Herbligen

Herbligen
Herbligen
Location of Herbligen
Coordinates: 46°50′N 7°36′E / 46.833°N 7.600°E / 46.833; 7.600Coordinates: 46°50′N 7°36′E / 46.833°N 7.600°E / 46.833; 7.600
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Bern-Mittelland
Area
• Total	2.76 km2 (1.07 sq mi)
Elevation	578 m (1,896 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	600
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Postal code	3671
SFOS number	0610
Surrounded by	Bleiken bei Oberdiessbach, Brenzikofen, Oberdiessbach, Oppligen, Wichtrach
Website	www.herbligen.ch SFSO statistics

Herbligen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Herbligen is first mentioned in 1302.

The earliest trace of a settlement in the area is a large prehistoric fortification on the Eggrain and Wolfenburg hill. The Helisbühl hill may be an artificially created hill from around the same era. During the Late Middle Ages many wealthy citizens of Bern and Thun owned land or rights in the village. The village formed a school district with the neighboring village of Brenzikofen in 1665. The two communities built a school house at Helisbühl. The school was in operation for almost two centuries, before it was abandoned in 1834. A new school house was built in the area in 1973. Beginning in the 1980s many commuters from Bern and Thun settled in Herbligen causing a construction boom. Today the village is mostly a bedroom community with almost two-thirds of the working population commuting to the cities for work.

Herbligen has an area of 2.76 km² (1.07 sq mi). Of this area, 1.31 km² (0.51 sq mi) or 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.1 km² (0.42 sq mi) or 39.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.32 km² (0.12 sq mi) or 11.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.01 km² (2.5 acres) or 0.4% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 5.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.1%. Out of the forested land, 38.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 25.7% is used for growing crops and 19.2% is pastures, while 2.5% is used for orchards or vine crops.

The municipality is located in the lower Kiesen Valley and includes the hamlets of Herbligen, Hubel and Helisbühl as well as scattered individual farm houses. It is part of the parish of Oberdiessbach.