Berzona is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

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In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Auressio

Auressio

Auressio is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Berzona and Loco to form a new and larger municipality Isorno.-History:...

 and Loco

Loco, Switzerland

Loco is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Auressio and Berzona to form a new and larger municipality Isorno.-History:...

 to form a new and larger municipality Isorno

Isorno

Isorno is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.The municipality was created in 2001 by a merger of Auressio, Berzona and Loco.-History:...

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History

Berzona is first mentioned in 1265 as Berzona.

The village section of Seghelina is located directly on the main road, while the main village is above the road. During the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 it was part of the Squadra of Onsernone.

The church of S. Defendente was built in 1564 and became a parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 when it separated from Loco in 1777. The section of Seghelina has the chapels of Santa Maria (1682) and S. Maria Lauretana (1766). The political municipality was created at the same time as the Canton of Ticino in 1803.

After World War II, much of the village population emigrated and sold their properties to outsiders. Many people who bought houses in Berzona were well known personalities from the arts and culture, such as Alfred Andersch

Alfred Andersch

Alfred Hellmuth Andersch was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland...

, Golo Mann

Golo Mann

Golo Mann , born Angelus Gottfried Thomas Mann, was a popular German historian, essayist and writer. He was the third child of the novelist Thomas Mann and his wife Katia Mann.-Life:...

 and Max Frisch

Max Frisch

Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political...

. Today, the village is shrinking as few jobs in farming and grazing remain and most of the working population have moved to Locarno.

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Year	Population Berzona
1795	306
1808	286
1850	235
1900	151
1950	84
2000	48