Balm at trade fairs

State :

Switzerland

Canton :

Solothurn (SO)

District :

Bucheggberg

Residential municipality :

measure up

Postal code :

3254

former BFS no. :

2443

Coordinates :

599 494 / 217 019 coordinates: 47 ° 6 '15 " N , 7 ° 25' 55" O ; CH1903: five hundred ninety-nine thousand four hundred ninety-four / 217019

Height :

476 m above sea level M.

Area :

2.15 km²

Residents:

102 (December 31, 2008)

Population density :

47 inhabitants per km²

Balm and measure

map

Parish before the merger on January 1, 2010

Until December 31, 2009, Balm bei Messen was a political municipality in the Bucheggberg district of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland . On January 1, 2010, the merger of the municipalities of Balm bei Messen , Brunnenthal , Messen and Oberramsern to form the new municipality of Messen .

geography

Balm bei Messen lies at 476 m above sea level. M. , 14 km southwest of the canton capital Solothurn (air line). The clustered village extends over the small alluvial fan that the Dorfbach has formed at the southern foot of the Bucheggberg on the edge of the Limpachtal plain , in the Solothurn Mittelland .

The area of the 2.2 km² large former municipal area comprised a section in the extreme southwest of the Solothurn Mittelland. The southern border ran along the canalized Limpach. From here the parish ground extended north over the at 469 m above sea level. M. lying, agriculturally intensively used level of the Limpach valley and the subsequent molasse heights of the Bucheggberg. The steep forested slope east of the village of Bach is Balmberg called, while the one to the west of the creek right seed forest means. The highest elevation of Balm at measuring is 646 m above sea level. M. on the so-called Rapperstübli , the location of the former Balmegg Castle. In 1997, 5% of the former municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 33% for forests and woodlands, 61% for agriculture and a little less than 1% was unproductive land.

Neighboring communities of Balm bei Messen were Schnottwil , Biezwil , Lüterswil-Gächliwil , Oberramsern and Messen in the canton of Solothurn and Ruppoldsried and Wengi in the canton of Bern .

population

With 102 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2008), Balm was one of the smallest communities in the canton of Solothurn at trade fairs. 98.2% of the residents are German-speaking, 0.9% French-speaking. The population of Balm bei Messen was 167 inhabitants in 1850 and 148 inhabitants in 1900. In the course of the 20th century, the population fluctuated between 140 and 180 inhabitants, before a significant decline in population was recorded in the second half due to strong emigration. Since 1990 the population has remained fairly constant at around 110 people.

economy

Up until the second half of the 20th century, Balm bei Messen was predominantly an agricultural village. With the amelioration of the Limpach plain and the correction of the brook between 1939 and 1951, valuable cultivated land was gained. Even today, arable farming and fruit growing as well as cattle breeding have an important place in the income structure of the population. Further jobs are available in local small businesses and in the service sector. In the last few decades the village has also developed into a residential community. Many employed people are therefore commuters who work mainly in the Solothurn and Bern regions.

traffic

The village is located off the main thoroughfares on a connecting road from Lohn-Ammannsegg along the southern foot of the Bucheggberg to Grossaffoltern . Balm is connected to the public transport network at trade fairs through a post bus course , which serves the route from Lohn-Lüterkofen station to Messen , and the Bucheggberg on- call bus .

history

The area of Balm bei Messen was already settled in the Neolithic Age, which has been proven by finds of Neolithic stone axes. The place was first mentioned in a document in 1254 under the name de Balmo . Later the names appeared in Balm (1275) and Balme (1276). The word Balm is probably of Celtic origin and means rock cave , heavily overhanging rock .

In the Middle Ages , Balm belonged to the Balmegg rule at trade fairs. The origins of Balmegg Castle, which was located on the Rapperstübli above the village, are largely in the dark. The castle was probably founded by the von Buchegg lords in the 13th century and later left to a family of Zähring servants. After these ministerials died out, the rule fell back to the Counts of Buchegg in 1276 . Because the lord of the castle granted refuge to a murderer, Balmegg Castle was destroyed by the Bernese in 1311, then rebuilt and devastated again in the Burgdorf War in 1383.

Together with Buchegg, the village of Balm and the lordship of Balmegg came to Solothurn through purchase in 1391 and were assigned to the Bucheggberg bailiwick. Until 1798 the high jurisdiction lay with the Bernese district court Zollikofen , while Solothurn exercised the lower jurisdiction with the court place Messen. After the collapse of the Ancien Régime (1798), Balm belonged to the Biberist district at masses during the Helvetic period and to the Bucheggberg district from 1803.

With effect from January 1, 2010, Balm merged with Brunnenthal, Messen and Oberramsern to form the new municipality of Messen.

Balmkirchli from 1522
Open bell tower with a shingle roof
Farmhouse with barn driveway
Local farmhouse on the main road
Hip roof with arch

Attractions

At the edge of the forest above the village is the Balmkirchli, which was rebuilt in 1522 on the site of an earlier church. It is a branch church of the Reformed parish of Messen. Balm bei Messen has preserved several stately farmhouses from the 17th to 19th centuries in the Bernese style with large hipped roofs. Only a few remains of Balmegg Castle can be seen.

coat of arms

In white above a green three-mountain, a green, six-leaf, obliquely left sprig of holly.

Web links

Commons : Balm at trade shows - collection of images, videos and audio files

Othmar Noser: Balm at trade fairs. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Aerial views of the village