Heiligenschwendi

Heiligenschwendi
Country Switzerland Canton Bern District Thun 46°44′N 7°41′E / 46.733°N 7.683°E / 46.733; 7.683Coordinates: 46°44′N 7°41′E / 46.733°N 7.683°E / 46.733; 7.683
Population	681 (Dec 2012)[1]
- Density	104 /km2 (268 /sq mi)
Area	5.55 km2 (2.14 sq mi)[2]
Elevation	1,123 m (3,684 ft)
Postal code	3625
SFOS number	0927
Surrounded by	Hilterfingen, Homberg, Oberhofen am Thunersee, Sigriswil, Teuffenthal, Thun
Website	www.heiligenschwendi.ch SFSO statistics
Heiligenschwendi
Location of Heiligenschwendi

Heiligenschwendi is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

History

Heiligenschwendi is first mentioned in 1285 as Helgeswendi.^[3]

Geography

Heiligenschwendi has an area, as of 2009, of 5.55 km² (2.14 sq mi). Of this area, 2.71 km² (1.05 sq mi) or 48.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.42 km² (0.93 sq mi) or 43.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.41 km² (0.16 sq mi) or 7.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km² (2.5 acres) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.4% is unproductive land.^[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. 42.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.4% is used for growing crops and 43.8% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.^[4]

The municipality is located on a terrace, about 900–1,125 meters (2,953–3,691 ft) above the right shore of Lake Thun. It includes the Dörfli Heiligneschwendi, Schwendi with its Hospital, Halten, and scattered farm houses.

Demographics

Heiligenschwendi has a population (as of 31 December 2012) of 681.^[1] As of 2007, 11.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -8.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (90.5%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 2.1%) and Italian being third ( 1.4%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 48.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the local small left-wing parties (14.3%), the SPS (10.9%) and the CSP (8.9%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 22.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Heiligenschwendi about 72.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Heiligenschwendi has an unemployment rate of 0.96%. As of 2005, there were 59 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 22 businesses involved in this sector. 11 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 3 businesses in this sector. 383 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 17 businesses in this sector.^[5] The historical population is given in the following table:^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heiligenschwendi.

• Heiligenschwendi in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

v t e Municipalities in the Thun administrative district, Switzerland Amsoldingen Blumenstein Buchholterberg Burgistein Eriz Fahrni Forst-Längenbühl Gurzelen Heiligenschwendi Heimberg Hilterfingen Homberg Horrenbach-Buchen Oberhofen am Thunersee Oberlangenegg Pohlern Reutigen Schwendibach Seftigen Sigriswil Steffisburg Stocken-Höfen Teuffenthal Thierachern Thun Uebeschi Uetendorf Unterlangenegg Uttigen Wachseldorn Wattenwil Zwieselberg Canton of Bern Districts of Canton Bern Municipalities of the canton of Bern