Gerzensee BE

BE is the abbreviation for the canton of Bern in Switzerland and is used to avoid confusion with other entries in the name Gerzensee .

Gerzensee
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Bern (BE)
Administrative district :	Bern-Mittelland
BFS no. :	0866
Postal code :	3115
Coordinates :	608 008  /  187502 coordinates: 46 ° 50 '19 "  N , 7 ° 32' 37"  O ; CH1903:  six hundred and eight thousand and eight  /  187502
Height :	646  m above sea level M.
Height range :	521–871 m above sea level M.
Area :	7.81  km²
Residents:	1215 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	156 inhabitants per km²
Mayor :	Stefan Lehmann ( SP )
Website:	www.gerzensee.ch
On the left the Gerzensee, in the middle the village and in the back the Belpberg
Location of the municipality

Gerzensee is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland .

geography

Gerzensee lies at 646  m above sea level. M. , 14 km southeast of the canton capital Bern (linear distance). The village extends in a promising location on the southern slope of the Belpberg , over the hollow of the Gerzensee lake of the same name , between the valley plains of Gürbe in the west and Aare in the east. Thanks to its location on the sunny slope of the mountain, Gerzensee has a very mild climate compared to the surrounding area and is often referred to as the "Bernese Riviera ".

The area of ​​the 7.8 km² municipal area comprises a section of the Aare valley between Bern and Thun. The eastern border runs along the canalised and straightened Aare, which is accompanied by a narrow forest belt. From here the parish grounds extend westward onto the ridge of the Belpberg. This rises south of Gerzensee only around 70 to 100 m above the plains of the surrounding area. The Gerzensee ( 603  m above sea level ), the northern part of which belongs to the municipality, lies in a hollow here .

To the northwest, the community ban extends to the actual plateau of the Belpberg, which is subdivided by the crests and ridges of Brönnhalten ( 834  m above sea level ), Rohrholz and Chatzacher (at 865  m above sea level, the highest elevation in Gerzensee). The northern border is formed by the Simmlerental valley , the stream of which flows into the Aare opposite Münsingen. In 1997, 8% of the municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 20% by forests and woodlands and 68% by agriculture; slightly less than 4% was unproductive land.

In addition to extensive new residential quarters, Gerzensee also includes the Thalgut settlement ( 540  m above sea level ) on the slope west of the Aare crossing, the hamlets Sädel ( 788  m above sea level ) on the southern slope of the Belpberg, Vorderchlapf ( 778  m above sea level ) and Hinterchlapf ( 764  m above sea level ) on the eastern slope of the mountain as well as various farm groups and individual farms. Neighboring communities of Gerzensee are Münsingen , Wichtrach , Kirchdorf , Belpberg and Belp .

population

With 1215 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018) Gerzensee is one of the smaller communities in the canton of Bern. 97.0% of the residents are German-speaking, 1.5% French-speaking, and 0.4% speak Portuguese (as of 2000). The population of Gerzensee was 762 in 1850, and 790 in 1900. In the course of the 20th century the population always fluctuated in the range between 760 and 820 people. Since 1980 (795 inhabitants) there has been a significant decrease in population.

politics

The voting shares of the parties in the 2019 National Council elections were: SVP 40.5%, SP 10.8%, glp 9.8%, GPS 9.6%, BDP 6.9%, FDP 6.8%, EDU 3.9 %, EVP 1.5%, DU 1.5%

economy

Herrenbauernhaus Rütimatt (listed in the inventory of cultural assets of national importance)

Gerzensee New Castle

Gerzensee was a predominantly agricultural village until the second half of the 20th century . Even today, arable farming , fruit growing , dairy farming and cattle breeding play an important role in the income structure of the population. Further jobs are available in local small businesses and in the service sector. Today in Gerzensee there are construction, wood processing, mechanical workshops, a sand and gravel works and a transport company. The New Castle , which is owned by the National Bank , has been home to the Gerzensee Study Center since 1986, where courses and seminars for doctoral students in economics and central bankers are held.

In the last few decades the village has developed into a residential community thanks to its attractive location. New single-family houses were built on the southern slope of the Belpberg west of the old town center. Many employed people are therefore commuters who work mainly in the larger towns in the area, in the agglomeration of Bern and in the Thun area .

traffic

The community is located off the major thoroughfares on a connecting road from Kaufdorf to Wichtrach . The closest connection to the A6 motorway (Bern – Thun) is around 7 km from the town center. Gerzensee is connected to the public transport network through the Postbus courses , which cover the route from Belp to Kirchdorf and from Münsingen to Kirchdorf.

history

Aerial photo (1952)

Individual finds from the Neolithic , the Latène and the Roman times attest to an early settlement of the municipality of Gerzensee. The first written mention of the place took place in 1228 under the name Gercentse . Later, the names Gerzinse (1254), Kerzense (1259), Gerzense (1265) and Gertzensewe (1299) appeared. The place name goes back to the Old High German personal name Gerzo and therefore means at Lake Gerzo .

In the 13th century, Gerzensee belonged to the rulership of the Kramburger, a Kyburg ministerial family who built Gerzensee Castle on a hill . Under Bernese sovereignty, the village formed a lower court in the Seftigen district court. The rule of Gerzensee has undergone numerous changes of ownership since the 15th century and was at times split into several parts. Since the 16th and 17th centuries, various patrician families from Bern built their country estates in the vicinity of the farming village. At that time, a mineral bath was built in the Thalgut, which became widely known, but ceased operations at the end of the 19th century.

After the collapse of the Ancien Régime (1798), Gerzensee belonged to the Seftigen district during the Helvetic Republic and from 1803 to the Seftigen District Office, which received the status of an official district with the new cantonal constitution of 1831.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Gerzensee

Church, in the middle the frozen Gerzensee and in the background the Bernese Oberland

Gerzensee with the Stockhorn chain

The Marienkirche was first mentioned in a church directory in 1228. Its location is striking: not elevated on a hill, but in a niche on the slope, where several springs are contained. It is possible that there was once a Celtic sanctuary at this point, which was dedicated to a spring goddess . The current building was built in the 15th century on the foundation walls of the Romanesque church. Major changes were made in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in 1937 the church was rather rudely renovated.

Gerzensee is characterized by several castles - once built as country residences for Bernese patrician families . The old castle is a late Gothic mansion with a steep hipped roof , which was built around 1520 for the von Wattenwyl family . The New Palace in the French Baroque style originally dates from 1690, was later rebuilt several times and has an extensive park with old trees. Since 1986 it has housed the Gerzensee Study Center , an internationally renowned training center for central bankers. The middle castle (also called the rose garden ) was built around 1670. The newer country estates include Freudheim (1805) and Fridberg (1857).

In the old town center, numerous characteristic Bernese style farmhouses from the 17th to 19th centuries have been preserved. The rectory was built in 1760.

One of the natural sights is the Gerzensee (as a nature reserve owned by the study center) with its unspoilt, but only accessible shore in a few places.

Personalities

• Samuel Heinrich König (1671–1750), pietistic Reformed theologian, orientalist and mathematician

literature

• Rudolf von Graffenried: Längmoos 1798–1998 , Bern 1998.
• CM Reber: Gerzensee. A piece of old and new Bern history . Wyss, Bern 1919.
• Jürg Stuker: The old Gerzensee Castle . Private printing. Stämpfli, Bern 1958.
• Jürg Stuker: 750 years of Gerzensee 1228–1978 . Stämpfli, Bern 1978.
• Rudolf Tschannen: Gerzensee. Chronicle until the end of 1999 . Municipal administration Gerzensee 2000.
• Franz Vollenweider: Gerzensee . Haupt (Berner Heimatbücher 111). Bern 1972, ISBN 3-258-02076-0

Web links

Commons : Gerzensee  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Gerzensee municipality
• Anne-Marie Dubler : Gerzensee. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Aerial views of the village and its surroundings

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent resident population from STAT-TAB of the BfS , municipalities see also regional portraits 2020 on bfs.admin.ch, accessed on May 29, 2020
2. ↑ Elections 2019: Results of the Gerzensee municipality. Canton of Bern, accessed on November 18, 2019.
3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. History of the Marienkirche