Gurbrü
Gurbrü () is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History. Gurbrü is first mentioned in 1214 as "Gurbru". During the Middle Ages Gurbrü village was part of the "Herrschaft" of Oltigen. In 1410/12, the city of Bern absorbed the entire "Herrschaft", including Gurbrü. The village was always part of the parish of Kerzers. During the Protestant Reformation, in 1528, both municipalities converted to the new faith and Gurbrü remained part of the Kerzers parish. In 1793, it fought with the neighboring communities, in the Canton of Fribourg, over the "Gurbrümoos" moor . The "Gurbrümoos" is now part of the Bernese municipality of Kallnach. After the 1798 French invasion, Golaten remained part of the Canton of Bern, despite attempts by the Canton of Fribourg to annex it. In 1901 the Bern-Neuchatel railroad built a station in the municipality. Geography. Gurbrü has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 70.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 9.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 19.0% is settled (buildings or roads). During the same year, housing and buildings made up 7.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 11.4%. Out  of the forested land, 8.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 54.3% is used for growing crops and 13.6% is pastures, while 2.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. Gurbrü lies in the Swiss plateau on the edge of the Grosses Moos. It includes the village of Gurbrü and the hamlet of Stämpflerei. Stämpflerei, until 1854, belonged to Ried bei Kerzers in the Canton of Fribourg. Gurbrü lies on the A13; however there is not an on-ramp in the municipality. The  Kerzers–Gümmenen railroad runs through Gurbrü; however, the nearest station is in Ferenbalm. From Ferenbalm it is possible, via Bern Flamatt or Bern Bümplitz, to get to Bern. Normally travellers are recommended to use the good railway connections in four directions from Kerzers. From 1963–1981 there was a land improvement program to enlarge the land parcels used in agriculture. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Laupen, 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 "Azure  a Ploughshare Argent and Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert." Demographics. Gurbrü has a population () of . , 11.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -2.4%. Migration accounted for -1.6%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (231 or 97.1%) as their first language, French is the second most common (5 or 2.1%) and Portuguese is the third (2 or 0.8%). , the population was 54.4% male and 45.6% female. The population was made up of 119 Swiss men (47.6% of the  population) and 17 (6.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 103 Swiss women (41.2%) and 11 (4.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 92 or about 38.7% were born in Gurbrü and lived there in 2000. There were 79 or 33.2% who were born in the same canton, while 58 or 24.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 6 or 2.5% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 53.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 23%. , there were  95 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 122 married individuals, 16 widows or widowers and 5 individuals who are divorced. , there were 22 households that consist of only one person and 11 households with five or more people. , a total of 90 apartments (86.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 6 apartments (5.8%) were seasonally occupied and 8 apartments (7.7%) were empty. The historical population is given in the following chart: Politics. In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 52.6% of the  vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (13.7%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (8.1%) and the FDP.The Liberals (6.1%). In the federal election, a total of 112 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 59.6%. Economy. , Gurbrü had an unemployment rate of 0.69%. , there were a total of 125 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 112 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 2 people were employed in the secondary sector and there was 1 business in this sector. 11 people were  employed in the tertiary sector, with 6 businesses in this sector. There were 143 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.8% of the workforce. , there were 12 workers who commuted into the municipality and 95 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 48 workers (80.0% of the 60 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Gurbrü. Of the working population, 18.9% used public transportation to get to work, and  44.8% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident of Gurbrü making 150,000 CHF was 13.1%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 19.2%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in 2006 was 13.9% and the nationwide rate was 11.6%. In 2009 there were a total of 98 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 28 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There was one person who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The greatest number of workers, 38, made between 50 and 75 thousand CHF  per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Gurbrü was 117,961 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. Religion. From the , 195 or 81.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 17 or 7.1% were Roman Catholic. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 individuals (or about 1.26% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. 21 (or about 8.82% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 2 individuals (or about 0.84% of the population) did not answer the question. Education. In Gurbrü about  59.7% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 18.7% have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 27 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 66.7% were Swiss men, 33.3% were Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter  an apprenticeship. During the 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 24 students attending classes in Gurbrü. There were no kindergarten classes in the municipality. The municipality had 2 primary classes and 24 students. Of the primary students, 12.5% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 8.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. , there were a total of 17 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 16 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while one student came from another municipality. During the same year, 17 residents attended schools  outside the municipality. In Gurbrü about 59.7% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 18.7% have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 27 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 66.7% were Swiss men, 33.3% were Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend  additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship. During the 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 24 students attending classes in Gurbrü. There were no kindergarten classes in the municipality. The municipality had 2 primary classes and 24 students. Of the primary students, 12.5% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 8.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. , there were a total of 17 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 16 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while one student came from another municipality. During the  same year, 17 residents attended schools outside the municipality.