Oberbalm, is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Oberbalm is first mentioned in 1228 as Balmes. The village grew up around a medieval pilgrimage site. It was part of the lands of the counts of Laupen-Sternberg, who lived in a castle near Oberbalm above the Scherliau river. In 1388, Bern acquired rights over the region, and Oberbalm became part of the Bernese court of Sternberg. It remained a part of Sternberg until 1803 when it became part of the Oberamt of Bern. In 1831 the Oberamt was dissolved and Oberbalm was transferred to the successor Amtsbezirk of Bern.
The counts founded and supported the village church of St. Sulpitius, which was built before 1215 and first mentioned in 1228 in the Lausanne Chartular. Portions of the original romanesque building are still visible in the nave. The murals were painted in 1480 while the tower and choir were built between 1517 and 1527. Pilgrimages to Oberbalm to see the relics of St. Sulpitius became so profitable that in 1462, the Bernese City Council voted to move them to the new Cathedral of Bern. During the Protestant Reformation the village converted to the new religion and in 1528 the village church was placed under the authority of the city of Bern.
Until the 20th century, the village of Oberbalm was only barely larger than the surrounding hamlets. In 1838, there were only 19 houses in the village proper, while the surrounding hamlets had a total of 114. The village was the center of the surrounding communities because it had a church, a schoolhouse, a blacksmith and a tavern. However, during the 20th century, the village of Oberbalm grew as commuters moved from Bern and settled in the village.
Geography
Oberbalm has an area of . Of this area, or 74.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 20.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.7%. Out of the forested land, 18.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 21.2% is used for growing crops and 50.5% is pastures, while 2.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the hilly, rural land between the Schwarzwasser and Scherlibach streams. It consists of the village of Oberbalm, scattered hamlets and individual farm houses.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Bern, 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 of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess vert and Argent a Holly branch counterchanged.
Demographics
Oberbalm has a population () of . , 4.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of 2.2%. Migration accounted for -0.2%, while births and deaths accounted for 2.9%.
Most of the population () speaks German (826 or 98.9%) as their first language. French, English and Italian all have one native speaker.
, the population was 50.1% male and 49.9% female. The population was made up of 415 Swiss men (48.0% of the population) and 18 (2.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 413 Swiss women (47.7%) and 19 (2.2%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 390 or about 46.7% were born in Oberbalm and lived there in 2000. There were 332 or 39.8% who were born in the same canton, while 59 or 7.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 21 or 2.5% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 62.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.9%.
, there were 374 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 390 married individuals, 53 widows or widowers and 18 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 102 households that consist of only one person and 40 households with five or more people. , a total of 319 apartments (84.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 43 apartments (11.3%) were seasonally occupied and 17 apartments (4.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.2 new units per 1000 residents.
The historical population is given in the following chart: