Bremgarten bei Bern is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
thumb|left|Coats of Arms of Schultheissen Hans-Franz Nägeli (1497-1579) and his two wives Ursel Stocker and Rosa von Witenbach on Bremgarten Castle
thumb|left|The Neubrügg was built in 1466 to replace a ferry over the Aare at Bremgarten
Bremgarten bei Bern is first mentioned in 1180 as Bremecart. In 1236 it was mentioned as Bremegarten and until 1870 it was known as Bremgarten-Herrschaft. In 1770-71 the country estates of Belvedere (Friedrich von Luternau) and Aarwyl (Rudolf Albrecht Haller) were built in Bremgarten.
The town was chronically short of money and sought to be incorporated into Bern in 1925, 1934 and 1945. A building boom in the 1950s helped alleviate many of the town's financial problems. With little industrial development, Bremgarten has remained a bedroom community of Bern with over 80% of the working population commuting to Bern.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 35.1%, transportation infrastructure made up 7.3% and parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 12.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 21.5% is used for growing crops and 8.9% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess pally of six Argent and Sable and barry of six of the same.
Demographics
thumb|Kalchacherstrasse in Bremgarten
Bremgarten bei Bern has a population () of . , 8.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of 10.9%. Migration accounted for 10.5%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.6%.
Most of the population () speaks German (3,508 or 92.3%) as their first language, French is the second most common (75 or 2.0%) and Italian is the third (41 or 1.1%). There is 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, there were 427 households that consist of only one person and 85 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,572 apartments (94.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 80 apartments (4.8%) were seasonally occupied and 20 apartments (1.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.1 new units per 1000 residents.
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Heritage sites of national significance
The Castle is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The region around Bremgarten is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
During the Protestant Reformation in 1528, the last Commander of the Knights Hospitaller's Münchenbuchsee Commandery, Peter Englisberg, supported the secularization of the Commandery and received Bremgarten Castle as a reward.
The Swiss painter Ricco grew up in the castle where his parents Max and Tilli Wassmer threw lavish parties with well-known poets, painters and composers. Hermann Hesse described the atmosphere in the short novel Journey to the East.
<gallery>
File:Schloss Bremgarten Hauptfassade.jpg|Bremgarten Castle
File:Bremgarten Schloss Gartenfassade.jpg|Garden front of Bremgarten Castle
File:Bremgarten Schloss Rokokosaal.jpg|The Rococo Hall of Bremgarten Castle
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Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SPS which received 22.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (17.9%), the BDP Party (15.2%) and the Green Party (14.6%). In the federal election, a total of 2,017 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 63.6%.
Economy
, Bremgarten bei Bern had an unemployment rate of 1.3%. , there were a total of 550 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 16 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 5 businesses involved in this sector. 34 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 9 businesses in this sector. 500 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 106 businesses in this sector.
, there were 253 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,654 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 6.5 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 40.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 38.5% used a private car.
During the 2009-10 school year, there were a total of 430 students attending classes in Bremgarten bei Bern. There were 4 kindergarten classes with a total of 69 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 10.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 10.1% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 13 primary classes and 251 students. Of the primary students, 11.6% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 12.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 6 lower secondary classes with a total of 110 students. There were 5.5% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 13.6% have a different mother language than the classroom language.
, there were 11 students in Bremgarten bei Bern who came from another municipality, while 223 residents attended schools outside the municipality.