Münchenwiler () is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
thumb|left|Münchenwiler Castle
Münchenwiler is first mentioned in 1080-81 as Vilar. In 1228 it was mentioned as Vilar les Moinos.
During the same year, housing and buildings made up 7.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.6%. Out of the forested land, 19.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 40.8% is used for growing crops and 20.0% is pastures, while 4.4% 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 Argent a Monk proper holding a Linden tree Vert. The monk () makes the coat of arms partly an example of canting arms.
Demographics
Münchenwiler has a population () of . , 11.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of 1.7%. Migration accounted for -0.4%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.4%.
Most of the population () speaks German (398 or 91.7%) as their first language, French is the second most common (21 or 4.8%) and Italian is the third (3 or 0.7%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality, 114 or about 26.3% were born in Münchenwiler and lived there in 2000. There were 133 or 30.6% who were born in the same canton, while 142 or 32.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 27 or 6.2% were born outside of Switzerland.
, there were 44 households that consist of only one person and 14 households with five or more people. , a total of 163 apartments (90.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 15 apartments (8.3%) were seasonally occupied and 3 apartments (1.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 19.5 new units per 1000 residents.
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Heritage sites of national significance
thumb|Münchenwiler Castle
The Castle with its park is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Münchenwiler is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 36.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (16.8%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (14%) and the FDP.The Liberals (10.2%). In the federal election, a total of 177 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 45.9%.
Economy
, Münchenwiler had an unemployment rate of 1.3%. , there were a total of 160 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 30 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 10 businesses involved in this sector. 74 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 9 businesses in this sector. 56 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 11 businesses in this sector.
, there were 61 workers who commuted into the municipality and 164 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 65 workers (51.6% of the 126 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Münchenwiler.
Of the working population, 10.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 61.1% used a private car. 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 197 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 58 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 2 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Münchenwiler was 109,931 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF.
Religion
From the , 272 or 62.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 69 or 15.9% were Roman Catholic. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.46% of the population), and there were 74 individuals (or about 17.05% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 5 (or about 1.15% of the population) who were Muslims. There was 1 person who was Buddhist, 2 individuals who were Hindu and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 31 (or about 7.14% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 14 individuals (or about 3.23% of the population) did not answer the question.
During the 2011–12 school year, there were a total of 31 students attending classes in Münchenwiler. There were no kindergarten classes in the municipality. The municipality had 2 primary classes and 31 students. Of the primary students, 25.8% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 25.8% have a different mother language than the classroom language.
, there were a total of 42 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 37 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 5 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 40 residents attended schools outside the municipality.