Ausserberg

Ausserberg is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

[5] The municipality is located in the Westlich Raron district, on the northern slope of the Rhone valley between the Baltschiederbach and the Bietschhorn mountain.

It consists of a number of scattered settlements with the central village of Trogdorf at an elevation of 1,008 m (3,307 ft).

The proposed merger of the municipalities of Eggerberg, Ausserberg, Bürchen, Baltschieder, Visp and Visperterminen was rejected by the residents.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, on Coupeaux of Five Vert issuant from a Mullet of Five Argent and surrounded by four other, a Cross pattee Or from which issuing an Eagle displayed bicephalous Sable beaked of the third and langued Gules.

[5] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (619 or 98.6%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (4 or 0.6%) and French is the third (3 or 0.5%).

[5] The historical population is given in the following chart:[4][13] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 67.3% of the vote.

[15] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 354 votes were cast, of which 14 or about 4.0% were invalid.

In the tertiary sector; 2 or 5.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 11.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 18 or 51.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 14.3% were in education.

[5] Ausserberg railway station, on the Lötschberg line, lies some 900 metres (3,000 ft) from the village of Trogdorf.

A PostAuto bus service links Ausserberg station, Trogdorf village, Baltschieder and Visp.

[3][19][20] From the 2000 census[update], 585 or 93.2% were Roman Catholic, while 17 or 2.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

The education system in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten.

All the lower and upper secondary students from Ausserberg attend their school in a neighboring municipality.

Historic aerial photograph by Werner Friedli from 1964