Hermiswil is a former

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 Oberaargau administrative district in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2016 it merged into the municipality of

Seeberg Seeberg is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The lake Burgäschisee is located on the border with Aeschi. On 1 January 2016 the former municipality of Hermiswil merged into Seeberg ...

.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 3 February 2016

History

Hermiswil is first mentioned in 1289 as ''Hermanswile''. During the 13th and 14th Centuries, the Hermiswil area had been granted by the Kyburg family to the vom Stein family. In 1466 the city of

Solothurn , neighboring_municipalities = Bellach, Biberist, Feldbrunnen-Sankt Niklaus, Langendorf, Rüttenen, Zuchwil , twintowns = Heilbronn (Germany), Kraków (Poland), Le Landeron (Switzerland) Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; ...

inherited all the vom Stein holdings, which included Hermiswil. Following the ''Wyniger Vertrag'', of 1665, the village was given to Bern. It was placed under the authority for

low justice High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. Low just ...

from

Bollodingen Bollodingen is a former municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011 it was merged with the municipality of Bettenhausen. History Bollodingen is first mentioned in 1266 as ''B ...

and administered by the

Landvogtei During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

of Wangen. The

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 letter ...

citizens of Hermiswil were placed under the guidance of the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Herzogenbuchsee Herzogenbuchsee is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The population is 7055 (2011), counting the villages in the Oberaargau. The traditional name was ''Buchsi''. History Herzogenbuc ...

. While the village is located along two transportation routes (the road from Bern into the Aargau, and since 1857 the rail line from

Olten Olten (High Alemannic: ''Oute'') is a town in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland and capital of the district of the same name. Olten's railway station is within 30 minutes of Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Lucerne by train, and is a rail hub ...

to Bern) it has remained a small farming community.

Geography

Heimiswil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 61.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 33.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.1% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.7%. 32.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.3% is used for growing crops and 40.7% is pastures, while 2.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The village of Hermiswil is located in the Önz valley.

Demographics

Hermiswil has a population (as of 2014) of 102. , 3.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -8.7%. Most of the population () speaks German (99.0%), with other 1% speaking Rhaeto-romance. In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the local small left-wing parties (17.9%), the SPS (13.7%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

(10.1%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 63.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 12.9%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Hermiswil about 82.5% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied ar ...

''). Hermiswil has an unemployment rate of 0.94%. , there were 14 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 5 businesses involved in this sector. 2 people are 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 constructio ...

and there are 1 business in this sector. 20 people are 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 secon ...

, with 4 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 21-Jul-2009 The historical population is given in the following table:

References

External links

* {{Authority control Former municipalities of the canton of Bern