Riggisberg
Riggisberg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
On January 1, 2009, the municipality of Rüti bei Riggisberg became part of the municipality of Riggisberg. On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of Rümligen merged into Riggisberg.
History
Riggisberg is first mentioned in 1239 as Ricasperc. In 1270 it was mentioned as Riggesberg.The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are several Iron Age graves at Kreuzbühlhölzli. During the Roman era there was a settlement at Muriboden. During the Middle Ages the Fribourg noble family of Riggisberg was established with a seat in Riggisberg. However, the family soon lost or sold all their rights and land in the village and by the 13th century other nobles and monasteries owned parts of the village. It passed through several noble landowners until it was acquired by Petermann von Wichtrach when he married Agnes von Burgistein in 1354. In 1358 Rudolph of Neuchâtel-Nidau acquired the high court and rulership over the Herrschaft of Riggisberg that included the castle of Uf Gsteig, the village of Riggisberg, scattered farms and the courts of Riggisberg and Ruti. In 1387 the powerful Erlach family of Bern acquired the village and Herrschaft. In 1700 the Erlachs built a new and more comfortable castle near the old castle.
Following the 1798 French invasion, the old landowners lost their right to personally own villages. Riggisberg became part of the Helvetic Republic district of Seftigen under Bern. In the following year the Erlachs sold the castles and surrounding lands to Karl Friedrich Steiger. In 1869, his cousin, Robert Pigott from Ireland, inherited the estate. About a decade later, in 1880, he sold the castles to the Canton of Bern, who converted it into a poorhouse. In 1939 the old castle was demolished. In 1965-70 the new castle was renovated and converted into a district administration building.
During World War II around midnight on 12–13 July 1943, the village was bombed by Allied bombers that were attempting to attack Italy. As many as 200 bombs were dropped and the village was severely damaged. However, there were no deaths in the attack.
Historically, Riggisberg and Rüti both belonged to the large parish of Thurnen. They split off to form their own parish in 1874 and became fully independent in 1935. The local St. Sebastian Chapel was probably built in the 12th century, but was first mentioned in 1343. The late-Romanesque choir tower was probably built during the second half of the 12th century. The current nave was built in 1687 but expanded in 1939 and again in 1977-79.
The village has had a mixture of agriculture and small businesses throughout its history. Riggisberg gradually grew into a regional center for the surrounding small farming villages. In the 20th century, a district hospital and a district nursing home, as well as a secondary school for the surrounding six municipalities, opened in the village. In 1961 the Zürich textile industrialist Werner Abegg founded the Abegg-Stiftung and in 1967 the Foundation opened the Textile Museum in Riggisberg.
Rümligen
Rümligen is first mentioned in 1075 as Rumelingen.The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a cache of Early-Bronze Age axes. During the High Middle Ages the Freiherr von Rümligen owned a vast swathe of land between the Gürbe and Sense rivers. They donated some of their estates to found and support Rüeggisberg and Röthenbach Priories. In 1380 the Sommerau-Rümligen family inherited the land when Alisa von Rümligen married into the Sommerau family. In 1388 the Freiherren came under Bernese control, though they continued to own the estates for another century and a half. In 1515 the Sommerau-Rümligen lost the Herrschaft and by the 17th century a series of Bernese patrician families owned Rümligen. In 1709 Samuel Frisching, built the modern Rümligen Castle around the core of the medieval castle.
The village has always been part of the large parish of Thurnen.
The local farmers raised crops on the valley floor and pastured cattle in seasonal alpine camps. Today a large minority of the local jobs are still in agriculture. About two-thirds of the work force commutes to jobs in nearby cities. The municipal association runs a small school in the village.
Geography
Riggisberg has an area of. As of 2012, a total of or 43.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 51.1% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 5.4% is settled, or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.3% is unproductive land.During the same year, housing and buildings made up 3.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.8%. A total of 49.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 11.9% is used for growing crops and 27.8% is pasturage and 2.6% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
Before the merger Riggisberg had an area of. Of this area, 76.9% was used for agricultural purposes, while 9.7% was forested. Of the rest of the land, 12.8% was settled and the remainder was non-productive. Rüti bei Riggisberg had an area of. Of this area, 32.1% was used for agricultural purposes, while 64.3% was forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.1% was settled and the remainder was non-productive.
The elevation of Riggisberg is, with the lowest point at and the highest point at.
The municipality is located in the valley between the Längenberg and the Gibelegg. It consists of the villages of Riggisberg and Rüti bei Riggisberg as well as scattered hamlets and farm houses.
On 1 January 2009 the former municipality of Rüti bei Riggisberg merged into the municipality of Riggisberg.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Seftigen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is ''Azure a Royal Crown Or on a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert.''Demographics
Riggisberg has a population of., 3.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 2 years the population has changed at a rate of 0.3%. Migration accounted for 0.3%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.3%.Most of the population speaks German as their first language, Albanian is the second most common and Turkish is the third. There are 9 people who speak French, 7 people who speak Italian and 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 48.2% male and 51.8% female. The population was made up of 1,097 Swiss men and 56 non-Swiss men. There were 1,190 Swiss women and 51 non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 686 or about 31.7% were born in Riggisberg and lived there in 2000. There were 1,004 or 46.4% who were born in the same canton, while 225 or 10.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 180 or 8.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers make up 21.8% of the population, while adults make up 57.4% and seniors make up 20.7%.
, there were 985 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 915 married individuals, 168 widows or widowers and 94 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 316 households that consist of only one person and 71 households with five or more people., a total of 736 apartments were permanently occupied, while 31 apartments were seasonally occupied and 44 apartments were empty., the construction rate of new housing units was 2.5 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality,, was 4.3%. In 2011, single family homes made up 43.0% of the total housing in the municipality.
Rüti bei Riggisberg
Rüti bei Riggisberg had a population of 411, of which 1.9% were foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years before the merger, the population has decreased at a rate of 13.1%. Most of the population speaks German, with French being second most common and Portuguese being third.In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 72.7% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the FDP and the SPS.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers make up 31.8% of the population, while adults make up 51.6% and seniors make up 16.7%. In Rüti bei Riggisberg about 60% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education.
Rüti bei Riggisberg had an unemployment rate of 1.24%., there were 99 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 34 businesses involved in this sector. 46 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 6 businesses in this sector. 38 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 7 businesses in this sector.
Historic Population
The historical population is given in the following chart:Colors=
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bar:1850 from: 0 till:1474 text:"1,474" color:RI
bar:1860 from: 0 till:1381 text:"1,381" color:RI
bar:1870 from: 0 till:1370 text:"1,370" color:RI
bar:1880 from: 0 till:1353 text:"1,353" color:RI
bar:1888 from: 0 till:1697 text:"1,697" color:RI
bar:1900 from: 0 till:1753 text:"1,753" color:RI
bar:1910 from: 0 till:1770 text:"1,770" color:RI
bar:1920 from: 0 till:1800 text:"1,800" color:RI
bar:1930 from: 0 till:1790 text:"1,790" color:RI
bar:1941 from: 0 till:1807 text:"1,807" color:RI
bar:1950 from: 0 till:1913 text:"1,913" color:RI
bar:1960 from: 0 till:1949 text:"1,949" color:RI
bar:1970 from: 0 till:2193 text:"2,193" color:RI
bar:1980 from: 0 till:2196 text:"2,196" color:RI
bar:1990 from: 0 till:2308 text:"2,308" color:RI
bar:2000 from: 0 till:2162 text:"2,162" color:RI
bar:2010 from: 0 till:2396 text:"2,396" color:RI
bar:1850 from: 1474 till:1954 text:"480" color:RU
bar:1860 from: 1381 till:1827 text:"446" color:RU
bar:1870 from: 1370 till:1819 text:"449" color:RU
bar:1880 from: 1353 till:1748 text:"395" color:RU
bar:1888 from: 1697 till:2069 text:"372" color:RU
bar:1900 from: 1753 till:2139 text:"386" color:RU
bar:1910 from: 1770 till:2139 text:"369" color:RU
bar:1920 from: 1800 till:2202 text:"402" color:RU
bar:1930 from: 1790 till:2149 text:"359" color:RU
bar:1941 from: 1807 till:2156 text:"349" color:RU
bar:1950 from: 1913 till:2274 text:"361" color:RU
bar:1960 from: 1949 till:2281 text:"332" color:RU
bar:1970 from: 2193 till:2564 text:"371" color:RU
bar:1980 from: 2196 till:2528 text:"332" color:RU
bar:1990 from: 2308 till:2706 text:"398" color:RU
bar:2000 from: 2162 till:2610 text:"448" color:RU
bar:2010 from: 2396 till:2843 text:"447" color:RU