Blumenstein
| Blumenstein | |
|---|---|
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Bern |
| District | Thun |
| Coordinates | 46°44′N 7°31′E / 46.733°N 7.517°ECoordinates: 46°44′N 7°31′E / 46.733°N 7.517°E |
| Population | 1,184 (Dec 2012)[1] |
| - Density | 76 /km2 (198 /sq mi) |
| Area | 15.52 km2 (5.99 sq mi)[2] |
| Elevation | 659 m (2,162 ft) |
| Postal code | 3638 |
| SFOS number | 0922 |
| Surrounded by | Därstetten, Forst, Längenbühl, Pohlern, Rüeggisberg, Rüti bei Riggisberg, Uebeschi, Wattenwil |
| Website | www.blumenstein.ch SFSO statistics |
  Blumenstein | |
| Location of Blumenstein
 | |
Blumenstein is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Blumenstein is first mentioned in 1305 as Bluomenstein.[3]
Geography
Blumenstein has an area, as of 2009, of 15.52 km2 (5.99 sq mi). Of this area, 7.51 km2 (2.90 sq mi) or 48.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.19 km2 (2.39 sq mi) or 39.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.61 km2 (0.24 sq mi) or 3.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.21 km2 (0.081 sq mi) or 1.4% is either rivers or lakes and 1.01 km2 (0.39 sq mi) or 6.5% is unproductive land.[4]
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. 36.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.6% is used for growing crops and 15.3% is pastures and 23.8% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 4.1% is unproductive vegatation, 2.4% is too rocky for vegatation, .[4]
The municipality is located in the Stockental and upper Gürbetal. It includes the village of Blumenstein and the hamlets of Wäsemli, Eschli, Gassen and Rüdeli (all part of Inner-Blumenstein), Lochmannsbühl, Reckenbühl, Bodenzingen and Tannenbühl (known as Outer-Blumenstein). During the 19th Century, Outer-Blumenstein was an independent municipality, known as Tannenbühl. In 1859 it became part of Blumenstein.
Demographics
Blumenstein has a population (as of 31 December 2012) of 1,184.[1] As of 2007, 2.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -6.1%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (97.1%), with Albanian being second most common ( 1.8%) and French being third ( 0.3%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 47.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (14.2%), the local small left-wing parties (9.5%) and the FDP (8.2%).
The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 57% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.1%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Blumenstein about 67.5% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).
Blumenstein has an unemployment rate of 1.46%. As of 2005, there were 78 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 28 businesses involved in this sector. 182 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 17 businesses in this sector. 123 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 29 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1764 | 443 |
| 1850 | 1,077 |
| 1900 | 814 |
| 1950 | 1,071 |
| 2000 | 1,192 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB, online database – Datenwürfel für Thema 01.2 - Bevölkerungsstand und -bewegung (German) accessed 29 August 2013
- ↑ Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Blumenstein in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (German) accessed 25 March 2010
- ↑ Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 16-Jul-2009
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blumenstein. |
- Blumenstein in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
