Chexbres
Chexbres ( ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron. Chexbres is a wine-growing village and enjoys a good selection of local vintages. It also enjoys notable views of Lake Geneva, and therefore is nicknamed "Balcon du Léman" in French. History. The municipality of Chexbres was already inhabited in Roman times, and a single wall remains and coins have been found. The first written mention of the place appeared in 1139 under the name "Chexbres". In the ensuing period many other names: Chibriacum (1100), Chabris (1134), Chabre (1142), Cabarissa (1145), Cerbre  (1147), Chebra (1165), Chabrii (1179), Chabre (1221), Chaibri (1248), Chaibry (1368), Chebry (1453), Cheibri (1454) and even to 1562, both Chaybres and Cheybres appeared. The origin of the name is not clearly understood. It could be derived from the Roman personal names Cabrius, from the Gallic words Caebre (meaning city on a hill) or from Cabus (hemp). The area around Chexbres was owned from the 6th century by the abbey of Saint Maurice and in 978 came under the Kingdom of Burgundy. In 1079 King Henry IV gave the village and lands to the bishop of Lausanne. With the conquest  of Vaud by Bern in 1536, Chexbres came under the administration of the Bailiwick of Lausanne. After the collapse of the ancien régime, the village belonged from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic to the Canton of Léman, and later the Canton of Vaud. In 1798 the village was assigned to the district of Lavaux and until 1810 was part of the greater community of Saint-Saphorin within this district. It was only after 1810 that it became a politically independent municipality. Thanks to its scenic location, the village developed during the 19th century into a resort. Geography. Chexbres  is located at above sea level, east-southeast of the capital of the canton of Lausanne (as the crow flies). The village covers an area east of the Forestay river, in Lavaux, a scenic location about above the lake level of Lake Geneva. The community itself has no direct lake access, but extends to the east of the Château de Glérolles almost to the shores of Lake Geneva. Crêt Bérard at above sea level is the highest point of Chexbres. To the west, the area extends beyond the valleys of the Forestay on the hill of Le Signal at up  to above sea level. Chexbres includes the hamlet of Le Monte Iller at above sea level on the slope below the village, amid the vineyards and a number of farms. Chexbres is bordered by Rivaz, Puidoux and Saint-Saphorin (Lavaux). Chexbres has an area, , of . Of this area, or 51.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 16.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 32.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.5% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 15.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 15.4%. Out of the forested  land, 10.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 9.8% is used for growing crops and 24.8% is pastures, while 16.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. The municipality was part of the Lavaux District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Chexbres became part of the new district of Lavaux-Oron. Coat of arms. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is "Azure, on a cross Or five Roses Gules." Demographics. Chexbres has a population () of . , 19.2% of the  population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 4.1%. It has changed at a rate of 12.8% due to migration and at a rate of -8.5% due to births and deaths. Most of the population () speaks French (1,766 or 86.5%), with German being second most common (109 or 5.3%) and Portuguese being third (36 or 1.8%). There are 34 people who speak Italian. Of the population in the municipality 424 or about 20.8% were born in Chexbres and lived there in 2000. There were 745 or 36.5% who were  born in the same canton, while 383 or 18.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 400 or 19.6% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 16 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 30 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 14 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man who immigrated back to Switzerland and 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there  were 22 non-Swiss men and 25 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 46 and the non-Swiss population increased by 27 people. This represents a population growth rate of 3.7%. The age distribution, , in Chexbres is; 199 children or 9.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 198 teenagers or 9.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 203 people or 9.8% of the population are between 20 and 29  years old. 261 people or 12.6% are between 30 and 39, 350 people or 16.9% are between 40 and 49, and 254 people or 12.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 244 people or 11.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 186 people or 9.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 133 people or 6.4% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 37 people or 1.8% who are 90 and older. , there were 774 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 947 married individuals , 184 widows or widowers and 136 individuals who are divorced. , there were 887 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household. There were 334 households that consist of only one person and 36 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 907 households that answered this question, 36.8% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 258 married couples without children, 236 married couples with children There were 47 single parents with a child or children. There were 12 households that were made up  of unrelated people and 20 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. The historical population is given in the following chart: Economy. Chexbres was until the early 20th century, a primarily agricultural village. Even today, the vineyards in the sunny slopes of the Lavaux cover about 25 hectares and arable and livestock farming in the uplands has a certain role in the employment structure of the population. More jobs however are available in the local small businesses and especially in the service sector. The trade of Chexbres is principally with daily consumer goods  and to provide for tourists. There are also several wine shops. Chexbres also features a heated swimming pool. Through the construction of numerous single-family homes in the last decades, the village has developed into a residential community. Many workers though are commuters who work mainly in Lausanne and in the Vevey-Montreux region. , Chexbres had an unemployment rate of 3.8%. , there were 38 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 66 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 18 businesses in this sector. 534 people were employed in  the tertiary sector, with 67 businesses in this sector. There were 958 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 45.1% of the workforce. , there were 379 workers who commuted into the municipality and 712 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 12.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 64.3% used a private car. Politics. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 20.43% of  the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (18.1%), the SP (18.05%) and the Green Party (13.3%). In the federal election, a total of 704 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 52.6%. Transport. The community has well-developed transport links. It lies on the main road from Vevey to Moudon. The A9 motorway opened in 1974 and connects Lausanne to Sion. It crosses the municipal area, approximately 1 km from the town center. On 2 May 1904 a railway station was established on the line from Vevey to Puidoux. Today, the route runs on the  Train des vignes. Only a little outside the municipal area is the Puidoux-Chexbres station on the main line from Lausanne to Bern (inaugurated on September 4, 1862). A bus service also serves the route from Cully. World heritage sites. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces is located in Chexbres. Landmarks. The Church of Chexbres was built in 1888 on the site of a former chapel. It has a neo-Gothic tower, remarkable stained glass by Jean Prahins (1988) and an organ in the French Romanticism style, installed in 1905. The De Crousaz Castle was  built in the 15th century. The present building, however, comes from a reconstruction following a fire shortly after 1600. From the 18th century is the townhall, the Maison Wyttenbach. In the old center and some characteristic farmer houses from the 17th to 19th century are preserved. Religion. From the , 550 or 26.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,023 or 50.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 82 members of an Orthodox church (or about 4.02% of the population), and there were 70 individuals (or about 3.43% of the population) who belonged to another  Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish, and 16 (or about 0.78% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist and 4 individuals who belonged to another church. 216 (or about 10.58% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 112 individuals (or about 5.49% of the population) did not answer the question. Education. In Chexbres about 730 or (35.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 336 or (16.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 336 who completed  tertiary schooling, 53.3% were Swiss men, 30.4% were Swiss women, 9.8% were non-Swiss men and 6.5% were non-Swiss women. In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 216 students in the Chexbres school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 665 children of which 232 children (34.9%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 114  students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 101 students in those schools. There were also 1 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school. , there were 146 students in Chexbres who came from another municipality, while 177 residents attended schools outside the municipality.