Auvernier is a village in the district of

Boudry Boudry a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. History Boudry is first mentioned in 1278 as ''Baudri''. There are numerous prehistoric settlements around Boudry. These include the neolithic stilt houses on the banks of Lak ...

in the canton of Neuchâtel in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The municipalities of Auvernier,

Bôle Bôle is a former municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The municipalities of Auvernier, Bôle and Colombier merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Milvignes.

and Colombier merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of

Milvignes Milvignes is a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It was formed on January 1, 2013, by merging the former municipalities Auvernier, Bôle and Colombier.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013

History

Settlement has flourished since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

in the vicinity of Auvernier, as evidenced by the large amount of material excavated by archaeologists, some of which is now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, including a hoard of

penannular bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...

s and armlets with geometric decoration. Auvernier is first mentioned in 1011 as ''Averniacum''. The municipality was formerly known by its German name ''Avernach'', however, that name is no longer used.

Geography

Auvernier had an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 3.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 47.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.6% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 19.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 20.8%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.2% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.8%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops, while 46.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 1.8% is in lakes and 0.6% is in rivers and streams. The former municipality is located in the Boudry district, on the north-west bank of

Lake Neuchatel A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larg ...

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

is ''Azure, a Perch nainaint Argent.''

Demographics

Auvernier had a population () of 1,589.Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB
''Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter'' accessed 3 October 2012 , 13.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals.
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 2.1%. It has changed at a rate of 4.2% due to migration and at a rate of -0.5% due to births and deaths.
accessed 17-October-2011 Most of the population () speaks

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

(1,322 or 86.2%) as their first language,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

is the second most common (102 or 6.7%) and Italian is the third (31 or 2.0%). There is 1 person who speaks Romansh. , the population was 48.2% male and 51.8% female. The population was made up of 627 Swiss men (39.2% of the population) and 144 (9.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 727 Swiss women (45.5%) and 100 (6.3%) non-Swiss women.Canton of Neuchatel Statistics
''République et canton de Neuchâtel - Recensement annuel de la population'' accessed 13 October 2011 Of the population in the municipality, 290 or about 18.9% were born in Auvernier and lived there in 2000. There were 569 or 37.1% who were born in the same canton, while 369 or 24.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 263 or 17.2% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.2%. , there were 595 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 733 married individuals, 107 widows or widowers and 98 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 680 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. There were 242 households that consist of only one person and 37 households with five or more people. , a total of 657 apartments (91.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 43 apartments (6.0%) were seasonally occupied and 18 apartments (2.5%) were empty.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.7%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1020 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1600 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:300 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:60 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1750 from:start till:520 text:"520" bar:1850 from:start till:677 text:"677" bar:1860 from:start till:703 text:"703" bar:1870 from:start till:678 text:"678" bar:1880 from:start till:804 text:"804" bar:1888 from:start till:783 text:"783" bar:1900 from:start till:875 text:"875" bar:1910 from:start till:866 text:"866" bar:1920 from:start till:940 text:"940" bar:1930 from:start till:951 text:"951" bar:1941 from:start till:960 text:"960" bar:1950 from:start till:1021 text:"1,021" bar:1960 from:start till:1186 text:"1,186" bar:1970 from:start till:1433 text:"1,433" bar:1980 from:start till:1439 text:"1,439" bar:1990 from:start till:1408 text:"1,408" bar:2000 from:start till:1533 text:"1,533"

Heritage sites of national significance

The prehistoric lake shore settlement at Baie D‘Auvernier and

Auvernier Castle Auvernier Castle is a castle in the municipality of Auvernier of the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. See also * List of castles in Switzerland * Château A château (; plural: châ ...

are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Auvernier is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

World heritage site

It is home to the La Saunerie and Les Graviers prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements which are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

.UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
/ref> File:Chateau d'Auvernier 20110831 1809 HDR1.jpg, Auvernier Castle File:Auvernier Baie d'Auvernier (stations lacustres préhistoriques)20110831 1777 HDR.jpg, Site of the Baie d'Auvernier prehistoric settlement

Politics

In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 21.72% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the LPS Party (19.9%), the FDP (19.85%) and the SP (19.37%). In the federal election, a total of 702 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 60.4%.

Economy

, Auvernier had an unemployment rate of 3%. , there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 117 people were employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...

and there were 14 businesses in this sector. 236 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 68 businesses in this sector. There were 754 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.5% of the workforce. the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 345. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 36, of which 31 were in agriculture, 4 were in forestry or lumber production and 1 was in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 112 of which 94 or (83.9%) were in manufacturing and 18 (16.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 197. In the tertiary sector; 48 or 24.4% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 6 or 3.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 30 or 15.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 1.0% were in the information industry, 3 or 1.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 41 or 20.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 9 or 4.6% were in education and 13 or 6.6% were in health care. , there were 262 workers who commuted into the municipality and 595 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 1.9% of the workforce coming into Auvernier are coming from outside Switzerland.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 18.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 61.9% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 350 or 22.8% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, while 715 or 46.6% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 7 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.46% of the population), there were 9 individuals (or about 0.59% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 22 individuals (or about 1.44% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 8 individuals (or about 0.52% of the population) who were Jewish, and 3 (or about 0.20% of the population) who were

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

ic. There were 4 individuals who were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. 366 (or about 23.87% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 57 individuals (or about 3.72% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Auvernier about 588 or (38.4%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 365 or (23.8%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

or a '' Fachhochschule''). Of the 365 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.9% were Swiss men, 31.8% were Swiss women, 8.2% were non-Swiss men and 4.1% were non-Swiss women. In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there was one kindergarten class with a total of 18 students in Auvernier. In the same year, there were 4 primary classes with a total of 72 students.Statistical Department of the Canton of Neuchâtel
Mémento de l'année scolaire 2010/2011 accessed 17 October 2011 , there were 136 students from Auvernier who attended schools outside the municipality.

Notable people

* Violaine Blétry-de Montmollin, Swiss politician

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Former municipalities of the canton of Neuchâtel Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Neuchâtel Populated places on Lake Neuchâtel Articles which contain graphical timelines