Urtenen-Schönbühl is önbüa municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are some neolithic artifacts which were discovered at Längenrüpp and Schönbühl. Prehistoric Hallstatt era grave mounds were found at Sand, Junkerenholz, Rödelberg and Bubenloowald along with a prehistoric cemetery at near the Oberdorfstrasse-Lindholenweg roads. Roman era ruins were discovered at Moossee.
The village of Urtenen is first mentioned in 1249, as Urtinun; it was owned by the Counts of Kyburg. Between 1371 and 1374 the village was acquired by Bernese patrician families. Over the following centuries, the von Diesbach, von Bonstetten, Willading and von Erlach families owned part or all of the village along with the neighboring village of Mattstetten. The local low court met at the tavern in Urtenen.
The municipal coat of arms is first recorded in 1780. Its blazon is Argent on a pile enbowed Sable a Latin Cross pattee of the first. Following the 1798 French invasion, the old power structure was wiped away. Five years later, after the Act of Mediation, Urtenen became part of the district of Fraubrunnen. The village was damaged when the Urtenen river flooded in 1780, 1855 and 1917. An amelioration project in 1944-46 lowered the river's level and built flood walls to protect the village. During the 19th century many farmers shifted from raising food crops to raising dairy cattle and in response the first village dairy opened in 1842. Historically the main road from Bern to the Aargau bypassed the village. That all changed in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1845-48 the Bernstrasse was built through the village, connected Urtenen with Bern and the Aargau. Other roads followed, connecting the village with Solothurn and Biel. These were followed by a railroad to Olten in 1867 and another to Solothurn in 1916.
Urtenen quickly grew from a sleepy agricultural village to a major transport hub. Growth increased again in 1962 when the A1 and A6 motorway junction was completed near Schönbühl. Formerly part of the parish of Jegenstorf, Urtenen now became a parish in its own right, the parish church was built in 1965-68. Population doubled during the 1970s to 1980s period; in 1987 a new municipal center was built between the village of Urtenen and the neighboring former hamlet of Schönbühl. From that time, there were plans to rename the municipality, now no longer centered on the historical village of Urtenen, to Urtenen-Schönbühl. By 2000, there were over 3,000 jobs in the municipality. However, the old village has mostly retained its traditional appearance. Most of the new residents live in new developments outside the historic village. The municipality was officially renamed to Urtenen-Schönbühl in 2001.
Geography
Urtenen-Schönbühl has an area of . Of this area, or 44.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 30.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 20.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 3.1% is either rivers or lakes and or 1.9% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.7%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 36.5% is used for growing crops and 7.0% is pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 2.6% is in lakes and 0.4% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality is located in the Urtenen valley. It consists of the village of Urtenen, the neighborhood of Schönbühl and part of Krauchthalerbergen.
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.
Demographics
Urtenen-Schönbühl has a population () of . , 16.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of 9.3%. Migration accounted for 4.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 5%.
Most of the population () speaks German (4,628 or 87.4%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (139 or 2.6%) and Italian is the third (87 or 1.6%). There are 86 people who speak French and 2 people who speak Romansh.
