Kallnach () is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2019 the former municipality of Golaten merged into the municipality of Kallnach.
History
Kallnach is first mentioned in 1231 as apud Calnachon.
Kallnach was the site of a Bronze Age foundry as well as a small Roman era settlement or way station. The Roman road from Aventicum to Augusta Raurica or Vindonissa passed through Kallnach. A graveyard in Bergwegs indicates that the area was inhabited during the Early Middle Ages. In 1231 the Kyburg ministerialis (unfree knights in the service of a feudal overlord) family of Oltigen and the monasteries of Frauenkappelen, Frienisberg and Tedlingen all owned property in Kallnach. The ministerialis family of Schüpfen held the low justice right in Kallnach and Niederried. These properties and rights passed through a number of families until Bern bought the village in 1521–22 and incorporated it into the bailiwick of Aarberg.
The village church was built in 1608 over the ruins of an earlier, medieval chapel.
The village periodically flooded when the nearby Grosses Moos marsh flooded. The Jura water correction projects of 1868–91, 1933–36 and 1964–71 helped to end the flooding. The swampy land around the village was replaced with rich farm land that is now intensively farmed. In 1909–12 a hydroelectric power plant was built on the Aare river near Kallnach. The plant was expanded in 1978–80 and remains a major employer in the municipality. The Broyetal railroad (build in 1876) and the Lyss-Kallnach-Murten road allowed the village to grow. In the second half of the 20th century created the new housing developments of Krähenberg (1949), Rebe and Ammengasse (1970–80) were built to house the growing population.
Geography
Kallnach has an area of . Of this area, or 75.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 12.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 9.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.0% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.6% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.6%. Out of the forested land, 11.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 67.4% is used for growing crops and 6.5% is pastures, while 1.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located on the eastern edge of the Grosses Moos marsh between the Aare river and the Hagneck Canal. It consists of the linear village of Kallnach.
The municipalities of Kallnach and Niederried bei Kallnach are considering a merger on 1 January 2013 where Kallnach will absorb Niederried.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure a clapper Argent between two mullets Or.
Demographics
Kallnach has a population () of . , 8.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 2.1%. Migration accounted for 3.8%, while births and deaths accounted for −2%.
Most of the population () speaks German (1,416 or 96.0%) as their first language, Albanian is the second most common (15 or 1.0%) and French is the third (12 or 0.8%). There are 7 people who speak Italian and 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the population was 50.1% male and 49.9% female. The population was made up of 698 Swiss men (45.3% of the population) and 74 (4.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 714 Swiss women (46.3%) and 5 (0.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 601 or about 40.7% were born in Kallnach and lived there in 2000. There were 551 or 37.4% who were born in the same canton, while 172 or 11.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 114 or 7.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.5%.
, there were 615 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 750 married individuals, 71 widows or widowers and 39 individuals who are divorced.