Ipsach

Ipsach
Ipsach village
Coat of arms
Ipsach Show map of Switzerland Ipsach Show map of Canton of Bern
Location of Ipsach
Coordinates: 47°7′N 7°14′E / 47.117°N 7.233°E / 47.117; 7.233Coordinates: 47°7′N 7°14′E / 47.117°N 7.233°E / 47.117; 7.233
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Biel/Bienne
Government
• Mayor	Gemeindepräsident Paul Zaugg SPS/PSS (as of 2004)
Area
• Total	1.91 km2 (0.74 sq mi)
Elevation	442 m (1,450 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	3,972
• Density	2,100/km2 (5,400/sq mi)
Postal code	2563
SFOS number	0739
Surrounded by	Bellmund, Biel/Bienne, Nidau, Port, Sutz-Lattrigen, Tüscherz-Alfermée
Website	www.ipsach.ch SFSO statistics

Ipsach is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Ipsach is first mentioned around 1265-66 as Ipzacho.

The area around Ipsach was often settled during the neolithic, Bronze Age and Hallstatt eras. The former bogs and peat moss near the village is full of prehistoric artifacts. During the Roman era, there was a small town near what is now Oberdorf-Buchseefeld and the remains of a Roman road to Petinesca has been discovered in the Ipsachmoos. By the Late Middle Ages there were two settlements in the area, the farm of Ipsach and the settlement of Wiler. The settlements were part of the Herrschaft of Nidau but St. Alban's Monastery in Basel also owned land and rights in Ipsach. In 1335, the owner of the Herrschaft, the Knight Cuno von Sutz sold Ipsach and Wiler to the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau. Ownership of the settlements were inherited by the town of Fribourg in 1382 and then passed to Bern in 1398. Under Bernese rule, Ipsach and Wiler were part of the bailiwick of Nidau. Over the following centuries the population of Wiler shrunk and by 1551 it was listed as just a farm. Soon thereafter it was completely abandoned and fell into ruin.

The inhabitants of the village farmed and fished in Lake Biel. The Jura water correction project of 1868-91 lowered the water level in the lake and opened up a strip of marshy land to agriculture. The village's location along the lake made it easy for residents to reach the towns of Biel and Neuchâtel. In 1916, the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins railroad further connected Ipsach to the surrounding towns. Beginning in the 1950s, Ipsach became a suburb of Biel and its population began to grow rapidly. In the 1980s a community center, a church and sport facilities were all built for the growing population. In 1989 it became the center of the Ipsach parish. Today many of the residents commute to jobs and schools in Nidau and Biel.