Gempen (
Swiss German
Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...
: ''Gämpe'') is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the district of
Dorneck in the
canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative divisions
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and entertainment
* Canton (band), an It ...
of
Solothurn
Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains.
The town is ...
in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.
History
Gempen is first mentioned in 1277 as ''Gempenon''.
[
]
Geography
Gempen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 52.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 40.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.3% is settled (buildings or roads).[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.5%. Out of the forested land, 38.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 25.5% is used for growing crops and 19.2% is pastures, while 7.7% is used for orchards or vine crops.[
The municipality is located in the Dorneck district, on the eastern edge of the Schartenfluh and Gempenfluh. It consists of the village of Gempen and the ]hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of Gempenstollen, Schönmatt and Baumgarten.
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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
is ''Azure a Hand with three fingers raised Argent sleeved Gules issuant from base.''
Demographics
Gempen has a population () of . , 15.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 16.1%.
accessed 23-March-2011German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
(702 or 94.0%), with Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
being second most common (12 or 1.6%) and French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
being third (10 or 1.3%).[
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The population was made up of 318 Swiss men (40.2% of the population) and 65 (8.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 338 Swiss women (42.7%) and 71 (9.0%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 188 or about 25.2% were born in Gempen and lived there in 2000. There were 78 or 10.4% who were born in the same canton, while 329 or 44.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 136 or 18.2% were born outside of Switzerland.][
In there were 5 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 8 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 3 while the foreign population increased by 1. There were 4 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 6 non-Swiss men and 2 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 14 and the non-Swiss population increased by 14 people. This represents a ]population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...
of 3.8%.[
The age distribution, , in Gempen is; 62 children or 8.3% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 136 teenagers or 18.2% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 55 people or 7.4% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 223 people or 29.9% are between 25 and 44, and 184 people or 24.6% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 64 people or 8.6% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 23 people or 3.1% who are over 80.
, there were 360 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 348 married individuals, 22 widows or widowers and 17 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 261 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household.[ There were 65 households that consist of only one person and 30 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 272 households that answered this question, 23.9% were households made up of just one person and there were 1 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 83 married couples without children, 90 married couples with children There were 18 single parents with a child or children. There were 4 households that were made up of unrelated people and 11 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 160 single family homes (or 68.7% of the total) out of a total of 233 inhabited buildings. There were 26 multi-family buildings (11.2%), along with 31 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (13.3%) and 16 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.9%). Of the single family homes 17 were built before 1919, while 43 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (39) were built between 1971 and 1980.][Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
there were 292 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 77. There were 8 single room apartments and 146 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 256 apartments (87.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 23 apartments (7.9%) were seasonally occupied and 13 apartments (4.5%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.9 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.17%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 29.48% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (22.79%), the SP (22.58%) and the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
(16.72%). In the federal election, a total of 283 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
was 55.3%.
Economy
, Gempen had an unemployment rate of 0.9%. , there were 47 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 13 businesses involved in this sector. 31 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 constructi ...
and there were 6 businesses in this sector. 256 people were employed in the tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...
, with 20 businesses in this sector.[ There were 392 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.8% of the workforce.
the total number of ]full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often use ...
jobs was 261. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 29, of which 28 were in agriculture and 1 was in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 30 of which 7 or (23.3%) were in manufacturing and 23 (76.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 202. In the tertiary sector; 12 or 5.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 11 or 5.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 9 or 4.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 2 or 1.0% were in education and 152 or 75.2% were in health care.
, there were 244 workers who commuted into the municipality and 246 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 3.3% of the workforce coming into Gempen are coming from outside Switzerland.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 13.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.3% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 278 or 37.2% were Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, while 233 or 31.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.40% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 23 individuals (or about 3.08% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 19 (or about 2.54% of the population) who were Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 167 (or about 22.36% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...
or atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 19 individuals (or about 2.54% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Gempen about 283 or (37.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education
Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education.
Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
, and 127 or (17.0%) have completed additional higher education (either university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
or a ''Fachhochschule
A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...
''). Of the 127 who completed tertiary schooling, 48.8% were Swiss men, 25.2% were Swiss women, 15.7% were non-Swiss men and 10.2% were non-Swiss women.[
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 47 students in the Gempen school system. The ]education system
The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory 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 ...
. During that school year, there were children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 47 students in primary school. The secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Gempen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 32 students in Gempen who came from another municipality, while 53 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
Sights
Nearby Gempen is the , from which there can be observed the wider countryside around Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
, Dornach
: ''Dornach is also a quarter of the French city of Mulhouse and the Scots name for Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands, and Dòrnach is the Gaelic name for Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands.''
Dornach (Swiss German: ''Dornech'') is a municipalit ...
and Aesch.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn