Hersiwil

Former municipality in Solothurn, Switzerland

47°10′N 7°38′E / 47.167°N 7.633°E / 47.167; 7.633CountrySwitzerlandCantonSolothurnDistrictWasseramtArea • Total1.41 km² (0.54 sq mi)Elevation491 m (1,611 ft)Population • Total190 • Density130/km² (350/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)Postal code(s)SFOS number2522ISO 3166 codeCH-SOSurrounded byAeschi, Etziken, Halten, Heinrichswil-Winistorf, Horriwil, OekingenWebsite
SFSO statistics

Hersiwil is a former municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Heinrichswil-Winistorf and Hersiwil merged to form the new municipality of Drei Höfe.^[1]

Hersiwil is first mentioned in 1324 as Hersenwile. It formed a double municipality with Heinrichswil until 1798, when Winistorf joined the other two to form the triple municipality of Hersiwil-Heinrichswil-Winistorf. In 1854 it split into three, separate, independent municipalities. In 1993, Heinrichswil and Winistorf merged again, but Hersiwil remained independent.^[2]

Hersiwil had an area, as of 2009^[update], of 1.43 square kilometers (0.55 sq mi). Of this area, 0.97 km² (0.37 sq mi) or 67.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.32 km² (0.12 sq mi) or 22.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.09 km² (22 acres) or 6.3% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 1.4% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acres) or 0.7% is unproductive land.^[3]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 43.4% is used for growing crops and 21.0% is pastures, while 3.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.^[3]

The agricultural former municipality is located in the Wasseramt district.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or a Ploughshare doubled Sable.^[4]

Hersiwil has a population (as of 2011^[update]) of 190.^[5] As of 2008^[update], 1.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals.^[6] Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 7.1%. It has changed at a rate of 5.3% due to migration and at a rate of -2.4% due to births and deaths.^[7]

Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (167 or 99.4%) with the rest speaking Portuguese^[8]

As of 2008^[update], the gender distribution of the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The population was made up of 87 Swiss men (47.8% of the population) and 1 (0.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 93 Swiss women (51.1%) and 1 (0.5%) non-Swiss women.^[9] Of the population in the municipality 66 or about 39.3% were born in Hersiwil and lived there in 2000. There were 61 or 36.3% who were born in the same canton, while 34 or 20.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 4 or 2.4% were born outside of Switzerland.^[8]

In 2008^[update] there was 1 live birth to Swiss citizens and were 2 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss woman who migrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss woman who migrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 2 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1. This represents a population growth rate of 1.7%.^[6]

The age distribution, as of 2000^[update], in Hersiwil is; 18 children or 10.7% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 31 teenagers or 18.5% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 7 people or 4.2% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 58 people or 34.5% are between 25 and 44, and 30 people or 17.9% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 18 people or 10.7% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 6 people or 3.6% who are over 80.^[10]

As of 2000^[update], there were 69 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 83 married people, 10 widows or widowers and 6 people who are divorced.^[8]

As of 2000^[update], there were 61 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household.^[7] There were 14 households that consist of only one person and 7 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 62 households that answered this question, 22.6% were households made up of just one person and there were 2 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 15 married couples without children, 27 married couples with children There were 2 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people and 1 household that was made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.^[8]

In 2000^[update] there were 37 single family homes (or 66.1% of the total) out of a total of 56 inhabited buildings. There were 6 multi-family buildings (10.7%), along with 11 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (19.6%) and 2 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (3.6%). Of the single family homes 6 were built before 1919, while 10 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (10) were built between 1991 and 1995.^[11]

In 2000^[update] there were 66 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 15. There were no single room apartments and 36 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 61 apartments (92.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2 apartments (3.0%) were seasonally occupied and 3 apartments (4.5%) were empty.^[11] As of 2010^[update], the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents.^[7]

The historical population is given in the following chart:^[2][12]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 30.17% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (20%), the SP (18.64%) and the Green Party (15.93%). In the federal election, a total of 86 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 61.0%.^[13]

As of  2008^[update], Hersiwil had an unemployment rate of 8%. As of 2008^[update], there were 11 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 1 person was employed in the secondary sector and there was 1 business in this sector. 4 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with businesses in this sector.^[7] There were 86 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.0% of the workforce.

In 2008^[update] the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 16. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 6, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9 of which 1 was in manufacturing and 8 were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1, in the movement and storage of goods.^[14]

In 2000^[update], there were 13 workers who commuted into the municipality and 66 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 5.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.^[15] Of the working population, 61.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 74.4% used a private car.^[7]

From the 2000 census^[update], 102 or 60.7% were Roman Catholic, while 52 or 31.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. 10 (or about 5.95% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 4 individuals (or about 2.38% of the population) did not answer the question.^[8]

In Hersiwil about 80 or (47.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 16 or (9.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 16 who completed tertiary schooling, 81.3% were Swiss men, 12.5% were Swiss women.^[8]

As of 2000^[update], there was one student in Hersiwil who came from another municipality, while 29 residents attended schools outside the municipality.^[15]