Leuzigen 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 Seeland administrative district 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The village is situated between the cities

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

and

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 ...

and borders on the river

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

History

Leuzigen is first mentioned in 1235 as ''Loxingen''. In 1270 it was mentioned as ''Loexigen''. In old documents, the village was referred to as Loichfingen (1224), Loenzingen (1522) und Leutzigen (1661) and Leuzingen. Archaeological excavations in the late 19th and early 20th century suggested that the area in and around Leuzigen was already populated by

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

and

Romans 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

more than 2000 years ago. In Roman times, the strategically important road connecting Avanches and

crossed present-day Leuzigen close to the old railway line. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, monks founded a priory on the site where the village church is now. In 1662, a school building made of stone was constructed in the middle of the village. Although the building has long since ceased to function as a school, it is still preserved today as one of the oldest buildings in Leuzigen. Before its integration with 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 ...

, Leuzigen's fate was repeatedly troubled by struggles for territory amongst dukedoms and principalities, and it changed rulers a number of times. In 1876, the railway line between

Lyss Lyss () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Seeland (administrative district), Seeland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011, the former municip ...

and Solothurn opened and provided Leuzigen with its own train station. In the late 1990s, the service between Büren a. A. and Solothurn was shut down due to insufficient profitability and replaced by a bus line. Before 1900, Leuzigen was one of the largest villages in the area. Although many surrounding villages have grown considerably since the 1960s, Leuzigen's population size has largely been stable for more than a century now. In the period of economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s, expanding industries in the region, such as watchmaking in

Grenchen Grenchen () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lebern (district), Lebern in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains betwee ...

, attracted many workers. However, it had little impact on Leuzigen, which remained predominantly rural.

Geography

Leuzigen has an area of . Of this area, or 45.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 39.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 11.3% is settled (buildings or roads), or 3.3% 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 4.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.8%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.3% of the area Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 34.0% is used for growing crops and 9.6% is pastures, while 1.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located on the right bank of the

river on the northern slope of the Bucheggberg plateau. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Büren, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Seeland.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 4 April 2011

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 two lions rampant combatant Or.'' The design dates back to at least 1833. Contrary to popular belief, the name "Leuzigen" was not derived from the word "Löwen" (German for 'lion'), but is thought to have been derived from a Germanic last name. The name underwent a number of changes until it assumed its modern spelling.

Demographics

Leuzigen has a population () of . , 4.1% 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 2.8%. Migration accounted for 1.5%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.9%.
accessed 21-August-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 ...

(1,123 or 96.8%) as their first language,

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), ...

is the second most common (11 or 0.9%) and

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 third (7 or 0.6%). , the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The population was made up of 545 Swiss men (45.7% of the population) and 32 (2.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 599 Swiss women (50.2%) and 1 (0.1%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 555 or about 47.8% were born in Leuzigen and lived there in 2000. There were 268 or 23.1% who were born in the same canton, while 252 or 21.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 51 or 4.4% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.4%. , there were 490 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 537 married individuals, 106 widows or widowers and 27 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 126 households that consist of only one person and 39 households with five or more people. , a total of 452 apartments (91.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 22 apartments (4.5%) were seasonally occupied and 19 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 2.5 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.71%. 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 = top:10 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1200 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:200 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:40 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:518 text:"518" bar:1850 from:start till:1107 text:"1,107" bar:1860 from:start till:1009 text:"1,009" bar:1870 from:start till:994 text:"994" bar:1880 from:start till:985 text:"985" bar:1888 from:start till:947 text:"947" bar:1900 from:start till:947 text:"947" bar:1910 from:start till:968 text:"968" bar:1920 from:start till:1048 text:"1,048" bar:1930 from:start till:1084 text:"1,084" bar:1941 from:start till:1060 text:"1,060" bar:1950 from:start till:1145 text:"1,145" bar:1960 from:start till:1193 text:"1,193" bar:1970 from:start till:1143 text:"1,143" bar:1980 from:start till:1128 text:"1,128" bar:1990 from:start till:1122 text:"1,122" bar:2000 from:start till:1160 text:"1,160"

Sights

The entire village of Leuzigen is designated as 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 ...

Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 30.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the BDP Party (26.4%), the SPS (13.8%) and the FDP (12.7%). In the federal election, a total of 407 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 43.3%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

In the Middle Ages, the population of Leuzigen mainly lived on agricultural produce and the sale of tuff stone and

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

. The excavation of tuff stone lost importance when it was gradually supplanted by brick stone. On the other hand, agriculture has remained important for Leuzigen until today. There are still a sizable number of farms in the village. Apart from small local businesses, such as workpiece suppliers for appliances, there are no large industries located in Leuzigen. About 75 percent of the people work outside of the village, as it is relatively close to cities such as Grenchen, Solothurn and Biel/Bienne. In addition, a junction of the motorway A5 is in close proximity and allows one to reach the capital

in half an hour by car. , Leuzigen had an unemployment rate of 1.53%. , there were a total of 263 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 115 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 31 businesses involved in this sector. 62 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 14 businesses in this sector. 86 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 28 businesses in this sector. there were a total of 191

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 80, of which 62 were in agriculture and 19 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 50 of which 39 or (78.0%) were in manufacturing and 11 (22.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 61. In the tertiary sector; 22 or 36.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 13.1% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 9.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 9 or 14.8% were in education and 4 or 6.6% were in health care. , there were 71 workers who commuted into the municipality and 430 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 6.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 11.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 62.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 139 or 12.0% 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 871 or 75.1% 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 0.26% of the population), there were 8 individuals (or about 0.69% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 38 individuals (or about 3.28% 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 5 (or about 0.43% 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 5 individuals who 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 ...

and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 72 (or about 6.21% 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 ...

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 36 individuals (or about 3.10% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Leuzigen about 493 or (42.5%) 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 101 or (8.7%) 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 101 who completed tertiary schooling, 75.2% were Swiss men, 21.8% were 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 93 students attending classes in Leuzigen. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 25 students in the municipality. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 68 students. Of the primary students, 4.4% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 2.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document
accessed 4 January 2012 , there were 23 students in Leuzigen who came from another municipality, while 75 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

External links

*
Homepage of the Municipal CouncilHomepage of the sports club
{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern