Bretzwil
Encyclopedia
Bretzwil is a municipality
in the district of Waldenburg
in the canton
of Basel-Country
in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.8%. Out of the forested land, 35.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 10.5% is used for growing crops and 35.1% is pastures, while 4.8% is used for orchards or vine crops and 6.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Waldenburg district, at the base of the Jura Mountains
.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Or, two Battons fleury Gules in saltire.
Most of the population speaks German
(669 or 94.0%), with Turkish
being second most common (10 or 1.4%) and Serbo-Croatian
being third (6 or 0.8%). There are 4 people who speak French
.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 729 Swiss citizens (92.7% of the population), and 57 non-Swiss residents (7.3%) Of the population in the municipality 306 or about 43.0% were born in Bretzwil and lived there in 2000. There were 128 or 18.0% who were born in the same canton, while 201 or 28.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 58 or 8.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 9 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 3 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss men and 3 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population remained the same in 2008 and the non-Swiss population increased by 3 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.4%.
The age distribution, , in Bretzwil is; 67 children or 8.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 141 teenagers or 17.9% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 81 people or 10.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 83 people or 10.6% are between 30 and 39, 144 people or 18.3% are between 40 and 49, and 139 people or 17.7% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 95 people or 12.1% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 36 people or 4.6% who are over 80.
, there were 300 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 347 married individuals, 38 widows or widowers and 27 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 72.2% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 261 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 66 households that consist of only one person and 38 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 264 households that answered this question, 25.0% were households made up of just one person and 4 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 74 married couples without children, 106 married couples with children There were 8 single parents with a child or children. There were 3 households that were made up unrelated people and 3 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 152 single family homes (or 67.3% of the total) out of a total of 226 inhabited buildings. There were 26 multi-family buildings (11.5%), along with 42 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (18.6%) and 6 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.7%). Of the single family homes 29 were built before 1919, while 16 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (45) were built between 1971 and 1980.
there were 291 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 85. There were 9 single room apartments and 132 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 248 apartments (85.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 29 apartments (10.0%) were seasonally occupied and 14 apartments (4.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.6 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent a four room apartment was 1274.00 CHF (US$1020, £570, €820). The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.31%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 49.75% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(13.11%), the Green Party
(11.24%) and the FDP
(10.63%). In the federal election, a total of 265 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 47.4%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 86. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 42, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 13 of which 9 or (69.2%) were in manufacturing and 3 (23.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 31. In the tertiary sector; 7 or 22.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 32.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 9.7% were in the information industry, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 5 or 16.1% were in education and 1 was in health care.
, there were 82 workers who commuted into the municipality and 249 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 9.8% of the workforce coming into Bretzwil are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 12.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 59% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.42% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 6 individuals (or about 0.84% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 21 (or about 2.95% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There was 1 person who was Buddhist
and 3 individuals who were Hindu
. 72 (or about 10.11% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 25 individuals (or about 3.51% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 50 who completed tertiary schooling, 84.0% were Swiss men, 14.0% were Swiss women.
, there was one student in Bretzwil who came from another municipality, while 57 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Waldenburg
Waldenburg (district)
Waldenburg District is one of the five districts of the largely German-speaking canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. The district lies to the south of Basel-Country, bordering the canton of Solothurn. Its capital is the town of Waldenburg. It has a population of . In average 150 persons live in...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Basel-Country
Basel-Country
Basel-Landschaft , is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. The capital is Liestal...
in 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....
.
History
Bretzwil is first mentioned in 1194 as Braswilere. In 1247 it was mentioned as Brezwilr.Geography
Bretzwil has an area, , of 7.33 square kilometres (2.8 sq mi). Of this area, 4.17 km² (1.6 sq mi) or 56.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.83 km² (1.1 sq mi) or 38.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.35 km² (0.135135755507387 sq mi) or 4.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.8%. Out of the forested land, 35.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 10.5% is used for growing crops and 35.1% is pastures, while 4.8% is used for orchards or vine crops and 6.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Waldenburg district, at the base of the Jura Mountains
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Or, two Battons fleury Gules in saltire.
Demographics
Bretzwil has a population of . , 7.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 8.5%.Most of the population speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(669 or 94.0%), with Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
being second most common (10 or 1.4%) and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
being third (6 or 0.8%). There are 4 people who speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 729 Swiss citizens (92.7% of the population), and 57 non-Swiss residents (7.3%) Of the population in the municipality 306 or about 43.0% were born in Bretzwil and lived there in 2000. There were 128 or 18.0% who were born in the same canton, while 201 or 28.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 58 or 8.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 9 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 3 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss men and 3 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population remained the same in 2008 and the non-Swiss population increased by 3 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.4%.
The age distribution, , in Bretzwil is; 67 children or 8.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 141 teenagers or 17.9% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 81 people or 10.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 83 people or 10.6% are between 30 and 39, 144 people or 18.3% are between 40 and 49, and 139 people or 17.7% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 95 people or 12.1% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 36 people or 4.6% who are over 80.
, there were 300 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 347 married individuals, 38 widows or widowers and 27 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 72.2% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 261 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 66 households that consist of only one person and 38 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 264 households that answered this question, 25.0% were households made up of just one person and 4 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 74 married couples without children, 106 married couples with children There were 8 single parents with a child or children. There were 3 households that were made up unrelated people and 3 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 152 single family homes (or 67.3% of the total) out of a total of 226 inhabited buildings. There were 26 multi-family buildings (11.5%), along with 42 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (18.6%) and 6 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.7%). Of the single family homes 29 were built before 1919, while 16 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (45) were built between 1971 and 1980.
there were 291 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 85. There were 9 single room apartments and 132 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 248 apartments (85.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 29 apartments (10.0%) were seasonally occupied and 14 apartments (4.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.6 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent a four room apartment was 1274.00 CHF (US$1020, £570, €820). The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.31%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
which received 49.75% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(13.11%), the Green Party
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...
(11.24%) and the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
(10.63%). In the federal election, a total of 265 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 47.4%.
Economy
, Bretzwil had an unemployment rate of 2.2%. , there were 68 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 23 businesses involved in this sector. 15 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 5 businesses in this sector. 44 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 18 businesses in this sector. There were 366 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.1% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 86. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 42, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 13 of which 9 or (69.2%) were in manufacturing and 3 (23.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 31. In the tertiary sector; 7 or 22.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 32.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 9.7% were in the information industry, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 5 or 16.1% were in education and 1 was in health care.
, there were 82 workers who commuted into the municipality and 249 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 9.8% of the workforce coming into Bretzwil are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 12.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 59% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 90 or 12.6% were Roman Catholic, while 490 or 68.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
(or about 0.42% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 6 individuals (or about 0.84% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 21 (or about 2.95% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There was 1 person who was Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and 3 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. 72 (or about 10.11% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 25 individuals (or about 3.51% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Bretzwil about 274 or (38.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 50 or (7.0%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 50 who completed tertiary schooling, 84.0% were Swiss men, 14.0% were Swiss women.
, there was one student in Bretzwil who came from another municipality, while 57 residents attended schools outside the municipality.