Hagneck

Traces of early and late Bronze Age settlements have been found in the Hagneck marshland, which is part of the Grand Marais.

Construction on a hill that separated the marshes from the lake resulted in the destruction of what appeared to be a 200 m (660 ft) Roman era drainage pipe.

[3] The small village of Hagnek was part of the parish of Täuffelen and the land was owned by the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau.

The drainage projects opened up extensive farmland in the rich soil of the former marshes.

[3] The municipality was created in 1840, but remained tied to Täuffelen for the school and church.

The construction of the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins railroad in 1916 connected the small village to the Swiss rail network.

Today, agriculture, arts and crafts and the power plant employ a third of the population.

Of the rest of the land, 0.23 km2 (0.089 sq mi) or 12.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.15 km2 (37 acres) or 8.2% is either rivers or lakes.

[5] The village lies on the right bank of Biel/Bienne, at the mouth of the Hagneck canal, which was dug out as a main part of the Jura water correction, leading the Aare River into the lake.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Border Or and overall a Bendlet wavy Azure.

[9] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (342 or 95.8%) as their first language, French is the second most common (11 or 3.1%) and Romansh is the third (1 or 0.3%).

In the federal election, a total of 163 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 47.4%.

[9] There were 180 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.6% of the workforce.

[22] In 2011 a total of 1.4% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

[23] From the 2000 census[update], 272 or 76.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 36 or 10.1% were Roman Catholic.

[19] -P. Aeschbacher, Stadt und von den Landvogtei Nidau Anfängen bis ins 16.

The Hagneck canal, looking away from Hagneck toward Lake Biel.
The mouth of the Hagneck canal into Lake Biel
Aerial view (1968)
The Hagneck canal and the old hydroelectric power station.