Selzach

Saucy is a redirect to this article. For the American Bible scholar of the same name, see Robert Saucy .

Selzach
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Solothurn (SO)
District :	Livers
BFS no. :	2556
Postal code :	2545
Coordinates :	601 284  /  228291 coordinates: 47 ° 12 '20 "  N , 7 ° 27' 20"  O ; CH1903:  six hundred and one thousand two hundred and eighty-four  /  228291
Height :	445  m above sea level M.
Height range :	425–1445 m above sea level M.
Area :	19.47  km²
Residents:	3447 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	177 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.selzach.ch
Center of Selzach
Location of the municipality

Selzach (in the local dialect Söuze ; French Saucy ) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland .

geography

Altreu direction Selzach with Hasenmatt

Aerial photo (1949)

Selzach lies at 445  m above sea level. M. 6 km west of the canton capital Solothurn (straight line), about halfway between Solothurn and Grenchen . The village extends on the northern edge of the Aareniederung , on the flat alluvial cone of the Lochbach or Selzacherbach , at the southern foot of the Jura and at the foot of the Hasenmatt .

The area of ​​the 19.5 km² municipal area covers a section of the southern slopes of the Jura and has a great variety of landscapes. The southern border runs along the Aare, which flows around the Inseli , one of the larger islands in this river. From the Aare, the municipality extends northward over an alluvial plain, the so-called Selzacherwiti , up to 2 km wide , to the adjacent ridge of the Länghölzli ( 513  m above sea level ), which geomorphologically represents a lateral moraine of the Ice Age Rhone glacier . This moraine is clearly separated from the Jura slope by a small hollow. In the area of ​​the village of Selzach, the moraine ridge was removed by the erosion of the Selzacherbach.

To the north of the village, the community area extends over the gently sloping terrace of Rütenen and the subsequent steep forest slope to the anticline of the Weissenstein range. The southern slope of the Jura is subdivided by the evacuation basins Brüggli and Schauenburg . The Brügglibach , called Haagbach in the lower part, rises in Brüggli and forms the western border of Selzach over long stretches. The Lochbach , the actual Dorfbach of Selzach, which takes the name Selzacherbach in the lower reaches and flows into the Aare near Altreu together with the Haagbach, rises in the erosion basin of the Schauenburg . The actual Jura crest is marked in the Selzach area by the south-facing rock faces of the Wandflue ( 1399  m above sea level ), the Stallflue ( 1409  m above sea level ) and the Hasenmatt , on which at 1,445  m above sea level. M. the highest point of Selzach and at the same time the canton is reached.

A small part north of the Jura ridge also belongs to the municipality of Selzach. On the northern slope of the Hasenmatt these are the Cholgraben and the upper part of the Rüschgraben , both in the catchment area of ​​the La Raus , which flows into the Birs at Moutier . The Ruisseau de Chaluet , another tributary of the Birs, rises in the Schwelli erosion basin . In 1997, 9% of the municipal area was in settlements, 39% in forests and woodlands, 50% in agriculture and a little more than 2% was unproductive land.

Selzach includes the town of Altreu ( 429  m above sea level ) on the plain north of the Aare, the outlying settlements of Haag ( 468  m above sea level ) on the Haagbach, Moos ( 500  m above sea level ) on the slope above the village, Bäriswil ( 514  m above sea level ) and Chänelmoos ( 553  m above sea level ), both on the Selzacherbach, as well as various individual farms. The neighboring communities of Selzach are Bettlach , Grenchen , Gänsbrunnen , Oberdorf , Lommiswil , Bellach and Lüsslingen-Nennigkofen in the canton of Solothurn and Leuzigen and Court in the canton of Bern .

population

With 3447 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018), Selzach is one of the medium-sized communities in the canton of Solothurn. 92.5% of the residents speak German, 1.3% speak French and 1.2% speak Italian (as of 2000). The population of Selzach was 1052 in 1850 and 1537 in 1900. In the course of the 20th century the population rose continuously to 2948 people until 1970. After a subsequent decrease to 2739 inhabitants (1980), a slight population increase has been recorded since then.

politics

The municipal council (executive), including the municipality president, consists of 11 members. The seats were distributed as follows:

Political party	2013-2017	(+/-)	2009-2013
FDP. The Liberals ( Free Democratic Party until 2009 )	4th		4th
Christian Democratic People's Party	4th		4th
Social Democratic Party	2		2
Swiss People's Party	1	+1	0
Free list	0	−1	1

economy

Until the 20th century, Selzach was predominantly an agricultural village. During the first half of the 20th century in particular, Selzach, like many other communities on the southern foot of the Jura between Biel and Solothurn, owned the watch industry and suppliers, which, however, have almost all disappeared due to several crises in this branch.

Even today, arable farming , vegetable growing and fruit growing in the lower parts of the municipality as well as cattle breeding and forestry in the higher areas have a certain role in the income structure of the population. Numerous other jobs are available in the industrial sector and in the service sector. Since the 1970s, new commercial and industrial zones have emerged, especially near the train station. Various medical technology, construction and transport, plastics and wood processing, mechanical engineering, metal construction, horticulture, wine trade, printing and precision engineering workshops are all represented in the community today. Selzach is the location of a district and a district school. In the last few decades the village has developed into a residential community thanks to its attractive location. Many employed people are therefore commuters who mainly work in the Solothurn, Grenchen and Biel regions.

traffic

Selzach station

The community is very well developed in terms of transport. It is located on the old main road from Solothurn to Biel . The next connection to the A5 motorway , which was opened in 2002 and relieved the village of through traffic, is around 7 km from the town center. On June 1, 1857, the railway line from Solothurn to Biel with a station in Selzach was put into operation. The bus route operated by the Grenchen und Umgebung bus company , which operates the route from Grenchen to Selzach, provides for the fine distribution of public transport .

Entrance to Selzach, Hauptstrasse

history

The municipality of Selzach was settled early on, which is evidenced by numerous litter finds and excavations from the Celtic and Roman times . The first written mention of the place took place in 1181 under the name Selsacho ; The French name Scigie has been handed down from 1228 . The names Selzach (1268), Sauci (1275), Selsago (1279) and Saucy (1356) appeared later . The place name goes back to the Latin personal name Saltius or Salacius and therefore means possession, property of Saltius / Salacius .

Selzach has belonged to the Lords of Strassberg since the Middle Ages , but the Sankt-Ursen-Stift in Solothurn and the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau ​​also had rich property in the municipality. When the Altreu rule was separated from the Strassberg rule in 1309 , Selzach came to Altreu and from then on shared its fate. In 1375 the village was affected by the Gugler raids . Together with Altreu, the village came under Solothurn rule in 1389 and was assigned to the Bailiwick of Lebern in 1393, where it formed a court circle.

After the collapse of the Ancien Régime (1798), Selzach belonged to the Solothurn administrative district during the Helvetic Republic and to the Lebern district from 1803. Selzach gained fame beyond its region from 1895 with the Selzach Passion Play, which was performed every year until the Second World War . In 1989 the cultural revival of the Passion Play House was initiated. Most recently, the Selzach Summer Games took place here every other year.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Selzach

The Church of the Assumption of Mary was probably founded by the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau. The current building dates mainly (nave and choir) from shortly after 1500, while the tower was built in 1457. The church underwent major changes in 1867 and was last restored in 1977. The Hague Chapel at the outlying settlement of the same name originally dates from the end of the 14th century and was built in thanks for sparing Haag from the pillaging Guglers. On the ridge of the Burgbüel, southwest of the Hasenmatt, some remains of the Schauenburg ruins are visible.

Selzach has a culture trail in which all the sights are described and explained. Documents on this can be found at the community and at the "Grüner Aff" restaurant. Various buildings and places that were very important for Selzach and some still are are described and explained.

The cultural performances in the Passion Playhouse are nationally known .

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  The interior of the Church of the Assumption

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  Hague Chapel

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  Hamlet of Haag

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  Farmhouse Bellacherstrasse

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  Old Mill

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  Farmhouse Liechti (Altreu)

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  Green Monkey Restaurant (Altreu)

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  Ettershof (Altreu)

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  Old school house

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  Rectory

coat of arms

Blazon

In a red and white salt barrel on a white plate

Web links

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

• Urs Zurschmiede: Selzach. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Official website of the municipality of Selzach

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent and non-permanent resident population by year, canton, district, municipality, population type and gender (permanent resident population). In: bfs. admin.ch . Federal Statistical Office (FSO), August 31, 2019, accessed on December 22, 2019 . 
2. ^ Bieler Tagblatt: The free list flew from the municipal council
3. ↑ Homepage Salzach: Municipal Council ( Memento of the original from August 31, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.