Ferenbalm (French: Les Baumettes) is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

[3] The oldest trace of settlements in the area are scattered grave mounds which are probably from the Hallstatt era.

There was a Roman settlement at Gümirain, of which only bricks and ceramics remain, and another at Biberen, from which bronze pipes have been found.

[3] A document has been found which claims that the Kings of Burgundy gave this region to Payerne Priory in 961-62.

During the 13th century the Counts of Kyburg acquired the village and made it part of the Herrschaft of Oltigen.

In 1410, the Kyburg Counts were deep in debt and were forced to sell Oltigen and its Herrschaft to the city of Bern.

In 1528 Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation, which quickly spread throughout the entire canton.

The parish included many of the surrounding German speaking communities, some of which were part of the French-speaking Canton of Fribourg.

[3] The villages that make up Ferenbalm have always profited from their location at the fork of the road from Bern to Lausanne and Neuchatel.

Beginning in the 1960s many commuters moved to Ferenbalm and the housing developments of Kleingümmenen, Biberen and Rizenbach were built.

Today about half of the working residents commute to jobs in nearby cities.

The municipality does not have a central town; it is instead made up of the villages of Ferenbalm, Vogelbuch, Kleingümmenen, Rizenbach, Biberen, Jerisberg, Jerisberghof, Haselhof and the exclave Gammen.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Key and a Sword both Argent in saltire and a Linden Tree eradicated Vert.

[9] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (1,208 or 95.7%) as their first language, French is the second most common (13 or 1.0%) and Italian is the third (13 or 1.0%).

The entire village of Gammen and the hamlet of Jerisberghof are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

In the tertiary sector; 52 or 55.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 13 or 13.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 10 or 10.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 6.4% were in education.

[21] From the 2000 census[update], 930 or 73.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 146 or 11.6% were Roman Catholic.

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.