Mülchi 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 Bern-Mittelland 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 ...

. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Mülchi, Büren zum Hof, Etzelkofen, Grafenried, Limpach,

Schalunen Schalunen is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Schalunen, Büren zum Hof, Etzelkofen, Grafenried, Limpach, Mülchi and ...

and Zauggenried merged into the municipality of

Fraubrunnen Fraubrunnen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bern-Mittelland (administrative district), Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 t ...

.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 13 December 2014

History

Mülchi is first mentioned in 1302 as ''Mulnhein''. The village was originally owned by the Count of Buchegg. During the 14th century the village and the local low court were owned by a succession of

ese

patricians The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...

including the von Greyerz, Leissigen, Esche and Stettler families. At the same time, several religious organizations owned rights or properties. In 1488 Bern acquired half of the court of Mülchi from the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

of canons of the city's cathedral. The city acquired the rest of the court when the canton adopted the Protestant

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

and secularized

Interlaken Monastery Interlaken Monastery ( or ) was a convent of the Augustinian Canons Regular () from about 1133 until 1528 at Interlaken in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. History The provost of the Mon ...

. The high court over the village was in

Zollikofen Zollikofen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is a suburb of the city of Bern. It is home to the Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL). Geography Zollikofen has an area of . Of th ...

until 1803 when it was assigned to the court of Fraubrunnen. The village was destroyed by a fire in 1773, but was rebuilt soon thereafter. Mülchi has always belonged to the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Messen Messen is a municipality in the district of Bucheggberg, in the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Balm bei Messen, Brunnenthal and Oberramsern merged into the municipality of Messen. History Messen is ...

. It formed a school district with the neighboring municipalities of Etzelkofen and Limpach in 1982.

Geography

Before the merger, Mülchi had a total area of . Of this area, or 77.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 17.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.5% 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 2.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.4%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 66.0% is used for growing crops and 8.9% is pastures, while 2.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The village is located in the Limpach River Valley on the border of the

Canton of Solothurn The canton of Solothurn or canton of Soleure (; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn. History The village of ''Salodurum'' was founded in the time of t ...

. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Fraubrunnen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.

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 ''Gules a Rose Argent barbed and seeded proper within a Border of the second.''

Demographics

Mülchi had a population (as of 2011) of 233.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 16 January 2014 , 5.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.
accessed 4 January 2012 Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of -10.3%. Migration accounted for -6.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.4%. 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 ...

(235 or 95.9%) 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 (4 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), ...

is the third (3 or 1.2%). , the population was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. The population was made up of 108 Swiss men (47.0% of the population) and 6 (2.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 110 Swiss women (47.8%) and 6 (2.6%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 96 or about 39.2% were born in Mülchi and lived there in 2000. There were 95 or 38.8% who were born in the same canton, while 27 or 11.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 16 or 6.5% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17%. , there were 110 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 112 married individuals, 15 widows or widowers and 8 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 32 households that consist of only one person and 7 households with five or more people. , a total of 86 apartments (86.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 13 apartments (13.0%) were seasonally occupied and one apartment was empty.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 – Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 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:380 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:80 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:16 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1764 from:start till:198 text:"198" bar:1850 from:start till:380 text:"380" bar:1860 from:start till:339 text:"339" bar:1870 from:start till:310 text:"310" bar:1880 from:start till:306 text:"306" bar:1888 from:start till:326 text:"326" bar:1900 from:start till:282 text:"282" bar:1910 from:start till:306 text:"306" bar:1920 from:start till:283 text:"283" bar:1930 from:start till:279 text:"279" bar:1941 from:start till:282 text:"282" bar:1950 from:start till:295 text:"295" bar:1960 from:start till:272 text:"272" bar:1970 from:start till:253 text:"253" bar:1980 from:start till:227 text:"227" bar:1990 from:start till:214 text:"214" bar:2000 from:start till:245 text:"245"

Sights

The entire village of Mülchi 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 Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 60.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (16.2%), the Green Liberal Party (GLP) (8.8%) and the Social Democratic Party (SP) (3.7%). In the federal election, a total of 122 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 67.8%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Mülchi had an unemployment rate of 0.06%. , there were a total of 61 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 50 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 18 businesses involved in this sector. 2 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 was 1 business in this sector. 9 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 6 businesses in this sector. There were 135 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.7% of the workforce. there were a total of 41

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 31, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 2, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 8. In the tertiary sector; 3 or 37.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 3 or 37.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 1 was in education. , there were 7 workers who commuted into the municipality and 96 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 13.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 9.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 57% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 13 or 5.3% 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 214 or 87.3% 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 6 individuals (or about 2.45% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was

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. 9 (or about 3.67% 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 5 individuals (or about 2.04% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Mülchi about 94 or (38.4%) 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 28 or (11.4%) 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 28 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.4% were Swiss men, 25.0% 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 2010–11 school year, there were a total of 15 students attending classes in Mülchi. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 15 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 13.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 13.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document
accessed 4 January 2012 , there were 27 students in Mülchi who came from another municipality, while 31 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulchi Former municipalities of the canton of Bern