| Biel/Bienne | ||||||||||
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| Old Town of Biel | ||||||||||
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| Population | 51,203 (Dec 2010)[1] | |||||||||
| - Density | 2,415 /km2 (6,255 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 21.23 km2 (8.20 sq mi)[2] | |||||||||
| Elevation | 434 m (1,424 ft) | |||||||||
| Postal code | 2500-2510 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 0371 | |||||||||
| Mayor | Erich Fehr (as of 2011) SPS/PSS | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (Evilard/Macolin), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin | |||||||||
| Twin towns | Iserlohn (Germany) | |||||||||
| Website | www.biel-bienne.ch SFSO statistics |
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Biel/Bienne
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Map of Biel/Bienne
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Biel/Bienne is a city in the district of the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
It is located on the language boundary and is throughout bilingual. Biel is the German name for the town, Bienne its French counterpart. The town is often referred to in both languages simultaneously. Since January 1, 2005, the official name has been "Biel/Bienne", unofficially also "Biel-Bienne". Until then, the city was officially named Biel (BE).[3]
The city lies at the foot of the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains area, guarding the only practical connection to Jura in the area, on the northeastern shores of Lake Biel (Bielersee, Lac de Bienne), sharing the eastern tip of the lake with its sister city, Nidau, the administrative centre of the District of Nidau. Neuchâtel, Solothurn, and Bern (the capital of Switzerland) lie west, east and southeast of Biel/Bienne. They all can be reached in about 30 minutes, either by train or by car.
The city has about 50,000 inhabitants and the agglomeration near 100,000.
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The origin of the city has been traced to the times when Gaulish Helvetii settled in the region during the late La Tène period. After the Roman conquest, the region was part of Germania Superior. The toponym is derived from the name of Belenus, probably from a Roman era sanctuary of that deity at a sacred spring nearby.
In the 5th century, the area was invaded by the Burgundians, and by the medieval period became part of Upper Burgundy. It was passed to the Bishopric of Basel in the formative period of the Holy Roman Empire. The township itself was built in the 11th century, and in 1275 it was chartered. The toponym is mentioned in 1142 as apud belnam, which is taken as evidence for its derivation from Belenus. In popular etymology, the name has been connected with the German name for axe (Bernese German bieli), reflected in the two crossed axes in the city's coat of arms.
Officially, Biel remained under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Basel throughout the 11th to 18th centuries. But in 1279, the town entered an alliance with Bern which was made permanent in 1352, as Bern itself joined the Old Swiss Confederacy. As a consequence, there have been a number of conflicts between the inhabitants of Biel and the Bishop of Basel during the late medieval and early modern period. Biel was considered an associate of the Swiss Confederacy during the 15th century, and after its participation in the Burgundy Wars even came to be recognized as a full member by 1494.
In 1798 Biel was annexed into the département du Mont-Terrible of the First French Republic. After the collapse of the French Empire, the Congress of Vienna in 1814 passed the territory to the canton of Bern.
On the occasion of the secession of the canton of Jura in 1978, Biel had been asked to become its capital, but it remained with the canton of Bern.
The town was officially named Biel until 2004, even though the bilingual Biel-Bienne was in common use. Since 2005, the official name has been Biel/Bienne, with forward slash.[4]
At the beginning of the 20th century, the town's population was at 30,000 people. It doubled over the next 60 years, peaking at 65,000 in the mid 1960s. It declined gradually over the 1970s to 1990s, to below 49,000 in 2000, again rising slightly to just over 50,000 during the 2000s. Another 100,000 people live in the immediately surrounding urban agglomeration.
Biel/Bienne has an area, as of 2009[update], of 21.23 km2 (8.20 sq mi). Of this area, 1.7 km2 (0.66 sq mi) or 8.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.63 km2 (3.72 sq mi) or 45.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.65 km2 (3.73 sq mi) or 45.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.13 km2 (32 acres) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.14 km2 (35 acres) or 0.7% is unproductive land.[5]
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 21.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.1%. 44.8% of the total land area is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 4.7% is used for growing crops and 2.0% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.[5]
Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (55.4%), with French being second most common (28.1%) and Italian being third (6.0%).[6] The city is officially bilingual (the biggest bilingual city in Switzerland). In addition some 150 nationalities are represented in Biel. In recent years the city has used its linguistic assets as an economic advantage, becoming the Swiss City of Communication. Several call centres have been created in or around Biel, in addition to the traditional businesses established in the city and surrounding area, which have always exported most of their production worldwide.
Biel/Bienne has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 51,203.[1] As of 2007[update], 27.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the previous 10 years, the population decreased at a rate of -0.9%.
In the 2007 election, the most popular party was the SPS which received 32.2% of the vote, followed by the SVP (20.1%), the Green Party (18.9%) and the FDP (14.5%).
In 2000, the age distribution of the population was children and teenagers (0–19 years old) made up 18.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) made up 61.6% and the seniors (over 64 years old) 19.7%. In Biel, about 63.1% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).[6]
Biel/Bienne is the heart of the Swiss watch-making industry. Trademarks such as Festina, Candino, Perrelet, Leroy, Swatch, Omega, Rolex and many others are closely associated with the city of Biel, The Swatch Group has its worldwide headquarters in the tree lined "Seevorstadt", in the previous building of ASUAG.
The small but beautiful historic centre, with its gothic church (15th century), impressive guild halls and fountains decorated with flowers, entice one to stroll, while restaurants brimming with character wait to greet visitors on their terraces. Leaving the historic centre, the tree-lined "Seevorstadt" takes to the lake and its beautiful shoreline. On the way the visitors pass the Biel "Cultural Quarter" with the Neuhaus and Schwab Museums and the CentrePasquArt.
The Jura mountains are easily reached by funicular railway from Biel, with both the Biel/Bienne–Leubringen/Evilard funicular and the Biel/Bienne–Magglingen/Macolin funicular linking the city with the foothills. It takes just seven minutes to reach Magglingen (where the Federal Sports School is located) and from where numerous walking paths start in every direction. Magglingen, Leubringen, Prêles and the year round resort of Les Prés-d'Orvin offer sensational views of the Alps on a clear day. The highest viewpoint is Chasseral (1607 m a.s.l). The steep gorge of Taubenloch also offers a spectacular scenery.
The port of Biel is the starting point for scenic river and lake cruises, which can take the visitors to the city of Solothurn, St. Peter's Island and the Lakes Neuchâtel and Murten (Three-Lake-Tour). Do not forget to interrupt the lake cruise with a visit to one of the picturesque wine-growing villages to taste their fine products. The experience is at its best during the autumn harvest and when the wine festivals are held against a background of autumn colours. Other culinary specialties of the Biel region include perch and whitefish filets and the famous marc sausage.
Biel also makes the ideal starting point for cycling tours with a wide selection of routes to choose from: sporting cyclists can measure themselves against the Jura foothills or more, while day-trippers can opt for the routes along the waterfront, where restaurants and cafés are on hand to help top up energy reserves. For families a trip to the lakeside Seeland is a must, where kilometres of quiets paths lead through an area of cultivation. The "Vegetable Route" provides information panels along the way on the more than 60 varieties of vegetable cultivated in the area.
With the architecturally impressive Congress Centre, the city of Biel offers excellent facilities for major national and international congresses, meetings and seminars.
It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site.[7]
| Climate data for Biel | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 2 (36) |
4.7 (40.5) |
9 (48) |
13.7 (56.7) |
18.5 (65.3) |
22 (72) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24 (75) |
20.6 (69.1) |
14.4 (57.9) |
7.2 (45.0) |
3 (37) |
13.7 (56.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.3 (31.5) |
1.3 (34.3) |
4.4 (39.9) |
8.5 (47.3) |
12.8 (55.0) |
16.3 (61.3) |
18.7 (65.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
14.5 (58.1) |
9.6 (49.3) |
4.2 (39.6) |
0.9 (33.6) |
9.1 (48.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −2.4 (27.7) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
0.9 (33.6) |
4.1 (39.4) |
8.2 (46.8) |
11.6 (52.9) |
13.6 (56.5) |
13.1 (55.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
6.4 (43.5) |
1.8 (35.2) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
5.4 (41.7) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 109 (4.29) |
100 (3.94) |
90 (3.54) |
75 (2.95) |
98 (3.86) |
108 (4.25) |
92 (3.62) |
121 (4.76) |
86 (3.39) |
88 (3.46) |
115 (4.53) |
121 (4.76) |
1,203 (47.36) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 12.2 | 10.5 | 11.6 | 11.2 | 12.7 | 11.5 | 9.8 | 10.7 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 10.7 | 11.7 | 130 |
| Source: MeteoSchweiz[8] | |||||||||||||
The city and its neighbourhood thrive on precision and micro mechanics, the conception and manufacture of highly-specialised, production-oriented machinery and tools. The products are exported worldwide, next to Swiss-made watches of the well known and reputed watch brands located in the city and its vicinity.
Biel has an unemployment rate of 2.92%. As of 2005[update], there were 138 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 20 businesses involved in this sector. 8869 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 471 businesses in this sector. 23688 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 2228 businesses in this sector.[6]
The newspapers Bieler Tagblatt and Journal du Jura as well as the only totally bilingual German/French newspaper Biel-Bienne with its large free distribution within the greater area, are published in Biel.
The domicile of the Theater Biel Solothurn is situated in the old town.
The city is also known for its annual International Chess Festival.
The city of Biel received the Wakker Prize in 2004.
Each June since 1959, Biel has hosted a 100 km Ultramarathon race, which is among the biggest races of its kind worldwide and forms a part of the European Ultramarathon Cup.
Biel/Bienne is twinned with:
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