Spiez is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

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' ...

on the shore of

Lake Thun Lake Thun () is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore. At in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton. The lake was created after the last gl ...

in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

region of the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes the settlements of Einigen, Hondrich, Faulensee, and Spiezwiler. The official language of Spiez is (the Swiss variety of Standard)

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 ...

, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

dialect.

History

Spiez is first mentioned around 761-62 as ''Spiets''. The area between the Kander and

in modern Spiez was home to several large

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and

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 ...

settlements. Three separate Bronze Age cemeteries with numerous graves contained a wealth of bronze axes, knives and cloak pins from 1750 to 1500 BC. On a nearby hill, the ''Bürg'' site is slightly younger and contained knives, arrow and spear heads, a horse's bridle and a razor. The ''Eggli'' hill top was apparently a religious site during the Bronze and

s. The center of the religious site was a granite block surrounded by ash from fires and thousands of shattered ceramic fragments. The ''Eggli'' site was probably used from about 1500 until 500 BC.

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic graves from the 4th to 2nd century BC contained gold,

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

and glass ornaments which were imported from over the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. A rare

funerary urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

was buried at Faulensee during the 1st century BC. 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 ...

there was no permanent settlement in the area, but some

Roman coin Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, ...

s and Roman graves have been discovered. After the

fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

and into the

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 Spiez area was home to several scattered settlements. According to Elogius Kiburger, the author of the Strättliger Chronicle, in 933 the

King of Burgundy The following is a list of the kings of the two kingdoms of Burgundy, and a number of related political entities devolving from Carolingian machinations over family relations. Kings of the Burgundians * Gebicca (late 4th century – c. 40 ...

Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...

, built Spiez Castle. Shortly thereafter, the

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

von Strättligen settled in the castle. Portions of the current castle

shield wall A shield wall ( or in Old English, in Old Norse) is a military formation that was common in ancient and medieval warfare. There were many slight variations of this formation, but the common factor was soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder ...

s and main tower were built during the 12th century and by the 13th century the town of Spiez existed outside the castle walls. By 1280 the castle was listed as an Imperial

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

under

Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

Richard von Corbières. In 1289 the Freiherr von Strättligen was co-owner of the castle along with a succession of other noble families. In 1308

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Albert I of Habsburg was murdered at Windisch on the Reuss, by his nephew Duke

John Parricida John Parricida () or John the Parricide, also called John of Swabia (''Johann von Schwaben''), (ca. 1290 – 13 December 1312/13) was the son of the Habsburg duke Rudolf II of Austria and Agnes, daughter of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. By kill ...

. As part of their retaliation for the murder, the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

withdrew half of the Spiez fief from Thüring von Brandis and granted the whole fief to Johannes von Strättligen. Thirty years later, in 1338, Johannes sold the castle, town, church and surrounding villages to Johann II von Bubenberg who was the Schultheiss 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 ...

. By 1340, the Bubenberg appointed

vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

took orders from Bern, but was obligated to raise troops for the Habsburgs. As Bern was de facto independent from their former overlords, the Habsburgs, this created an unstable situation which remained for over 40 years. After the Bernese and

Swiss Confederation 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. Switzerlan ...

victory over the Habsburgs in the

Battle of Sempach The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the lo ...

in 1386, the Habsburgs gave up their land claims west of 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 ...

, which included Spiez. The former Church of St. Laurentius, next to the castle, was first mentioned in 761–62, when the patronage rights over the church were given to

Ettenheim Ettenheim () is a city in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Ettenheim was founded in the 8th century by Eddo, bishop of Strasbourg, and the was founded at about that time. Ettenheim received German town law, town rights in ...

Monastery in

Breisgau The Breisgau () is an area in southwest Germany extending along the Rhine River and enveloping portions of the Black Forest. Part of the state of Baden-Württemberg, it centers on the city of Freiburg im Breisgau. The district of Breisgau-Hoch ...

. The church was one of the twelve Lake Thun churches in the Strättliger Chronicle. The current early Romanesque building was built during the 7th or 8th century, while the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

dates from about 1000. Outside the church, a number of graves from the 7th and 8th centuries have also been discovered. It was the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

for a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

that included Spiez, Spiezwiler, Einigen, Faulensee and Hondrich. When Bern adopted the new faith of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in 1528, the church became the center of the new Reformed parish. Schloss Spiez von oben

The castle and surrounding land remained with the Bubenberg family until their extinction in 1506, when it was acquired by Ludwig von Diesbach. Von Diesbach held it for ten years before Ludwig von Erlach acquired the castle and lands. The von Erlach family ruled the town and villages until the 1798 French invasion. The

town charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a charter ...

was first documented in 1406, however there were citizens of Spiez with some codified rights as far back as 1312. A town wall was built early in Spiez's history. However, it fell into disrepair and was destroyed in a fire in 1600. Over time the surrounding villages came to be included in the town charter and their residents became citizens of Spiez. After the 1798 French invasion and the creation of 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 ...

, the von Erlach family lost their land rights and jurisdiction over the village, but retained ownership of the castle until 1875. Historically the residents of Spiez and the surrounding villages raised orchards and

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s on along the lake, fished in the lake and shipped goods along the lake or raised crops in the valleys. The vineyards of Spiez were first mentioned in 1338 and remained in operation until an outbreak of disease destroyed the plants in 1900. An attempt in 1927 to restart the wine industry on Spiez mountain and at Faulensee was fairly successful. The villages along the Kander were often threatened by flooding, until the Kander was diverted into the lake in 1711–13. The construction of the Lake Thun road in 1844 and steam ship docks in 1835, 1876 and 1926 helped open the town to the rest of the country. Due to the mild climate and transportation links, Spiez became a popular health and spa town in the 19th century. Beginning in 1856 resorts and hotels, including the Schonegg, Spiezerhof and Faulensee-Bad, opened along the lake shore. The Thun-Spiez-Interlaken (1893), Spiez-Zweisimmen-Montreux (1897-1905) and Spiez-Frutigen-Lötschberg-Simplon (1901–13) railroads all helped the tourist industry and the rest of the town to grow. The growing population led to the construction of a secondary school and seven primary schools around the municipality. In the 1980s the A6 and A8 motorways further connected Spiez and the surrounding villages. In 1990 the Kander Tunnel opened, which helped reduce noise and pollution in the municipality.

Geography

Spiez is located on the south shore of

, stretching along a ridge that separates the lake front from the Kander that runs parallel and to the south. From its lowest point on the lake, at above sea level, it reaches a height of on the ridge at Hondrichhügel. The municipality comprises five villages ('' Bäuerte''): Spiez, Einigen, Hondrich, Faulensee and Spiezwiler (formerly Wyler). It has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 36.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 29.9% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 31.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.0% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.9% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 During the same year, industrial buildings made up 2.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 17.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 9.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.4%. A total of 28.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.5% is used for growing crops and 28.0% is pasturage, while 2.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 1.0% is in lakes and 1.0% is in rivers and streams. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Niedersimmental, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Frutigen-Niedersimmental.
accessed 4 April 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 ''Argent three Piles Azure issuing from the base''.

Demographics

Spiez has a population () of . , 8.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -0.5%. Migration accounted for -0.7%, while births and deaths accounted for 0%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 22 November 2013 Most of the population () speaks

(11,302 or 94.0%) as their first language,

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 ...

is the second most common (135 or 1.1%) and French is the third (101 or 0.8%). There are 100 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 5 people who speak Romansh. , the population was 48.5% male and 51.5% female. The population was made up of 5,521 Swiss men (44.3% of the population) and 533 (4.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 5,905 Swiss women (47.3%) and 516 (4.1%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 Of the population in the municipality, 3,135 or about 26.1% were born in Spiez and lived there in 2000. There were 5,220 or 43.4% who were born in the same canton, while 2,014 or 16.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,198 or 10.0% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 22%. , there were 4,678 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 5,862 married individuals, 840 widows or widowers and 647 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 1,924 households that consist of only one person and 275 households with five or more people. , a total of 5,109 apartments (83.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 795 apartments (13.0%) were seasonally occupied and 200 apartments (3.3%) 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 2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.51%. In 2011, single family homes made up 52.3% of the total housing in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width: auto height:200 barincrement:45 PlotArea = top:20 left:35 bottom:20 right:35 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:13000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:3000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:600 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width: 35 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:1059 text:"1,059" bar:1850 from:start till:2115 text:"2,115" bar:1860 from:start till:2132 text:"2,132" bar:1870 from:start till:2079 text:"2,079" bar:1880 from:start till:2214 text:"2,214" bar:1888 from:start till:2045 text:"2,045" bar:1900 from:start till:3031 text:"3,031" bar:1910 from:start till:3503 text:"3,503" bar:1920 from:start till:4547 text:"4,547" bar:1930 from:start till:4992 text:"4,992" bar:1941 from:start till:5679 text:"5,679" bar:1950 from:start till:6536 text:"6,536" bar:1960 from:start till:8168 text:"8,168" bar:1970 from:start till:9911 text:"9,911" bar:1980 from:start till:9800 text:"9,800" bar:1990 from:start till:11182 text:"11,182" bar:2000 from:start till:12027 text:"12,027" bar:2010 from:start till:12276 text:"12,276"

Sights

The

medieval castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...

in the town dates from the 15th and 16th Centuries. Visitors can visit the grand halls within the castle, including the Baroque banquet hall built in 1614. The Hotel Belvédère in Spiez accommodated the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team () represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutscher Fußball-Bund''), founded ...

during the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

held in Switzerland. "The Spirit of Spiez", developed there among the players, is regarded as important factor that helped the German team to win the world championship.

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Bürg'' archeological site with prehistoric and medieval settlement ruins, the Swiss Reformed castle church, Spiez Castle and the Weinbauernhof are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. File:Schlosskirche Spiez.JPG, Swiss Reformed Castle Church File:Spiez_020_Rebbaumuseum.jpg, Weinbauernhof File:Schloss Spiez.jpg, Spiez Castle. Parts of the central tower were built around 933 File:Faulensee.JPG, Faulensee village in Spiez municipality File:Spiez am Thunersee um 1900.jpg, Spiez harbour and

(ca. 1900)

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 26% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (18.3%), the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (16.7%) and the FDP.The Liberals (8.1%). In the federal election, a total of 5,127 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 53.3%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Spiez had an unemployment rate of 1.37%. , there were a total of 4,649 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 155 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 48 businesses involved in this sector. 1,220 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 95 businesses in this sector. 3,274 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 399 businesses in this sector. There were 5,928 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.3% of the workforce. there were a total of 3,768

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 92, of which 87 were in agriculture, 3 were in forestry or lumber production and 2 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,148 of which 657 or (57.2%) were in manufacturing, 3 or (0.3%) were in mining and 357 (31.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 2,528. In the tertiary sector; 411 or 16.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 283 or 11.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 376 or 14.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 32 or 1.3% were in the information industry, 85 or 3.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 196 or 7.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 163 or 6.4% were in education and 487 or 19.3% were in health care. , there were 2,387 workers who commuted into the municipality and 3,399 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 2,529 workers (51.4% of the 4,916 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Spiez.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 23% used public transportation to get to work, and 47.2% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Spiez making 150,000 CHF was 12.4%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18.3%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in the same year, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide average was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively. In 2009 there were a total of 5,701 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 1,986 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 39 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Spiez was 114,437 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. In 2011 a total of 4.0% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

Religion

From the , 8,504 or 70.7% 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 ...

, while 1,516 or 12.6% 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 ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 150 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.25% of the population), there were 14 individuals (or about 0.12% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 518 individuals (or about 4.31% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 3 individuals (or about 0.02% 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 203 (or about 1.69% of the population) who were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. There were 14 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 ...

, 63 individuals who were

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 7 individuals who belonged to another church. 694 (or about 5.77% 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 ...

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 341 individuals (or about 2.84% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Spiez about 58.7% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 19.2% have completed additional higher education (either a

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 1,474 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 70.9% were Swiss men, 21.3% were Swiss women, 5.4% were non-Swiss men, and 2.4% 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 2011–12 school year, there were a total of 1,286 students attending classes in Spiez. There were 9 kindergarten classes with a total of 182 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 8.2% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens), and 12.6% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 35 primary classes and 630 students. Of the primary students, 9.4% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens), and 13.7% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 22 lower secondary classes with a total of 444 students. There were 9.0% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens), and 13.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The remainder of the students attend a private or special school.Schuljahr 2011/12 pdf document
accessed 9 May 2013 , there were a total of 1,779 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 1,291 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 488 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 229 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Spiez is home to a regional library which has () 20,276 books or other media, and loaned out 135,277 items in the same year. It was open a total of 304 days, with an average of 30 hours per week during that year.

Crime

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the

Swiss Criminal Code The Swiss Criminal Code (SR/RS 311, , , , ) is a portion of the third part (SR/RS 3) of the Swiss law, internal Swiss law ("Private law - Administration of civil justice - Enforcement") that regulates the criminal code in Switzerland. The orig ...

(running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Spiez was 47.1 per thousand residents. This rate is only 72.9% of the average rate in the entire country. During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 8 per thousand residents. This rate is about one and half times greater than the rate in the district, but due to a low rate in the rest of the district it is only 59.3% of the cantonal rate. The rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 3.3 per thousand residents. This rate is about two and one-third times greater than the rate in the district, but is only 67.3% of the rate for the entire country.Statistical Atlas of Switzerland
accessed 5 April 2016

Transport

The municipality of Spiez is served by the Spiez railway station and the outlying station of . Spiez is a major junction point of one of the two major north–south railway axis in Switzerland through the

: the Simplon line. Coming from Germany,

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

, the line further goes through two major Alps traversing tunnels, namely the

Lötschberg Base Tunnel The Lötschberg Base Tunnel (LBT) is a railway base tunnel on the BLS AG's Lötschberg line cutting through the Bernese Alps of Switzerland some below the older Lötschberg Tunnel. It runs between Frutigen, Bern, and Raron, Valais. T ...

(, since 2007) to

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

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 ...

with a totally distinct climate in just 35 minutes, and then further through the

Simplon Tunnel The Simplon Tunnel (''Simplontunnel'', ''Traforo del Sempione'' or ''Galleria del Sempione'') is a railway tunnel on the Simplon railway that connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shor ...

(, 1906) to reach

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, where it finally arrives at the major junction point of northern Italy:

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The old line through the since 1913 existing and higher situated

Lötschberg Tunnel The Lötschberg Tunnel is a long railway tunnel on the Lötschberg Line, which connects Spiez and Brig at the northern end of the Simplon Tunnel cutting through the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. Its ends are at the towns of Kandersteg (2 k ...

() is still operating and a touristic highlight. The parts between Bern and Brig is operated by

BLS AG BLS AG is a Swiss railway company created by the 2006 merger of BLS Lötschbergbahn and Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG. Its ownership is divided, with 55.8% of it owned by the canton of Berne, and 21.7% by the Swiss Confederation. It has two ma ...

(

Lötschberg railway line The Lötschberg is an Alpine mountain massif, usually associated with a major, historically important transit axis of the Alps in Switzerland with, at its core, the Lötschen Pass (, Swiss German: ''Lötschepass''). The mountain pass, which culmi ...

), but also intensely served by

SBB CFF FFS Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a government institution, but since 1999 it has been a special stock corpo ...

. The lines between Bern and

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

( Lake Thun railway line) is served by BLS, SBB,

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

, and

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

. BLS' Spiez–Erlenbach–Zweisimmen railway line is part of the Golden Pass Express between

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

and

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

Notable people

* Jakob Streit (1910–2009) a Swiss author, teacher and anthroposophist, born and died in Spiez. * Maya Pedersen-Bieri (born 1972 in Spiez) a Swiss-Norwegian skeleton racer, won the gold medal in the women's skeleton event at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

* Caroline Steffen (born 1978 in Spiez) a professional triathlete

References

External links

*
Official web page of the municipality SpiezSPIEZ LABORATORY, the Swiss NBC-defence instituteSpiez: Map and Photos
{{Authority control Cities in Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Bern Populated places on Lake Thun Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern