Brienzwiler

Brienzwiler is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Besides the village of Brienzwiler, the municipality also includes the settlement of Balmhof.

Brienzwiler
Municipality in Switzerland
Bernese farmhouse at the Ballenberg Open Air Museum near Brienzwiler village
Coat of arms
Location of Brienzwiler
Brienzwiler
Brienzwiler
Coordinates: 46°45′N 8°5′E
CountrySwitzerland
CantonBern
DistrictInterlaken-Oberhasli
Area
 • Total17.6 km2 (6.8 sq mi)
Elevation
680 m (2,230 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[2]
 • Total478
 • Density27/km2 (70/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
3856
SFOS number0574
Surrounded byBrienz, Grindelwald, Hofstetten bei Brienz, Lungern (OW), Meiringen
Websitewww.brienzwiler.ch
SFSO statistics

History
A traditional house from the Canton of Valais at the Ballenberg Museum

Brienzwiler is first mentioned in 1347 as Wiler am Brünig.[3]

During the Middle Ages Brienzwiler was held by the Ministerialis (unfree knights in the service of a feudal overlord) family of Rudenz. They held the city for the Lords of Ringgenberg. The Rudenz family held the village until 1361 when they sold it to a citizen of Bern. Over the following years it passed from owner to owner and was subdivided until the city of Bern acquired the entire village in 1522. When Bern adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1528, they secularized and annexed the lands of the nearby Interlaken Abbey, including some land near Brienzwiler. Bern assigned Brienzwiler to the newly created, secular bailiwick of Interlaken.

Brienzwiler belongs to the large parish of Brienz. However, since the early 20th century they have their own filial church and cemetery.

Traditionally, the village's economy was based on farming in the Aare river valley and seasonal alpine herding in the alpine valleys. They also received some income from travelers over the Brünig Pass. Beginning in the 19th century, there was a small tourist industry in the municipality and in 1888 a rail station of the Brünig railway line allowed more tourists to visit. Today the local economy is based on wood carving, government jobs, hotel and tourism related work and the Ballenberg Open Air Museum.

Geography
Meadows and mountains near Brienzwiler
Aerial view (1956)

Brienzwiler has an area of 17.64 km2 (6.81 sq mi).[4] Of this area, 5.44 km2 (2.10 sq mi) or 30.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.91 km2 (2.28 sq mi) or 33.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.52 km2 (0.20 sq mi) or 2.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.15 km2 (37 acres) or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and 5.62 km2 (2.17 sq mi) or 31.8% is unproductive land.[5]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.9%. Out of the forested land, 30.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.3% is pastures and 27.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 9.6% is unproductive vegetation and 21.6% is too rocky for vegetation.[5]

Brienzwiler is located on both sides of the Aare River. North of the Aare it includes the villages of Brienzwiler and Balmhof (train station) as well as several small settlements, including Wiler-Vorsass and Ramseren and the peak of the Wilerhorn 2,005 m (6,578 ft). South of the Aare it includes the exclave Alp Oltscheren.

On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Interlaken, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Interlaken-Oberhasli.[6]

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure on a Bend Argent a Tower embattled Gules.[7]

Demographics

Brienzwiler has a population (as of December 2019) of 473.[8] As of 2010, 7.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[9] Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of -10.5%. Migration accounted for -7.1%, while births and deaths accounted for -2.6%.[10]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (543 or 93.6%) as their first language, Albanian is the second most common (23 or 4.0%) and English is the third (6 or 1.0%). There are 5 people who speak French, 1 person who speaks Italian.[11]

As of 2008, the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 236 Swiss men (46.2% of the population) and 18 (3.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 235 Swiss women (46.0%) and 22 (4.3%) non-Swiss women.[9] Of the population in the municipality, 232 or about 40.0% were born in Brienzwiler and lived there in 2000. There were 181 or 31.2% who were born in the same canton, while 102 or 17.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 62 or 10.7% were born outside of Switzerland.[11]

As of 2010, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.8%.[10]

As of 2000, there were 248 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 272 married individuals, 32 widows or widowers and 28 individuals who are divorced.[11]

As of 2000, there were 77 households that consist of only one person and 26 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 225 apartments (66.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 69 apartments (20.5%) were seasonally occupied and 43 apartments (12.8%) were empty.[12] As of 2010, the construction rate of new housing units was 2 new units per 1000 residents.[10] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2011, was 1.71%.

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

Heritage sites of national significance
A house in the Ballenberg Open Air Museum

The Swiss Open Air Museum, Ballenberg (Schweizerisches Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg), which is shared with Hofstetten, is listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Brienzwiler is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.[14]

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 48.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (13.9%), the Green Party (13.4%) and the Social Democratic Party (SP) (9.9%). In the federal election, a total of 180 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 45.8%.[15]

Economy

As of  2011, Brienzwiler had an unemployment rate of 1.28%. As of 2008, there were a total of 97 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 18 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 5 businesses involved in this sector. 22 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 7 businesses in this sector. 57 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 15 businesses in this sector.[10] There were 291 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.6% of the workforce.

In 2008 there were a total of 70 full-time equivalent jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 8, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 19 of which 13 or (68.4%) were in manufacturing and 7 (36.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 43. In the tertiary sector; 9 or 20.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 6 or 14.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 7.0% were technical professionals or scientists and 13 or 30.2% were in health care.[16]

In 2000, there were 58 workers who commuted into the municipality and 181 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[17] Of the working population, 11.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 58.4% used a private car.[10]

Religion

From the 2000 census, 41 or 7.1% were Roman Catholic, while 442 or 76.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 41 individuals (or about 7.07% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 40 (or about 6.90% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 1 individual who belonged to another church. 28 (or about 4.83% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 7 individuals (or about 1.21% of the population) did not answer the question.[11]

Education

In Brienzwiler about 230 or (39.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 40 or (6.9%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 40 who completed tertiary schooling, 75.0% were Swiss men, 15.0% were Swiss women.[11]

During the 2010-11 school year, there were no students attending school in Brienzwiler.[18] As of 2000, there were 69 students from Brienzwiler who attended schools outside the municipality.[17]

Transport

Brienzwiler railway station on the Brünig line is served by an hourly Regio train between Interlaken and Meiringen. However the station is located some 1.5 km (0.93 mi) to the south-west of the village centre. Brienzwiler village is also served by a twice-hourly post bus service from Brienz.[19][20]

References
  1. "Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeitskategorie Geschlecht und Gemeinde; Provisorische Jahresergebnisse; 2018". Federal Statistical Office. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. Brienzwiler in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  5. Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (in German) accessed 25 March 2010
  6. Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz Archived 2015-11-13 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 4 April 2011
  7. Flags of the World.com Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine accessed 08-March-2013
  8. "Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit". bfs.admin.ch (in German). Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  9. Statistical office of the Canton of Bern (in German) accessed 4 January 2012
  10. Swiss Federal Statistical Office Archived January 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine accessed 8 March 2013
  11. STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 Archived April 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 2 February 2011
  12. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen Archived September 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 28 January 2011
  13. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 Archived September 30, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 29 January 2011
  14. "Kantonsliste A-Objekte". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  15. Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election Archived November 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 8 May 2012
  16. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 Archived December 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 28 January 2011
  17. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb (in German) accessed 24 June 2010
  18. Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document(in German) accessed 4 January 2012
  19. "Luzern–Brünig–Interlaken" (PDF). Bundesamt für Verkehr. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  20. "Brienz–Ballenberg–Brienzwiler–Brünig–HaslibergReuti (Hasliberg-Linie)" (PDF). Bundesamt für Verkehr. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
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