Herbetswil

Herbetswil

Herbetswil is a municipality in the district of Thal in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.

Geography

Herbetswil is located on 524 m above sea level. M., 8 km west-southwest of the district town Balsthal (air line). The scattered village extends on the sunny side at the northern edge of the valley of the Balsthalertals, both sides of the village Bach Rickenbächli, at the foot of Brunner mountain range in the Jura Mountains.

The area of ​​16.4 km ² large municipality area includes a portion of the western part of Balsthalertal or Dünnerntal, a valley in the Solothurn Jura. The central part of the area is the approximately 500 to 700 m wide, flat valley of Dünnern. To the south of the municipality spell goes on the anticline of white stone chain and comprises placed on so -called Shadow Mountain, the densely wooded steep northern slope of Chamben ( with 1'251 m above sea level. M. the highest elevation of Herbetswil ) with the Erosionstälchen Riedgraben that hard in the limestone is cut.

To the north of the valley of the Dünnern the communal land on the steep slope of the so-called Sunnenbergs extends to the anticline of Brunner mountain range with the heights of front Brandenberg ( 1,085 m above sea level. M. ), Hornegg ( 1,225 m above sea level. M. ) and Tannmatt ( 1'173 m above sea level. M. ). The Wolf's Glen to the west of Hornegg with its catchment area belongs to Herbetswil. A narrow tail extends above the heights of the background Brandenberg ( 1,186 m above sea level. M. ) to Harzergraben. A small proportion of the community spell north of Mieschegg and Tannmatt lies in the catchment area of ​​the Gabiare (inflow of scolding Bach ). From the municipality surface 1997 3 % was attributable to settlements, 63 % of forest and woody plants and 34% to agriculture.

To Herbetswil include the hamlet front hammer ( 537 m above sea level. M. ) in Dünnerntal and rear hammer ( 573 m above sea level. M. ) at the western end of the valley as well as numerous individual farms that are scattered on the heights of Brunnersberg chain. Neighboring communities of Herbetswil are Aedermannsdorf, Günsberg, Balm bei Günsberg, Welsch tube and Gänsbrunnen in the canton of Solothurn and Seehof and Farnern in the Canton of Bern.

Population

With 555 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) Herbetswil one of the smaller municipalities in the canton of Solothurn. Of the residents 96.1 % are German, 0.9 % and 0.9 % speak Arabic albanischsprachig (as of 2000). The population of Herbetswil amounted in 1850 to 475 residents in 1900 to 437 inhabitants. During the 20th century, the population rose to 1950 on 658 people. After a slight decline in population was recorded in total.

Economy

Herbetswil was until the second half of the 20th century, mainly coined by farming village. During the 16th century, the heights of the mountains were cleared Brunner, created extensive summer pastures for the cattle, and built Mountain several courtyards. As the largest Viehsömmerungsweide of the canton of 1 km ² applies the Front Brandberg. Even today, agriculture in the deeper layers as well as the dairy and livestock in the upper parts of the municipality have an important place in the economic structure of the population. More jobs are in small local manufacturing and services available. In Herbetswil are enterprises of the timber processing and the watch company Festina - Candino Watch Ltd. (the main employer of the village) represented. In recent decades, the village has developed into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who work mainly in Balsthal as well as in the area of ​​Olten -Solothurn.

Traffic

The community is conveniently comparatively quite well developed. It is located a few 100 meters from the main road from Oensingen to Moutier. By Postbus course which operates direct flight from Balsthal to Gänsbrunnen, Herbetswil is connected to the network of public transport.

History

The first written mention of the village took place only in 1400 under the name Herbrechtswil. Later, the names Herbrechtswilr ( 1423 ) published, Ebertzwil ( 1444 ) and Herbertzwil ( 1467 ). The place name is derived from the Old High German personal name Heri Brecht and means the homestead of Heri Brecht.

At the time of its first occurrence Herbetswil belonged to the rule of Neu-Falkenstein. In 1420 the place came by purchase under the rule of Solothurn and the bailiwick of Falkenstein has been assigned. Since the 15th century there were several commercial iron and copper smiths in the area of the village, which still bear witness to the name of the front and rear hammer. Noteworthy in this context is the fact that from Herbetswil comes the first written evidence of the entire Solothurn Jura for the existence of spruce ( red spruce ). The here today very widespread tree is above average light demanding and seems to be advanced from the western Jura forth to the east only since the 18th century. This must have been associated with severe deforestation for the said forging workshops that have created the congenial spruce glades.

After the collapse of the ancien régime (1798 ) Herbetswil was assigned to the district Balsthal Valley. In the 19th century, especially from 1850 to about 1870, the valley of severe poverty and famine was affected, so that many residents had to emigrate. At the beginning of the 20th century summed up the watch industry base that lives on despite several crises today.

Attractions

Since 1549 Herbetswil possessed a chapel which was demolished in 1896. The village was separated in 1843 from the parish Matze village and collected for their own parish. The new parish church was built in 1891 and has late Gothic statue of St. John the Baptist.

Pictures

The settlement Front Hammer

Schoolhouse

Coat of arms

Blazon

387867
de