Langenthal is a town and 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

Oberaargau The Oberaargau is the region that encompasses the upper watershed of the Aar River in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On the north, lie the Jura Mountains, and on the south the hills leading to the Emmental. Administratively, the Oberaargau f ...

in the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

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 ...

. On 1 January 2010 the municipality of

Untersteckholz Untersteckholz was a municipality in the district of Aarwangen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010, Untersteckholz merged into Langenthal. Geography Before the merger, Untersteckholz had an area, , of . This area uses or 73 ...

merged into the Langenthal. On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of

Obersteckholz Obersteckholz is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2021 th ...

merged into Langenthal. Langenthal is an educational, cultural, and economic center for the region of

History

Archeological evidence suggests that early settlements existed around 4000 B.C. in the Langenthal area. A

Hallstatt Hallstatt () is a small town in the district of Gmunden District, Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Sa ...

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

with twelve grave mounds has been found at Unterhard. Remnants of two Roman villae have also been identified. Langenthal is first mentioned in 861, as ''marcha in Langatun'', referring to farming estates scattered along the Langete (a tributary of the

Murg In enzymology, an undecaprenyldiphospho-muramoylpentapeptide beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :UDP-N-acetylglucosamine + Mur2Ac(oyl-L-Ala-gamma-D-Glu-L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala)-diphosphoundecapreno ...

). The Old High German name ''Langatun'' is presumably composed of a hydronym ''langa-'' and the

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

element ''

dun Dun most commonly refers to: *Dun gene, which produces a brownish-gray color (dun) in horses and other Equidae * Dun (fortification), an ancient or medieval fort Dun or DUN may also refer to: Places Scotland * Dun, Angus, a civil parish in ...

um'' "fort" (which had become productive as a suffix in toponyms). The re-interpretation of the name as including the element ''-tal'' "valley" dates to c. the 15th century, during which the name is on record as either '' Langaten'' or '' Langental'' (the same process can be observed in the case of

Murgenthal Murgenthal is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Murgenthal is first mentioned in 1255 as ''Murgatun''. The ''Herrschaft'' rights to the village belonged to the Counts of Frohburg until ...

, earlier ''Murgatun''). In the 12th century Langenthal (now known as ''Langaton'') belonged to the territory of the lords of Langenstein. In 1194 the Freiherr founded the Abbey of St. Urban and endowed the Abbey with lands in Langenthal. Formerly part of

Thunstetten Thunstetten is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. History Thunstetten is fi ...

parish, Langenthal was granted its own parish church in 1197. After the extinction of the Langenstein family in 1212, the Abbey inherited additional lands in the area. The establishment of the Abbey brought agricultural improvements, especially the introduction of an irrigation system to the area. However, the Abbey often came into conflict with the Kyburg

Ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

(unfree knights in the service of a feudal overlord) family of Luternau. The Luternau family fought the growing power of the Abbey, until 1273-76 when they were obligated to sell their interest in Langenthal to the Abbey. Just a few years later, in 1279, the Abbey, in turn, was forced to give the low court and a fortified house in Langenthal to the Freiherr of Grünenberg to hold as a fief. By the end of the 14th century, the Abbey had regained power and was able to bring the village fully under their control. Starting in 1313 the Kyburgs held the high court right for the village. When that family died out in 1406,

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

inherited the right to hold the high court. Over the next few years Bern's power expanded in Langenthal. In 1415, Langenthal became incorporated into the territory of the Republic of Bern, but it remained under the landlordship and the low court of the monastery. Over the following centuries, the Bernese court slowly eliminated many of the Abbey's powers. The

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

of 1528 weakened the power of the Abbey slightly, but it continued to collect tithes and appoint the village priest until Bern bought those rights in 1808. During the 16th century a number of craftsmen and small businesses moved into the growing town. In 1571 Bern granted the right for the town to hold two yearly markets. However, the supply of goods for sale quickly exceeded the capacity of the two yearly markets. In 1613 they built a ''Kaufhaus'' or market building and started holding weekly markets. The ''Kaufhaus'' was rebuilt in 1808 and from 1894 until 1992 served as the town hall. By 1616 Langenthal had a series of laws and regulations governing the booming markets and trade in the town. In 1640 Langenthal and Langnau became centers of linen canvas production and export to France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In 1704 Langenthal became the seat of the Oberaargau canvas dealer's guild, which brought together weavers, shopkeepers and traders to protect their interests. The decline of eastern Switzerland's linen industry in the 18th century gave Langenthal a further boost, which encouraged to Bern to tighten supervision. Beginning in 1758 the Bernese government started inspecting cloth for quality and controlling who was allowed to sell. The success of the linen trade helped the town to grow. Even though the Aargau cantonal road bypassed the Langenthal, by 1756 it had grown to a total of 189 households, three taverns, various administrative buildings and a warehouse (dated 1748). The market street was paved in 1730 and the Langete was partially covered with stone bridges and new houses. In 1785 a brewery opened in town. A small elite of merchants, lawyers, physicians and pharmacists emerged and turned Langenthal into a center of the liberal and nationalist thought during the early modern era. Langenthal had been a subject territory of Berne within the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

since 1415, and tended to support uprisings against the central authorities; during the

Swiss peasant war of 1653 The Swiss peasant war of 1653 () was a popular revolt in the Old Swiss Confederacy at the time of the Ancien Régime. A devaluation of Bernese money caused a tax revolt that spread from the Entlebuch valley in the Canton of Lucerne to the E ...

Langenthal had supported the peasant uprising, as well as the 1798 French invasion and the liberal

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

. The current municipal coat of arms, three wavy bands in blue on yellow (''Or three Bends wavy Azure''), has been in use since c. 1870, replacing an earlier design in red and silver, but the use of a flag with a similar design, "yellow and blue with a triple rivulet" (''Sie führen einen Fahnen ist gälb und blaw / In dreyfachen Bach darinnen'') is recorded in a song of c. 1700. Langenthal's location on the road from Bern to Zurich (completed in 1760) and on the Swiss Central Railway line (inaugurated in 1857) spurred industrial development, led by textiles and machines. Municipal water supply was introduced in 1894 and an electric utility began operating in 1896. In 1898, the formerly neighboring municipality of Schoren was incorporated into Langenthal. Langenthal had a population of 1,327 in 1764; population grew to 2,738 by 1850, and to 4,799 by 1900. In the 20th century, Langenthal became known for its porcelain manufacture. Langenthal reached a population of 10,000 in 1957, further growing to 13,000 by 1970. The municipality has been officially referring to itself as a town (''Stadt'') since 1997. In 2001, Langenthal was twinned with the town of

Neviano Neviano (Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. Twin towns * Langenthal (Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country locat ...

in southern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and with

Brig-Glis Brig, officially Brig-Glis (; ), is a historic town and municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The current municipality was formed in 1972 through the merger of Brig (city), Brigerbad and Glis.

in the upper

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

. In 2010, the municipality of

was incorporated into Langenthal.

Obersteckholz

Obersteckholz is first mentioned in 1255 as ''Stechcholz''. Obersteckholz was the property of the Baron of Langenstein. In 1194, he founded St. Urban's Abbey and granted the village to the Abbey as part of its endowment. It was part of the Abbey's court of Langenthal until 1406 when it became part of the

ese

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

of Wangen. Following the 1798 French invasion it became part of the district of Langenthal under the

. In 1803, after the collapse of the Republic, it became part of the Aarwangen District. The village became an independent municipality in 1831. Until 1790 and again after 1975 Obersteckholz and

shared a single school district.

Geography

After the merger, Langenthal has an area of . Of this area, or 23.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 41.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 34.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 17.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.0%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.9%. Out of the forested land, 40.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 16.6% is used for growing crops and 6.2% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Untersteckholz had an area, , of . Of this area, or 73.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 20.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.7% is settled (buildings or roads). Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. 17.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 56.5% is used for growing crops and 14.1% is pastures, while 3.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. The municipality is the largest settlement in the Langetental (Langeten Valley) and since 1997 it has been considered a city. It consists of the old village of Langenthal, numerous expansions of the village core, the village of Schoren and since 2010, Untersteckholz.

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 ...

for 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 ''bendy wavy Or and Azure''.

Demographics

Langenthal has a population () of . , 19.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 5.3%. Migration accounted for 8%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.7%.
accessed 25-May-2012 Most of the population () speaks

German 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 ...

(11,994 or 85.2%) as their first language,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

is the second most common (484 or 3.4%) and

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 ...

is the third (297 or 2.1%). There are 108 people who speak

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), ...

and 5 people who speak Romansh. , the population was 48.6% male and 51.4% female. The population was made up of 5,672 Swiss men (38.0% of the population) and 1,583 (10.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 6,299 Swiss women (42.2%) and 1,384 (9.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 4,139 or about 29.4% were born in Langenthal and lived there in 2000. There were 4,236 or 30.1% who were born in the same canton, while 2,618 or 18.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,674 or 19.0% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.7%. , there were 5,805 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 6,633 married individuals, 941 widows or widowers and 699 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 2,277 households that consist of only one person and 365 households with five or more people. , a total of 6,080 apartments (91.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 327 apartments (4.9%) were seasonally occupied and 261 apartments (3.9%) 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 6.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.2%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1100 height:500 PlotArea = height:350 left:100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:16000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:4000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 Colors= id:LA value:yellowgreen legend:Langenthal id:OB value:green legend:Obersteckholz PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:1327 text:"1,327" color:LA bar:1850 from: 0 till:3032 text:"3,032" color:LA bar:1860 from: 0 till:3075 text:"3,075" color:LA bar:1870 from: 0 till:3637 text:"3,637" color:LA bar:1880 from: 0 till:4101 text:"4,101" color:LA bar:1888 from: 0 till:4095 text:"4,095" color:LA bar:1900 from: 0 till:4799 text:"4,799" color:LA bar:1910 from: 0 till:5963 text:"5,963" color:LA bar:1920 from: 0 till:6280 text:"6,280" color:LA bar:1930 from: 0 till:7257 text:"7,257" color:LA bar:1941 from: 0 till:8036 text:"8,036" color:LA bar:1950 from: 0 till:8933 text:"8,933" color:LA bar:1960 from: 0 till:10974 text:"10,974" color:LA bar:1970 from: 0 till:13007 text:"13,007" color:LA bar:1980 from: 0 till:13408 text:"13,408" color:LA bar:1990 from: 0 till:14350 text:"14,350" color:LA bar:2000 from: 0 till:14078 text:"14,078" color:LA bar:2010 from: 0 till:15263 text:"15,263" color:LA bar:1850 from: 3032 till:3672 text:"640" color:OB bar:1860 from: 3075 till:3695 text:"620" color:OB bar:1870 from: 3637 till:4256 text:"619" color:OB bar:1880 from: 4101 till:4670 text:"569" color:OB bar:1888 from: 4095 till:4661 text:"566" color:OB bar:1900 from: 4799 till:5322 text:"523" color:OB bar:1910 from: 5963 till:6425 text:"462" color:OB bar:1920 from: 6280 till:6773 text:"493" color:OB bar:1930 from: 7257 till:7709 text:"452" color:OB bar:1941 from: 8036 till:8472 text:"436" color:OB bar:1950 from: 8933 till:9412 text:"479" color:OB bar:1960 from: 10974 till:11455 text:"481" color:OB bar:1970 from: 13007 till:13418 text:"411" color:OB bar:1980 from: 13408 till:13826 text:"418" color:OB bar:1990 from: 14350 till:14761 text:"411" color:OB bar:2000 from: 14078 till:14476 text:"398" color:OB bar:2010 from: 15263 till:15670 text:"407" color:OB

Heritage sites of national significance

The old ''Kaufhaus'' (market building), Old Mill, and the archeological site at Unterhard are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The old village of Langenthal and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Chlyrot are part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

. File:Langenthal-Kaufhaus.jpg, Kaufhaus File:Langenthal-Muehle.jpg, Old Mill

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SPS which received 22.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (22.5%), the FDP (16.7%) and the BDP Party (12.1%). In the federal election, a total of 4,833 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 47.1%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

Langenthal is an economic and industrial center of regional importance, and the seat of companies including

Ammann Group Ammann Group Holding AG (stylized as ΛMMΛNN) is a Swiss mechanical engineering company specialised on machines for the building industry and road construction. The group of companies employs around 3,000 people and generated sales of CHF 900 m ...

(construction vehicles), Motorex Bucher (lubricants), KADI AG (food), a Ruckstuhl (textile flooring), Lantal Textiles, Création Baumann (textiles). , Langenthal had an unemployment rate of 2.52%. , there were a total of 10,745 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 76 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 3,619 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 149 businesses in this sector. 7,050 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 658 businesses in this sector. there were a total of 9,065

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. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 32, of which 28 were in agriculture and 4 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 3,398 of which 2,412 or (71.0%) were in manufacturing and 829 (24.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 5,635. In the tertiary sector; 2,119 or 37.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 317 or 5.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 259 or 4.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 152 or 2.7% were in the information industry, 303 or 5.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 453 or 8.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 317 or 5.6% were in education and 1,170 or 20.8% were in health care. , there were 6,627 workers who commuted into the municipality and 3,101 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.1 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 16.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 43.5% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 2,610 or 18.5% 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 8,338 or 59.2% 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, 281 (2.00%) were members of an

Orthodox church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church, the second-largest Christian church in the world * Oriental Orthodox Churches, a branch of Eastern Christianity * Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a confessional Presbyterian denomination loc ...

, 14 individuals (0.10%) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and 919 individuals (6.53%) adhered to some other Christian church; 847 individuals (6.02%) were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

158 individuals were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 66 individuals 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 2 individuals (0.01%) were

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 ...

. 8 individuals adhered to some other non-Christian religious group. 794 (or about 5.64% of the population) were non-religious, and 494 individuals (or about 3.51% of the population) refused to state their religious adherence. The local Muslim community was at the time in the process of planning a

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

for their "cultural centre" in 2009. This was one of the cases that fuelled the

Minaret controversy in Switzerland The federal popular initiative "against the construction of minarets" was a successful popular initiative in Switzerland to prevent the construction of minarets on mosques. In a November 2009 referendum, a constitutional amendment banning the co ...

which resulted in a successful vote on a proposed ban of minarets in November 2009. In 2012, a local court ruled against the construction plans on reasons unrelated to the minaret ban (on purely technical grounds of construction laws). For some time, it seemed as if the Langenthal minaret would be the first case where the new minaret ban would be taken to court, the Langenthal Muslim community announcing to the press that they were going to appeal to the

Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ( ; ; ; ; sometimes the Swiss Federal Tribunal) is the supreme court of the Swiss Confederation and the head of the Swiss judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court is headquartered in the Federal Courth ...

and if necessary further to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, but they dropped the issue in 2012.

Education

In Langenthal about 5,541 or (39.4%) 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 1,733 or (12.3%) 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 1,733 who completed tertiary schooling, 66.2% were Swiss men, 22.0% were Swiss women, 7.4% were non-Swiss men and 4.4% were non-Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year 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 ...

, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

. During the 2009–10 school year, there were a total of 1,917 students attending classes in Langenthal. There were 12 kindergarten classes with a total of 241 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 26.6% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 39.8% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 44 primary classes and 789 students. Of the primary students, 28.6% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 39.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 38 lower secondary classes with a total of 654 students. There were 19.1% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 25.8% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document
accessed 4 January 2012 , there were 1,031 students in Langenthal who came from another municipality, while 172 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Langenthal is home to the ''Regionalbibliothek Langenthal'' library. The library has () 35,496 books or other media, and loaned out 267,662 items in the same year. It was open a total of 304 days with average of 35 hours per week during that year.
accessed 14 May 2010

Transportation

The municipality has four railway stations: , , , and . The first of these is a major interchange, with regular service to

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened to Zürich HB or just HB, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. It is a major railway hub, with services to and from a ...

, , , , , and . Langenthal Süd is located south of Langenthal on the way to Lucerne. The latter two are narrow-gauge stations on the various lines operated by

Aare Seeland mobil The Aare Seeland mobil AG (branded ''asm'' or ''asmobil'') based in Langenthal is a transport company in Switzerland. It was created in 1999 from the merger of Oberaargau Regional Transport (''Regionalverkehr Oberaargau''; RVO), the Solothurn-Nie ...

Sport

The city is home to the

SC Langenthal Schlittschuh Club Langenthal known as SC Langenthal is a Swiss ice hockey team that currently competes in the third tier, MyHockey League. They played in the Swiss League, the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland ...

which plays in the

Swiss League The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

. Their home arena is the Schoren which has a seating capacity of 4,500.

Notable people

Friedrich August Flückiger Friedrich August Flückiger (also spelled Flueckiger; 15 May 1828 - 11 December 1894) was a Swiss pharmacist, chemist and botanist. He was born on 15 May 1828, in Langenthal, canton of Bern. Flückiger studied chemistry at the University of Berli ...

(1828 in Langenthal - 1894), Swiss pharmacist, chemist and botanist *

Carl Friedrich Geiser Carl Friedrich Geiser (26 February 1843, Langenthal – 7 March 1934, Küsnacht) was a Swiss mathematician, specializing in algebraic geometry. He is known for the Geiser involution and Geiser's minimal surface. Education and career Geiser's fat ...

(1843 in Langenthal – 1934), mathematician, specializing in algebraic geometry * Emma Graf (1865 in Langenthal – 1926), historian, teacher, suffragist *

Karl Jaberg Karl Jaberg (4 April 1877, in Langenthal – 30 May 1958, in Bern) was a Swiss linguist and dialectologist. He studied Romance philology at the University of Bern, and furthered his education in Paris (1900/01), where his influences included G ...

(1877 in Langenthal – 1958), Swiss linguist and

dialectologist Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , '' -logia'') is the scientific study of dialects: subsets of languages. Though in the 19th century a branch of historical linguistics, dialectology is often now considered a sub-fiel ...

Friedrich Born Friedrich Born (June 10, 1903 – January 14, 1963) was a Swiss delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Budapest between May 1944 and January 1945, when he had to leave Hungary following orders of the occupying Red Army. ...

(1903 in Langenthal – 1963), ICRC diplomat, credited with rescuing between 11,000 and 15,000 Jews in Budapest * Adrian Aeschbacher (1912 in Langenthal – 2002), Swiss classical pianist *

Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss composer, virtuoso oboist, and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Clas ...

(born 1939 in Langenthal) oboist, composer and conductor *

Johann Schneider-Ammann Johann Niklaus Schneider colloquially Johann Schneider-Ammann (born 18 February 1952) is a Swiss businessman, electrical engineer and politician who most notably served as President of Switzerland in 2016, and concurrently as a member of the F ...

(born 1952) businessman and politician, member of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States, represents the states, preventing more populous parts of the country overpowering the rest. As the p ...

, lives in Langenthal * Cornelia Meyer (born 1959 in Langenthal), international economist, independent energy analyst and media commentator. * Pedro Lenz (born 1965 in Langenthal), Swiss writer ; Sport * Fritz Scheidegger (1930 in Langenthal - 1967), Swiss sidecar racer, won two Sidecar World Championships. *

Christophe Bühler Christophe Bühler (born 2 January 1974) is a Swiss former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is a single-time Olympian (2000), a ten-time member of the Swiss swimming team, and an 11-time national titleholder in the 50 m fre ...

(born 1974 in Langenthal), Swiss former sprint freestyle swimmer, competed in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Stefan Grogg Stefan Grogg (born February 16, 1974) is a Swiss former professional hockey forward who played ice and inline hockey professionally in Switzerland and the United States. Grogg began his career playing for EHC Grindelwald youth team. He signed wi ...

(born 1974), ice hockey player; member of the Swiss Men's National Team 1997 * Bruno Sutter (born 1977 in Langenthal), Swiss footballer, over 300 club caps, plays for

FC Vaduz Fussball Club Vaduz (En: ''Football Club Vaduz'') is a professional association football, football club from Vaduz, Liechtenstein that plays in the Challenge League (Switzerland), Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. The club pla ...

* Rémo Meyer (born 1980), football player, over 220 club caps *

Fabienne Meyer Fabienne Meyer (born 28 November 1981) is a Swiss former bobsledder who has been competing since 2005. She scored her first World Cup win in a two-woman event at Königssee, Germany, in January 2014. The race also doubled as the women's Bobsleig ...

(born 1981), Swiss former bobsledder, competed in the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

* Thomas Reinmann (born 1983 in Langenthal), former Swiss football defender, over 275 club caps * Sven Bärtschi (born 1992), ice hockey player *

Carole Howald Carole Howald (born 29 March 1993 in Langenthal) is a Swiss curler from Langenthal. She is a six-time women's world champion, winning five titles as alternate and one as second in . She currently plays second on Team Silvana Tirinzoni. Career ...

(born 1993 in Langenthal), Swiss female curler

References

External links

Official city websiteWebsite of the higher schools in Langenthal

Website of the local 2nd division ice hockey team
{{Authority control Cities in Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Bern Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern