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Schüpfen about 1,409 or (42.5%) of the population have completed 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 ...
, and 484 or (14.6%) 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 484 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.1% were Swiss men, 24.4% were Swiss women, 2.5% were non-Swiss men and 2.1% were non-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 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 additional schooling or they may enter an 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 ...
.
During the 2009-10 school year, there were a total of 380 students attending classes in Schüpfen. There were 3 kindergarten classes with a total of 46 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 4.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 8.7% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 11 primary classes and 211 students. Of the primary students, 3.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 4.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 7 lower secondary classes with a total of 123 students. There were 3.3% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 4.1% have a different mother language than the classroom language.[Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document]
accessed 4 January 2012 , there were 27 students in Schüpfen who came from another municipality, while 138 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
Notable residents
* Rudolf Minger
Rudolf Minger (13 November 1881 – 23 August 1955) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1929–1940). He also was a farmer all his life.
He was elected to the Federal Council on 12 December 1929 and handed over office ...
(1881–1955) Member of the Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...
(1929-1940) and President of the Swiss Confederation
The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the confederation, federal president or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is as ''primus inter pares'' among the other members of the Federal Council (Switze ...
in 1935.
* Billy Cobham
William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
He was inducted into the '' Mode ...
(born May 16, 1944) Panamanian–American jazz drummer [https://www.schuepfen.ch/de/gemeinde/persoenlichkeiten/index.php#anchor_958d565b_Accordion-1-William--Billy--Cobham]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schupfen
Municipalities of the canton of Bern