Alchenstorf

Alchenstorf is a municipality in the Emmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

[3] Traces of neolithic settlements have been found at Rain and Kastenmoos in the municipal borders.

While the exact location of the church is no longer known, it was probably in the Unterdorf or lower village.

Of the rest of the land, 0.51 km2 (0.20 sq mi) or 7.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes.

[5] It consists of the village of Alchenstorf (made up of Oberdorf and Unterdorf) and scattered hamlets and farm houses.

On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Emmental.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a Ploughshare Azure on a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Gules.

[10] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (543 or 98.5%) as their first language, French is the second most common (2 or 0.4%) and Serbo-Croatian is the third (2 or 0.4%).

The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][13] In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 47.2% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 247 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 56.0%.

In the tertiary sector; 5 or 21.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 6 or 26.1% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 17.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 3 or 13.0% were in education.

[10] From the 2000 census[update], 21 or 3.8% were Roman Catholic, while 491 or 89.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.

Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship.

Aerial view of the area with Alchenstorf in the center background
Aerial view (1954)