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Wichtrach

Coordinates:46°51′N7°35′E/ 46.850°N 7.583°E/46.850; 7.583
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Wichtrach
Coat of arms of Wichtrach
Location of Wichtrach
Wichtrach is located in Switzerland
Wichtrach
Wichtrach
Coordinates:46°51′N7°35′E/ 46.850°N 7.583°E/46.850; 7.583
CountrySwitzerland
CantonBern
DistrictBern-Mittelland
Area
• Total
11.6 km2(4.5 sq mi)
Elevation
538 m (1,765 ft)
Population
(31 December 2018)[2]
• Total
4,294
• Density370/km2(960/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00(Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)UTC+02:00(Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
3114
SFOS number0632
ISO 3166 codeCH-BE
Surrounded byGerzensee,Häutligen,Herbligen,Jaberg,Kiesen,Kirchdorf,Münsingen,Oberdiessbach,Oppligen,Tägertschi
Websitewww.wichtrach.ch
SFSO statistics
Train station

Wichtrachis amunicipalityin theBern-Mittelland administrative districtin thecantonofBerninSwitzerland.

History

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Wichtrach was created on 1 January 2004, by uniting the independent municipalities of Niederwichtrach and Oberwichtrach. Theparish churchof Oberwichtrach was first mentioned in 1180. The two Wichtrach villages were first mentioned in 1180 asWichtracho.[3]

Geography

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Wichtrach has an area of 11.6 km2(4.48 sq mi).[4]As of 2012, a total of 7.35 km2(2.84 sq mi) or 63.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.59 km2(1.00 sq mi) or 22.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.52 km2(0.59 sq mi) or 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.11 km2(27 acres) or 0.9% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2(4.9 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.[5]

During the same year, housing and buildings made up 6.9% 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, 49.9% is used for growing crops and 12.1% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[5]

On 1 January 2004 the former municipalities ofNiederwichtrachandOberwichtrachmerged into the municipality of Wichtrach.[6]

On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Konolfingen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.[7]

Demographics

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Wichtrach has a population (as of December 2020) of 4,377.[8]As of 2010,5.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of 0%. Migration accounted for -0.6%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.5%.[9]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaksGerman(94.7%) as their first language,Frenchis the second most common (0.5%) andItalianis the third (1.1%).[9]

As of 2008,the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 1,897 Swiss men (47.2% of the population) and 120 (3.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,903 Swiss women (47.4%) and 99 (2.5%) non-Swiss women.[10]

As of 2011,children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 63.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.3%.[9]

As of 2010,there were 488 households that consist of only one person and 76 households with five or more people.[11]As of 2010,the construction rate of new housing units was 0.2 new units per 1000 residents.[9]The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2011,was 2.78%.

Historic Population

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The historical population is given in the following chart:[12][13][14][3]

Politics

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In the2015 federal election,the most popular party was theSwiss People's Party (SVP)which received 36.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were theConservative Democratic Party (BDP)(14.5%), theSocial Democratic Party (SP)(13.8%) and theFDP.The Liberals(9.6%). In the federal election, a total of 1,508 votes were cast, and thevoter turnoutwas 48.0%.[15]

Economy

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Aerial view of Aebi, Kraut & Co. byWalter Mittelholzer(1918-1937)

As of 2011,Wichtrach had an unemployment rate of 1.32%. As of 2008,there were a total of 967 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 120 people employed in theprimary economic sectorand about 46 businesses involved in this sector. 291 people were employed in thesecondary sectorand there were 41 businesses in this sector. 556 people were employed in thetertiary sector,with 92 businesses in this sector.[9]

In 2008there were a total of 760full-time equivalentjobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 78, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 270 of which 127 or (47.0%) were in manufacturing and 143 (53.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 412. In the tertiary sector; 111 or 26.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 15 or 3.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 42 or 10.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 1.2% were in the information industry, 38 or 9.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 71 or 17.2% were in education and 31 or 7.5% were in health care.[16]

Of the working population, 27.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.2% used a private car.[9]

Religion

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In 2000 about 78.2% of the population belonged to a Protestant church, 9.4% wereRoman Catholicand 5.6% had no religious affiliation.[9]

Education

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In Wichtrach about 62.5% of the population have completed non-mandatoryupper secondary education,and 18.9% have completed additional higher education (eitheruniversityor aFachhochschule).[9]

The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatoryKindergarten,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 anapprenticeship.[17]

During the 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 588 students attending classes in Wichtrach. There were 4 kindergarten classes with a total of 78 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 6.4% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 9.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 13 primary classes and 258 students. Of the primary students, 6.2% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 7.4% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 12 lower secondary classes with a total of 252 students. There were 3.2% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 4.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language.[18]

References

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  1. ^Jump up to: ab"Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen".Federal Statistical Office.Retrieved13 January2019.
  2. ^"Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeitskategorie Geschlecht und Gemeinde; Provisorische Jahresergebnisse; 2018".Federal Statistical Office. 9 April 2019.Retrieved11 April2019.
  3. ^Jump up to: abWichtrachinGerman,FrenchandItalianin the onlineHistorical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. ^Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  5. ^Jump up to: abSwiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics2009 data(in German)accessed 25 March 2010
  6. ^Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz(in German)accessed 9 February 2013
  7. ^Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz(in German)accessed 4 April 2011
  8. ^"Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit".bfs.admin.ch(in German). Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB. 31 December 2020.Retrieved21 September2021.
  9. ^Jump up to: abcdefghSwiss Federal Statistical Officeaccessed 8 May 2013
  10. ^Statistical office of the Canton of Bern(in German)accessed 4 January 2012
  11. ^Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Haushaltsgrösse(in German)accessed 8 May 2013
  12. ^Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000ArchivedMarch 17, 2012, at theWayback Machine(in German)accessed 29 January 2011
  13. ^NiederwichtrachinGerman,FrenchandItalianin the onlineHistorical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  14. ^OberwichtrachinGerman,FrenchandItalianin the onlineHistorical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  15. ^Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2015 Election(in German)accessed 22 March 2016
  16. ^Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3(in German)
  17. ^EDK/CDIP/IDES (2010).Kantonale Schulstrukturen in der Schweiz und im Fürstentum Liechtenstein / Structures Scolaires Cantonales en Suisse et Dans la Principauté du Liechtenstein(PDF)(Report).Retrieved24 June2010.
  18. ^Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document(in German)accessed 4 January 2012
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