Biel/Bienne, Canton of Bern, Switzerland

History | Foundation | An associate of the Swiss Confederation | From the French invasion to modern Biel/Bienne | Geography | Tourist Industry | Heritage sites

🇨🇭 Biel/Bienne is a town and a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Biel/Bienne lies on the language boundary between the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and is bilingual throughout. Biel is the German name for the town; Bienne its French counterpart. The town is often referred to in both languages simultaneously. Since 2005, the official name has been "Biel/Bienne". Until then, the town was officially named Biel. The town lies at the foot of the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains area, guarding the only practical connection to Jura, on the north-eastern shores of Lake Biel (Bielersee, Lac de Bienne), sharing the eastern tip of the lake with its sister town, Nidau. The towns Neuchâtel, Solothurn, and Bern (the capital of Switzerland) lie south-west, north-east and south-east of Biel/Bienne. They all can be reached within about 30 minutes by train or car. The town has been an industrial and watchmaking heart of Switzerland since the 19th century.

History The shoreline of Lake Biel has been inhabited since at least the Neolithic age. The remains of two neolithic settlements were found at Vingelz in 1874. The remains of the settlements became the Vingelz / Hafen archaeological site, which is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. East of the Vingelz site, a late Bronze Age settlement was also discovered. After the Roman conquest, the region was part of Germania Superior. During the Roman era the Roman road from Petinesca to Pierre Pertuis or Salodurum (now Solothurn) passed through the village of Mett, which is now part of Biel/Bienne. The foundations of buildings and a 4th-century cemetery in Mett come from a late Roman or an early medieval military guard station.

A theory holds that the toponym is derived from the name of Belenus, probably from a Roman era sanctuary of that deity at a sacred spring nearby. However, no surviving records or inscriptions confirm this theory. Another theory states that the town grew up around a late Roman fortress. While no trace of the fortress has been found, the foundations of several Roman buildings have been found east of the medieval town.

The town is mentioned in 1142 as Apud Belnam, which is taken as evidence for its derivation from Belenus. In popular etymology, the name has been connected with the German name for axe (Bernese German bieli), reflected in the two crossed axes in the town's coat of arms.

Foundation In the 5th century, the area was invaded by the Burgundians, and by the medieval period became part of Upper Burgundy. During the 6th or 7th century, the Germanic speaking Alamanni moved into the area around Lake Biel, creating the language boundary that exists today. By the 8th century, the German-speaking population became the majority on the east end of the lake. In 999 Rudolph III of Burgundy granted lands around Lake Biel to the Bishopric of Basel, during the formative period of the Holy Roman Empire. Through the Bishop of Basel, the Counts of Neuchâtel and later the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau began to exercise their power in the foothills of the Jura Mountains. In 1140 the counts built Nidau Castle in the neighboring village of Nidau to help secure their land on the eastern end of the lake. The town was probably built by the Bishop of Basel, Heinrich II von Thun, between 1225 (mention of domum de Bilne) and 1230 (mention of in urbe mea de Beuna). Biel Castle was built either shortly before or shortly after the foundation of the town, to help support Nidau Castle.

Officially, Biel remained under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Basel throughout the 11th to 18th centuries. However, the early history of the town is filled with conflict between the town council and the Bishop's representative. In 1252, the town council partly succeeded in becoming a free imperial city. In 1275 King of Germany Rudolph of Habsburg granted Biel a town charter. The town's legal position was strengthened in 1296 when Bishop Peter Reich von Reichenstein signed an agreement with the town. This original agreement was strengthened in 1352 and remained in force until 1798.

The town's church, the Church of St. Benedict, was first mentioned in 1228. The current church was built in 1451–70 and is regarded, after Bern Cathedral, as the second most important late gothic building in the Canton of Bern.

An associate of the Swiss Confederation While it officially remained part of the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel, starting in the 13th century Biel began making alliances with neighboring nobles and cities. In 1279 it allied with Bern. This first alliance was followed in 1311 by an alliance with Fribourg, a 1334 alliance with Solothurn, 1342 with Murten and 1395 with La Neuveville. The alliance with Bern became an eternal alliance in 1352, as Bern itself joined the Old Swiss Confederacy. Contradictory obligations to the Bishop of Basel, Jean de Vienne, and to the Imperial City of Bern led to a war in 1367. During the war, Biel was burned and the Bishop's castle was destroyed. After the extinction of the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau in 1375 the Bishop's power around the lake began to wane. In 1388, Bern gained control of Nidau Castle and the town of Nidau. However, the Bishop retained nominal power and influence in Biel. The two competing powers struggled for power in Biel for over 400 years and prevented the town from becoming completely independent from either powerful neighbor.

Biel was considered an associate of the Swiss Confederacy during the 15th century, and after its participation in the Burgundy Wars even came to be recognised as a full member by 1494.

Even though Biel remained nominally under the control of the Catholic Bishops of Basel, in 1528 it converted to the new Protestant faith.

From the French invasion to modern Biel/Bienne The French Revolution changed the political situation in Biel/Bienne. In 1793, the French Revolutionary Army captured the Bishopric of Basel and brought the French into the lands near Biel. When they conquered the Moutier valley and Erguel in 1797 it brought the French practically to the gates of Biel/Bienne. On 6 February 1798, French troops marched through the open city gate while the population celebrated their arrival. Bienne and its neighboring communities were incorporated as the "Canton de Bienne" into the département du Mont-Terrible of the First French Republic. Two years later, in 1800, it went to the Département du Haut-Rhin. Under Mayor Sigmund Wildermeth (1765–1847) Biel strictly followed every dictate from Paris.

After the collapse of the French Empire, Biel sent Georg Friedrich Heilmann to the Congress of Vienna in 1814 to push for the creation of an independent Canton of Biel. However, he was unsuccessful and the Congress granted most of the territory of the Bishopric to the canton of Bern. Biel was able to resist unification until Bern agreed to retain some of Biel's historic privileges and rights. In 1815 Biel finally joined the Canton of Bern as part of the Oberamt of Nidau. The city council of Biel struggled to make it the capital of its own district. Finally in 1832 the Biel Amtsbezirk was created and Biel became the district capital. The democratic reforms of the Regeneration era helped the citizens of Biel to identify with and feel a part of the Canton of Bern.

By the beginning of the 20th century anarcho-syndicalist groups, which saw strikes and sabotage as legitimate means to bring about reform, began to influence the labor movement in Biel/Bienne. The first large scale strike was the construction workers strike of 1902. The following years were marked with bitterly fought labor disputes. The largest strike was the journeymen carpenters strike of 1907, which lasted almost a year. Also in 1907 labor secretary Gottfried Reimann from the Social Democratic Party was elected mayor. His election marked the first time that a Social Democrat was elected to such a powerful office in Switzerland.

The First World War meant a setback for the labor movement, even though Switzerland was not directly involved in the war. Wages were reduced significantly when the war started while inflation made everything more expensive. In July 1918, a demonstration of starving workers erupted into street riots that required military action to suppress.

In 1919 a Communist Party was founded in Biel, but it remained a minor party in the town. In 1921, the Social Democrats won a slim majority in the city councils. Under the leadership of the Social Democratic Mayor Guido Müller "Red Biel" began a series of socialist community experiments. During the 1930s the entire neighborhood around the train station was redeveloped according to the social planning theories of the era. The Volkshaus (People's House), built under the direction of Edward Lanz between 1928–32, is an example of the "new building" style and a symbol of the Social Democratic era of the city.

In the years leading up to the Second World War, the Social Democrats began to lose power in the city. In the last year of the war, the Swiss Party of Labour gained nine seats on the city council and ended the Social Democrat majority. With the resignation of Mayor Müller in 1947, it would be almost thirty years (1976) before the Social Democrats had another mayor in Biel.

On the occasion of the secession of the canton of Jura in 1978, Biel had been asked to become its capital, but it remained with the canton of Bern.

The town was officially named Biel until 2004, even though the bilingual Biel-Bienne was in common use. Since 2005, the official name has been Biel/Bienne, with forward slash.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the town's population was at 30,000 people. It doubled over the next 60 years, peaking at 65,000 in the mid-1960s. It declined gradually over the 1970s to 1990s, to below 49,000 in 2000, again rising slightly to just over 50,000 during the 2000s. Another 89,000 people live in the immediately surrounding urban agglomeration.

Geography Biel/Bienne has an area of 21.19 km² (8.18 sq mi). Of this area, 1.7 km² (0.66 sq mi) or 8.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.63 km² (3.72 sq mi) or 45.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.65 km² (3.73 sq mi) or 45.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.13 km² (32 acres) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.14 km² (35 acres) or 0.7% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 21.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.1%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 4.7% is used for growing crops and 2.0% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is at the south-eastern foot of the Jura Mountains on the north-east end of Lake Biel. It consists of the village of Biel/Bienne, Vingelz (since 1900), Bözingen (since 1917), Madretsch and Mett (both since 1920).

On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Biel, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Biel/Bienne. It remained the capital of the new Verwaltungskreis.

Tourist Industry Biel/Bienne is located near the watch-making cities of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, which together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is home to numerous watchmaking factories. The Swatch Group has its worldwide headquarters in the old ASUAG building. The old city of Biel/Bienne includes a 15th-century Gothic church, guild halls, and fountains. Outside the old city, the Biel "Cultural Quarter" is home to the Neuhaus [Wikidata] and Schwab Museums and the CentrePasquArt.

The Jura mountains are north of the town and two funicular railways, the Bienne–Evilard Funicular and the Biel–Magglingen Funicular, link the city with the foothills. North-east of the town, the steep gorge of Taubenloch is a popular place to visit. West of the city is Lake Biel which is lined with parks and the town's harbor.

In 2016 a total of 50,646 visitors spent 87,937 lodging nights in Biel/Bienne.

Heritage sites The Alte Krone/La vieille Couronne, the artist's studio Atelier Robert, the former Rockhall Manor, the main train station, the Jordi-Kocher House, the Catholic parish Church of St. Maria Immaculata, the Kongresshaus/Palais des Congrès (Convention Center), the Kontrollgebäude at Zentralstrasse 49 / Oberer Quai 2, the Neuhaus Museum with the Robert Foundation Collection, the Schwab Museum, the Swiss Reformed City Church, the administration building and montage hall for General Motors, the Volkshaus Building and the Waldleute Zunft Building are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire town of Biel/Bienne and the Taubenlochschlucht canyon are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Biel/Bienne, Canton of Bern, Switzerland 

Biel/Bienne has a population of over 53,700 people. Biel/Bienne also forms the centre of the wider Biel/Bienne District which has a population of over 106,000 people. Biel/Bienne is ranked #832 for startups with a score of 0.164.

To set up a UBI Lab for Biel/Bienne see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Biel/Bienne has links with:

🇩🇪 Iserlohn, Germany
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | StartupBlink

Antipodal to Biel/Bienne is: -172.75,-47.133

Locations Near: Biel/Bienne 7.25,47.1333

🇨🇭 Delémont 7.35,47.367 d: 27  

🇨🇭 Bern 7.444,46.948 d: 25.3  

🇨🇭 Neuchâtel 6.933,47 d: 28.2  

🇨🇭 Fribourg 7.15,46.8 d: 37.8  

🇨🇭 Burgdorf 7.617,47.05 d: 29.3  

🇧🇫 Boudry 6.837,46.95 d: 37.3  

🇫🇷 Altkirch 7.239,47.623 d: 54.5  

🇨🇭 Arlesheim 7.617,47.483 d: 47.7  

🇨🇭 Langenthal 7.783,47.217 d: 41.4  

🇨🇭 Basel 7.588,47.558 d: 53.7  

Antipodal to: Biel/Bienne -172.75,-47.133

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 17115.8  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16356.9  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16311.1  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 16101  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12373  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12295.1  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12282.6  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 12277.4  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 12276.9  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 12260.3  

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