Mill turners

State :

Switzerland

Canton :

Bern (BE)

Administrative district :

Bern-Mittelland

Residential municipality :

Thurnen

Postal code :

3127

former BFS no. :

0876

Coordinates :

605 256 / 184.75 thousand coordinates: 46 ° 48 '50 " N , 7 ° 30' 27" O ; CH1903: 605,256 / one hundred eighty-four thousand seven hundred fifty

Height :

573 m above sea level M.

Area :

2.9 km²

Population density :

483 inhabitants per km²

Website:

www.muehlethurnen.ch

View of Mühlethurnen

map

Parish before the merger on January 1, 2020

Until December 31, 2019, Mühlethurnen was a political municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district of the canton of Bern in Switzerland . On January 1, 2020, Mühlethurnen merged with the former communities of Lohnstorf and Kirchenthurnen to form the new municipality of Thurnen .

geography

Mühlethurnen seen from the Belpberg

Mühlethurnen lies at 573 m above sea level. M. , 12 km northwest of the city of Thun (air line). The village extends on the lower eastern slope of the Längenberg below Riggisberg, on both sides of the Mülibach , which over time has created an alluvial cone at the foot of the slope, slightly elevated around 30 m above the valley level of the Gürbe .

The area of the 2.9 km² former municipal area includes a section of the central Gürbe valley . The eastern part of the municipality lies in the agriculturally intensively used level of the Gürbe valley ( 545 m above sea level ) which is almost 2 km wide here. The eastern boundary runs almost exactly in the middle of the valley floor. From here, the municipality extends westward over the canalized and straightened Gürbe and the relatively gently rising slope of the Längenberg up to the height of the Äusseren Egg , on which at 770 m above sea level. M. the highest point of Mühlethurnen is reached. The slope of Mühlethurnen is subdivided by the erosion valley of the Mülibach. In 1997, 18% of the municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 7% for forests and woodlands and 74% for agriculture; a little less than 1% was unproductive land.

Mühlethurnen consists of an upper village center ( 573 m above sea level ) and a station district ( 549 m above sea level ), some new quarters as well as courtyard groups and individual courtyards. Neighboring communities of Mühlethurnen were Kirchenthurnen , Kirchdorf (BE) , Lohnstorf and Riggisberg .

population

With 1402 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018), Mühlethurnen was one of the smaller communities in the canton of Bern. 96.7% of the residents are German-speaking, 0.8% French-speaking and 0.3% speak English (as of 2000). The population of Mühlethurnen was 642 in 1850 and 648 in 1900. In the course of the 20th century, the population has always fluctuated between 600 and 700 people. Since 1970 (737 inhabitants) a significant increase in population has been recorded.

politics

The voting shares of the parties in the 2015 National Council elections were: SVP 31.3%, SP 18.1%, BDP 13.7%, GPS 12.6%, FDP 8.0%, glp 7.4%, EPP 3.7 %, EDU 2.2%, CVP 1.3%, pirates 1.0%.

The seven-member municipal council elected in 2013 in the proportional system consists of three members of the SVP, two of the Greens and one each from the FDP and the local group "non-party voters".

economy

Mühlethurnen was a predominantly agricultural village until the second half of the 20th century . The water power of the Mülibach was used early on to operate several mills. Even today, arable and vegetable growing (especially cabbage planting) in the Gürbetal, as well as dairy farming and cattle breeding on the slopes, have a certain role in the income structure of the population.

Numerous other jobs are available in local small businesses and in the service sector. In Mühlethurnen today there are companies in the building trade, the electrical industry, horticulture, mechanical workshops, a sauerkraut factory (in operation since 1917), carpenters and an agricultural cooperative. In the last few decades the village has developed into a residential community thanks to its attractive location. Many workers are therefore commuters who work mainly in the agglomeration of Bern or in the Thun area.

traffic

Mühlethurnen is very well developed in terms of traffic. It is located on the main road from Bern through the Gürbetal to Thun , near the junction of the road via Riggisberg into the Schwarzenburgerland. On August 14, 1901, the Bern Weissenbühl-Burgistein section of the Gürbetalbahn from Bern to Thun was opened; the station is called Thurnen. The Postbus course , which operates the route from Thurnen train station to Riggisberg , provides for the fine distribution in public transport .

history

The place was first mentioned in a document in 1343 under the name Muliturnden . Later, the names Mülitornden (1389), Mülythurnen (1479), Thurnen (1531) and Mülithurnen (1532) appeared. The etymology of the place name Thurnen is not clear, the word may come from the Celtic . The addition Mühle- was mostly used to distinguish between church throws .

In the Middle Ages Mühlethurnen belonged to the area of the Lords of Blankenburg , but was sold to the Interlaken Monastery in 1360 . The sovereignty over Mühlethurnen came to Bern in 1388. Since then, the village has been subordinate to the Seftigen district court. After the Reformation , in 1528 direct rule came from the monastery to the city of Bern, which Mühlethurnen assigned to the Thurnen court. From the 18th century there was a Venner court in Mühlethurnen.

After the collapse of the Ancien Régime (1798), Mühlethurnen belonged to the Seftigen district during the Helvetic period and from 1803 to the Seftigen district, which was given the status of an official district with the new cantonal constitution of 1831. In the middle of the 19th century, great poverty caused numerous villagers to emigrate to Australia, North and South America. From 1855 the Gürbe was corrected in several stages and the valley, which had previously been affected by floods every year, was largely drained. A lot of cultivated land was gained over time. In the original peatland, however, intensive use over the years has resulted in so-called peat subsidence, which can endanger the fertility of the soil. An attempt is made to counteract this with soil improvements.

Attractions

Bernese house in Mülibach above the village

Various characteristic farmhouses in the Bernese style from the 18th and 19th centuries have been preserved in the old town center and in some other places. Mühlethurnen does not have its own church, it belongs to the Reformed parish of Kirchenthurnen and the Catholic parish of Thun.

Culture

There is a wide range of sports and other clubs in the community, including a yodelling club and a music society. Since January 1994 there has also been the Alti Moschti Mühlethurnen cultural cooperative , whose concerts and cabaret performances attract visitors from a wider area and are often fully booked.

Partnerships

The community has a partnership with the Czech city of Borovany . The Mühlethurnen music society has been friends with the music association of the Bavarian parish Reichling since 1977 .

Web links

Commons : Mühlethurnen - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Elections 2015: Results of the Mühlethurnen community. Canton of Bern, accessed on March 21, 2016

↑ Homepage of the community ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
^ Article in the Berner Zeitung
↑ altimoschti.ch: Alti Moschti Homepage , accessed on December 23, 2009

[1] Elections 2015: Results of the Mühlethurnen community. Canton of Bern, accessed on March 21, 2016