Mühledorf is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Gelterfingen, Mühledorf and Noflen merged into the municipality of Kirchdorf.
History
Mühledorf is first mentioned in 1364 as Mülidorf.
During the Middle Ages the village was part of the barony of Kramburg. In 1373 the village was donated to the Münchenbuchsee Commandery. In 1528, Bern accepted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and suppressed the Commandery. Mühledorf came under Bernese rule and in 1533 was assigned to the court of Gelterfingen in the district of Seftigen created. The village has always been part of the parish of Kirchdorf.
The Gürbe and Müsche river projects of 1855-1911 drained the swampy valley floor and opened up farmland. It also made it possible to build roads to Belp and Rümligen. Today, agriculture is still the main industry. However, around two-thirds of the work force commute to jobs in nearby towns and cities.
Geography
Mühledorf has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 87.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 5.3% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 7.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes.
During the same year, housing and buildings made up 5.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.8%. All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 65.4% is used for growing crops and 20.2% is pasturage, while 2.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The entire municipality and the village of Mühledorf are located on a terrace above the Gürbetal (Gürbe valley) and stretching to Gerzensee lake.
The municipalities of Gelterfingen, Gerzensee, Kirchdorf, Mühledorf (BE) and Noflen are considering a merger on 1 January 2017 into the new municipality with an, , undetermined name.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Seftigen, 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 chevron enbowed Gules and Argent and in the first a Mill Wheel of the second.
Demographics
Mühledorf has a population () of . , 3.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 2 years (2010-2012) the population has changed at a rate of 11.2%. Migration accounted for 9.5%, while births and deaths accounted for 4.3%.
Most of the population () speaks German (178 or 97.3%) as their first language, French is the second most common (2 or 1.1%) and Romansh is the third (2 or 1.1%).
, the population was 52.2% male and 47.8% female. The population was made up of 118 Swiss men (50.9% of the population) and 3 (1.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 108 Swiss women (46.6%) and 3 (1.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 59 or about 32.2% were born in Mühledorf and lived there in 2000. There were 89 or 48.6% who were born in the same canton, while 26 or 14.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 4 or 2.2% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.7%.
, there were 74 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 94 married individuals, 10 widows or widowers and 5 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 12 households that consist of only one person and 8 households with five or more people. , a total of 68 apartments (87.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 6 apartments (7.7%) were seasonally occupied and 4 apartments (5.1%) were empty. In 2011, single family homes made up 43.8% of the total housing in the municipality.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The granary at Filgesse 31 is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 38.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (21.7%), the Green Liberal Party (GLP) (13.1%) and the Christian Social Party (CSP) (13.0%). In the federal election, a total of 117 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 66.9%.