Vinelz is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

History

Vinelz is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Fenis''. The municipality was formerly known by its French name ''Fenil'', however, that name is no longer used. There were extensive

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

settlements along the shore of

Lake Biel __NOTOC__ Lake Bienne or Lake Biel (french: Lac de Bienne ; german: Bielersee) is a lake in western Switzerland. Together with Lake Morat and Lake Neuchâtel, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies approxima ...

, which stretch into Lüscherz. Inland an Early Bronze Age settlement has been discovered at Schattewil, while

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

settlements were found at Mieschzälg and Flachseren. During the Middle Ages it was part of the ''

Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

'' of Erlach. In 1474 all the Erlach lands, including Vinelz, were acquired by

. Under Bernese rule it became part of the new

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. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

of Erlach. In 1691, Emanuel Gaudard, a citizen of Bern, built the ''Landsitz'' (country manor house) Obere Budlei in the village. The village church of St. Mary's was first mentioned in 1228. It was probably founded by the Counts of Fenis, who ruled from the nearby Fenis or

Hasenburg Castle Asuel is a village and a former municipality in the district of Porrentruy in the canton of Jura in Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while o ...

. The church was decorated with

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s during the 14th century and rebuilt in 1484. Following the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1528, the patronage rights over the church transferred to Bern. The Vinelz

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

includes the nearby municipality of

Lüscherz Lüscherz is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Lüscherz is first mentioned in 1271 as ''Luschiers'', however the area has been settled since at least the Neolithic (ca. 3700 ...

. In the 1960s new vacation and weekend homes changed the agricultural character of village. Restaurants, three campgrounds and a marina have changed Vinelz into a tourist center on Lake Biel.

Geography

Vinelz has an area of . Of this area, or 51.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 35.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 14.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.2% 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 9.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.5%. Out of the forested land, 34.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 39.8% is used for growing crops and 6.8% is pastures, while 5.0% is used for orchards or vine crops. The municipality is located on the right, upper end of

and stretches to the foot of Schaltenrain mountain. It consists of the village of Vinelz and the farm houses of Budlei. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Erlach, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Seeland.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
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 the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

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 latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

is ''Azure a Sickle Argent bladed to sinister handled Or and a Ploughshare inverted of the second.''

Demographics

Vinelz has a population () of . , 8.8% 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 10.9%. Migration accounted for 10.9%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.3%.
accessed 15 November 2012 Most of the population () speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(677 or 92.1%) as their first language, French is the second most common (39 or 5.3%) and

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

is the third (6 or 0.8%). , the population was 49.0% male and 51.0% female. The population was made up of 353 Swiss men (43.4% of the population) and 46 (5.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 389 Swiss women (47.8%) and 26 (3.2%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 208 or about 28.3% were born in Vinelz and lived there in 2000. There were 305 or 41.5% who were born in the same canton, while 142 or 19.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 68 or 9.3% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 57.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 21.9%. , there were 267 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 394 married individuals, 37 widows or widowers and 37 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 89 households that consist of only one person and 21 households with five or more people. , a total of 304 apartments (76.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 81 apartments (20.3%) were seasonally occupied and 14 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 1.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.83%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1020 height:210 PlotArea = top:10 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:740 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:236 text:"236" bar:1850 from:start till:580 text:"580" bar:1860 from:start till:546 text:"546" bar:1870 from:start till:500 text:"500" bar:1880 from:start till:447 text:"447" bar:1888 from:start till:434 text:"434" bar:1900 from:start till:462 text:"462" bar:1910 from:start till:430 text:"430" bar:1920 from:start till:411 text:"411" bar:1930 from:start till:413 text:"413" bar:1941 from:start till:393 text:"393" bar:1950 from:start till:418 text:"418" bar:1960 from:start till:445 text:"445" bar:1970 from:start till:433 text:"433" bar:1980 from:start till:530 text:"530" bar:1990 from:start till:629 text:"629" bar:2000 from:start till:735 text:"735"

World heritage site

It is home to the Strandboden prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlement that is part of the

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

.UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
/ref> The Standboden site was extensively occupied during the

period. Tree ring analysis has found settlements from 3160 BC, 2850 BC, 2820 BC, 2750-2690 BC and 2660-2620 BC. Strandboden and the nearby Ländti site were discovered and first excavated by E. von Fellenberg and V. Gross in 1881/82. The site was also explored in 1937, 1960, 1980, 1985/86 and 2005. One of the most interesting discoveries was a disc wheel from 2750 BC.

Heritage sites of national significance

HMB Bronzehalskette Vinelz Jungsteinzeit 2700 BC

The ''Ländti'', a Neolithic and

lakeshore settlement is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Vinelz 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 ...

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 28.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (25.4%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (14.5%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

(8.8%). In the federal election, a total of 336 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 can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

was 53.9%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Vinelz had an unemployment rate of 1.46%. , there were a total of 140 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 40 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 14 businesses involved in this sector. 42 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 construction. ...

and there were 8 businesses in this sector. 58 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 second ...

, with 23 businesses in this sector. There were 407 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 45.7% of the workforce. there were a total of 107

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employee, employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to me ...

jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 29, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 39 of which 3 or (7.7%) were in manufacturing and 37 (94.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 39. In the tertiary sector; 8 or 20.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 5.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 7 or 17.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 7 or 17.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 4 or 10.3% were in education. , there were 65 workers who commuted into the municipality and 288 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 10.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 61.4% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 88 or 12.0% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, while 578 or 78.6% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 13 individuals (or about 1.77% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 (or about 0.95% of the population) who were

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic. 49 (or about 6.67% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

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 6 individuals (or about 0.82% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Vinelz about 318 or (43.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 121 or (16.5%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). Of the 121 who completed tertiary schooling, 66.9% were Swiss men, 25.6% were Swiss women, 4.1% were non-Swiss men. 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 cent ...

, 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 new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

. During the 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 64 students attending classes in Vinelz. There were no kindergarten classes in the municipality. The municipality had 3 primary classes and 64 students. Of the primary students, 4.7% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 9.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document
accessed 4 January 2012 , there were 18 students in Vinelz who came from another municipality, while 50 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

External links

{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern Populated places on Lake Biel Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern