Blitzingen

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Blitzingen
Blitzingen village
Country Switzerland
Canton Valais
District Goms
46°26′N 8°12′E / 46.433°N 8.200°E / 46.433; 8.200Coordinates: 46°26′N 8°12′E / 46.433°N 8.200°E / 46.433; 8.200
Population 74 (Dec 2012)[1]
- Density 6 /km2 (16 /sq mi)
Area 11.81 km2 (4.56 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 1,290 m (4,232 ft)
Postal code 3989
SFOS number 6055
Mayor Erwin Ritz
Surrounded by Bellwald, Ernen, Grafschaft, Niederwald
Website www.blitzingen.ch
SFSO statistics
Blitzingen

Blitzingen is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

History

Blitzingen is first mentioned in 1203 as Blicingen.[3]

Geography

Blitzingen has an area, as of 2011, of 11.8 square kilometers (4.6 sq mi). Of this area, 36.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 27.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 34.3% is unproductive land.[4]

It consists of the village of Blitzingen and the hamlets of Ammere, Bodme, Wiler and Gadme.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, issuant from a cliff Vert a flag per fess Gules and Argent two Crosses couped counterchanged staffed of the third and finialed Or, issuant from sinister a Thunderbolt Or, in Chief two Mullets Or.[5] The lightning bolt (German: blitz) may be an example of canting arms.

Demographics

Blitzingen has a population (as of December 2012) of 74.[1] As of 2008, 24.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[6] Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -24%. It has changed at a rate of -4.8% due to migration and at a rate of -14.4% due to births and deaths.[4]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (92 or 92.9%) as their first language with the rest speaking Serbo-Croatian[7]

As of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 51.9% male and 48.1% female. The population was made up of 26 Swiss men (32.9% of the population) and 15 (19.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 33 Swiss women (41.8%) and 5 (6.3%) non-Swiss women.[8] Of the population in the municipality 44 or about 44.4% were born in Blitzingen and lived there in 2000. There were 21 or 21.2% who were born in the same canton, while 11 or 11.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 21 or 21.2% were born outside of Switzerland.[7]

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 49.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 27.3%.[4]

As of 2000, there were 37 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 51 married individuals, 8 widows or widowers and 3 individuals who are divorced.[7]

As of 2000, there were 42 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household.[4] There were 15 households that consist of only one person and 2 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 44 households that answered this question, 34.1% were households made up of just one person and there was 1 adult who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 10 married couples without children, 14 married couples with children There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 2 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.[7]

In 2000 there were 51 single family homes (or 57.3% of the total) out of a total of 89 inhabited buildings. There were 30 multi-family buildings (33.7%), along with 2 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (2.2%) and 6 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.7%).[9]

In 2000, a total of 42 apartments (21.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 140 apartments (71.8%) were seasonally occupied and 13 apartments (6.7%) were empty.[9] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 3.02%.[4]

The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][10]

Sights

The entire hamlet of Ammere / Gadme /Wiler and the hamlet of Bodmen are designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites[11]

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 59.26% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (21.69%), the SVP (10.05%) and the Green Party (4.23%). In the federal election, a total of 28 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 50.9%.[12]

In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 23 votes were cast, of which 5 or about 21.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 44.2%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 54.67%.[13] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election election a total of 28 votes were cast, of which 2 or about 7.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 50.9%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 59.88%.[14]

Economy

As of 2010, Blitzingen had an unemployment rate of 0.7%. As of 2008, there were 11 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 5 businesses involved in this sector. 4 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 2 businesses in this sector. 19 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 5 businesses in this sector.[4] There were 49 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.8% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 29. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 7, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 3, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 19. In the tertiary sector; 1 was in the sale or repair of motor vehicles and 16 or 84.2% were in a hotel or restaurant.[15]

In 2000, there were 24 workers who commuted away from the municipality.[16] Of the working population, 6.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 46.9% used a private car.[4]

Religion

From the 2000 census, 81 or 81.8% were Roman Catholic, while 2 or 2.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 9 members of an Orthodox church (or about 9.09% of the population). 4 (or about 4.04% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 3 individuals (or about 3.03% of the population) did not answer the question.[7]

Education

In Blitzingen about 24 or (24.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 7 or (7.1%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 7 who completed tertiary schooling, 57.1% were Swiss men, 0.0% were Swiss women.[7]

As of 2000, there were 13 students from Blitzingen who attended schools outside the municipality.[16]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter (German) accessed 17 September 2013
  2. ↑ Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Blitzingen in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 7 September 2011
  5. ↑ Flags of the World.com accessed 7 September 2011
  6. ↑ Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 (German) accessed 19 June 2010
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 (German) accessed 2 February 2011
  8. ↑ Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls (German) (French) accessed 24 August 2011
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen (German) accessed 28 January 2011
  10. ↑ Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 (German) accessed 29 January 2011
  11. ↑ "Kantonsliste A-Objekte". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2011. 
  12. ↑ Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton (German) accessed 28 May 2010
  13. ↑ Staatsratswahlen vom 1. März 2009 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
  14. ↑ Ständeratswahl 2007 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
  15. ↑ Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 (German) accessed 28 January 2011
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb (German) accessed 24 June 2010

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blitzingen.
Municipalities in Goms District, Switzerland
  • Valais
  • Districts of Canton Valais
  • Municipalities of the canton of Valais
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