Twann-Tüscherz or Douanne-Daucher in French 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 Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of

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 2010 the municipalities of Tüscherz-Alfermée and

Twann Twann ( ) was a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Nidau (district), Nidau in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Tüscherz-Alfermée and Twa ...

merged into the municipality of Twann-Tüscherz.

History

Twann is first mentioned in 1185 as ''Duana'' and again in 1225 as ''Tuanna''. Tüscherz is first mentioned around 1230 as ''Tusschiers'' and in 1267 as ''Tuschers'' while Alfermée was first mentioned in 1276 ''Alphermme''.

Twann

Just outside the Twann railway station is a large and well preserved

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

lakeside settlement. It was discovered in the mid 19th century and in 1974-76 about 10% of the total site was excavated. Almost 20 different village existed at the site between 3838 and 2976 BC. The longest a single village was inhabited was only 24 years. The small huts () were only temporary and most had to be repaired after less than four years and replaced after sixteen. The huts stood in serried ranks either longitudinally or transversely oriented to the lake. The hut floors had a layer of

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

to keep them dry and a clay hearth in the center. The residents used hoes, sticks and simple plows to raise grain which was eaten as a porridge or bread. They raised domestic cattle, sheep and goats constantly and hunted animals, mostly

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

, as needed. They often fished in the lake. They wore clothes made of woven flax and bark fibers. An incised ceramic vessel shows trade links to

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 ...

and a rock crystal shows that they traded with other alpine villages. About half of their flint tools came from local flint sources, while the rest of the flint came from distant regions including, southern Germany, the southern Rhone Valley and Champagne. One copper knife blade was also discovered at the site. The other prehistoric sites include a

Roman 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 ...

cremation grave in Rogget,

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

finds in Gaicht and a burial ground in Gauchete. The settlement of Rogget northeast of Wingreis was first mentioned in 1235. During the 14th century it was abandoned, probably due to a massive rockslide. During 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 ...

Twann was the capital of the ''

Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

'' of the Lords of Twann. In 1250, however, their line died out and it was inherited by the Baron de Diesse. Shortly thereafter it went to the Vaumarcus family and then the Bolligen family. The Bolligens held Twann until 1422 when they sold it to the

ese Schultheiss Rudolf Hofmeister. He established it as a Twingrecht or lower jurisdiction with a judge in 1426. Rights over parts of the village were held by a number of different nobles, but by 1470 the right to hold a court in Twann was split between Bern and the

Prince-Bishopric of Basel The Prince-Bishopric of Basel () was an ecclesiastical principality within the Holy Roman Empire, ruled from 1032 by prince-bishops with their seat at Basel, and from 1528 until 1792 at Porrentruy, and thereafter at Schliengen. As an imperial ...

. The village church of St. Martin was first mentioned in 1228 and belonged to the

diocese of Lausanne The Bishop of Lausanne (French: ''Évêque de Lausanne'') was the principal ecclesiastical authority of the Catholic Diocese of Lausanne (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lausannensis''). History King Rudolphe I of Burgundy granted the Church of Lausanne ...

. The first church was built in the 9th or 10th century. This building was replaced in the 13th century and again in the 15th century. The current appearance of the church comes from Abraham Dünz the Elder's renovation in 1666-67. In 1237 Kuno von Twann gave the right to appoint the village priest to the Münchenbuchsee Commandery. During the

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 ...

, the Commandery was dissolved and in 1528 control over the church went to Bern. The local economy was based on

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

, fishing and animal husbandry. Weekly markets allowed the residents to buy any grain that they needed. Many of the vineyards were owned by Bernese nobles or by

Engelberg Abbey Engelberg Abbey () is a Benedictine monastery in Engelberg, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland. It was formerly in the Diocese of Constance, but is now in the Diocese of Chur. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels and occupies a commanding ...

, Münchenbuchsee Commandery and Fraubrunnen Abbey. After the Reformation, the monastery vineyards were acquired by Bern and leased out to local farmers. In Wingreis, the Rebhaus Thormanngut, a vineyard

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, was built in the 16th century for Bernese patricians. For most of the history of Twann, the main transportation mode was by ship. The first road that connected Twann to Biel was built in 1835-1838. About twenty years later it was followed by the Biel-Neuchatel railway line in 1858-1860. The expansion of the railway and the highway, in 1969-1978, separated the village completely from the lake. While viticulture is still important to the village, tourism, a shipyard and a construction company are also important parts of the local economy. In 1977-80 a vacation village was built on the Twannberg. It was sold and converted into a hotel in 2009.

Tüscherz-Alfermée

Tüscherz and Alfermée were part of the lands of the Counts of Neuchatel-Nidau, until 1388 when the counts died out and the land was acquired by Bern. Originally it was part of 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 ...

of Sutz which was located on the opposite side of the lake. The priest at Sutz allowed the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

to be read in the chapel above Tüscherz. After 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 ...

the chapel was closed, but it remained part of the Sutz parish until the parish was dissolved in 1876. Tüscherz and Alfermée then became part of the parish of Twann. In 2010 the parishes of Twann / Tüscherz-Alfermée and Ligerz merged to become the Pilgerweg Bielersee parish. Viticulture and fishing dominated the villages, because there was little land for growing grain. Some of the residents even rented fields across the lake in Sutz. Many of the vineyards were owned by monasteries, hospitals and lower nobility or burghers of Bern, Biel and Nidau. Several vineyard estates were owned by St. Urban's Abbey, including the Schünen estate which was bought in 1256 and later abandoned and the Convalet estate which was owned by the Abbey until 1848. In the 18th century it was expanded into a large manor house but it was demolished in 1859. The Biel/Bienne road (built in 1838), the Biel/Bienne-Neuchatel railroad (built 1860) and the A5 motorway (1973) isolate the villages from the lake. The lower village of Alfermée was built on land won from the lake after the

Jura water correction The correction of the waters of the Swiss Jura consisted of a wide series of hydrological undertakings carried out in Switzerland in the region of the three lakes: Lake Murten connected to Lake Neuchatel by the Broye Canal, the latter connec ...

in 1868-91 but was demolished in 1969 to clear land for the motorway. Until 1973 the primary school was located in the municipality, then it relocated to Twann. The vineyards are still an important industry, though now about two-thirds of the working population commute to Biel/Bienne for work.

Geography

Twann-Tüscherz has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 24.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 64.8% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 8.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 2.8% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 During the same year, housing and buildings made up 3.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.9%. All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 9.3% is used for growing crops and 9.1% is pasturage, while 5.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. It is located on the northern shore of

Lake Biel __NOTOC__ Lake Biel or Lake Bienne (; ) is a lake in western Switzerland. Together with Lake Morat and Lake Neuchâtel, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies on the language boundary between German and F ...

and is made up of the villages of Twann, Wingreis, Tüscherz and Alfermée along with part of the village of Kleintwann, the settlements of Gaicht () and Twannberg () on a terrace in the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

and St. Peters Island (Sankt Petersinsel) in the lake.

Demographics

Twann-Tüscherz has a population () of . , 8.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -1.8%. Migration accounted for -1.7%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.4%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 11 October 2013 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 ...

(87%) 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 (6.9%) 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 (0.6%). , the population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female. The population was made up of 511 Swiss men (44.9% of the population) and 50 (4.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 531 Swiss women (46.6%) and 4 (0.4%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012 , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 15.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 24.2%. , there were 198 households that consist of only one person and 13 households with five or more people. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.5 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 3.6%. In 2011, single family homes made up 54.0% of the total housing in the municipality.

Historic Population

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 = top:10 left:100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1400 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:300 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:60 start:0 Colors= id:TW value:yellowgreen legend:Twann id:TU value:green legend:Tüscherz-Alfermée id:TO value:blue legend:Combined_Twann-Tüscherz PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 0 till:865 text:"865" color:TW bar:1860 from: 0 till:981 text:"981" color:TW bar:1870 from: 0 till:958 text:"958" color:TW bar:1880 from: 0 till:976 text:"976" color:TW bar:1890 from: 0 till:872 text:"872" color:TW bar:1900 from: 0 till:854 text:"854" color:TW bar:1910 from: 0 till:748 text:"748" color:TW bar:1920 from: 0 till:845 text:"845" color:TW bar:1930 from: 0 till:794 text:"794" color:TW bar:1940 from: 0 till:735 text:"735" color:TW bar:1950 from: 0 till:886 text:"886" color:TW bar:1960 from: 0 till:879 text:"879" color:TW bar:1970 from: 0 till:847 text:"847" color:TW bar:1980 from: 0 till:768 text:"768" color:TW bar:1990 from: 0 till:810 text:"810" color:TW bar:2000 from: 0 till:865 text:"865" color:TW bar:1850 from: 865 till:1127 text:"262" color:TU bar:1860 from: 981 till:1313 text:"332" color:TU bar:1870 from: 958 till:1250 text:"292" color:TU bar:1880 from: 976 till:1361 text:"385" color:TU bar:1890 from: 872 till:1198 text:"326" color:TU bar:1900 from: 854 till:1163 text:"309" color:TU bar:1910 from: 748 till:1013 text:"265" color:TU bar:1920 from: 845 till:1144 text:"299" color:TU bar:1930 from: 794 till:1078 text:"284" color:TU bar:1940 from: 735 till:983 text:"248" color:TU bar:1950 from: 886 till:1190 text:"304" color:TU bar:1960 from: 879 till:1253 text:"374" color:TU bar:1970 from: 847 till:1164 text:"317" color:TU bar:1980 from: 768 till:1063 text:"295" color:TU bar:1990 from: 810 till:1081 text:"271" color:TU bar:2000 from: 865 till:1148 text:"283" color:TU bar:2010 from: 0 till:1105 text:"1,105" color:TO

World Heritage Site

It is home to the Twann Bahnhof prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

.UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
/ref> Twann Bahnhof is one of the best dated prehistoric lakeside settlements. The wooden piles have been dendrochronologically dated to 3838-3768 BC, 3702-3698 BC, 3662 BC, 3649-3631 BC, 3622-3607 BC, 3596-3573 BC, 3563-3532 BC, 3405-3391 BC, 3176-3166 BC and 3093-3074 BC. The site was discovered in the mid-1870s during digging of a well. One large scale excavation was carried out in 1974-76, while test borings in 1984-87 indicated that some of the archeological layers extend far into the lake. The total site is estimated to cover , but only were excavated in 1974-76. The underwater portion of the site has not been explored. A few years after the excavation the results of the studies were published in a 20 volume collection, which is considered the definitive reference on the

development in western Switzerland.

Heritage sites of national significance

The Former Clunic

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

at St. Peter's Island, the former Thormanngut building and the ''Fraubrunnen'' house are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The villages of Tüscherz and Twann 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 Wingreis are all 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 25.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (21.4%), the BDP Party (17.7%) and the FDP (14.8%). In the federal election, a total of 493 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 53.6%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012

Economy

, Twann-Tüscherz had an unemployment rate of 1.76%. , there were a total of 422 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 132 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 50 businesses involved in this sector. 51 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 16 businesses in this sector. 239 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 39 businesses in this sector. Of the working population, 17.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.4% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Twann-Tüscherz making 150,000 CHF was 12%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 17.6%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in the same year, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide average was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively.

Religion

In 2000 about 67.8% of the population belonged to a Protestant church, 14.8% 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 ...

and 11.2% had no religious affiliation.

Education

In Twann-Tüscherz about 53% 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 26.4% 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 ...

''). 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 137 students attending classes in Twann-Tüscherz. There were 2 kindergarten classes with a total of 20 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 15.0% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 15.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 4 primary classes and 72 students. Of the primary students, 8.3% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 8.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 3 lower secondary classes with a total of 45 students.Schuljahr 2010/11 pdf document
accessed 4 January 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Twann-Tuscherz Municipalities of the canton of Bern Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern