Safnern is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

During the Middle Ages there were several scattered villages and settlements within the modern municipal borders.

The villages of Büttenberg and Stadholz (also known as Stadowe) and the castle on the Schlösslihubel hill all flourished and then were abandoned.

The major landholders in Safnern were the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau and Gottstatt Abbey.

It formed the Safnern Court within the bailiwick of Nidau until the 1798 French invasion.

The Jura water correction project of 1847-48 changed the course of the Aare river but helped protect the village from flooding.

Despite having several industrial factories in the municipality, about three-quarters of the working population commute to jobs in Biel or other towns.

However, Safnern is also surrounded with green spaces, it shares the Häftli nature reserve with the neighboring municipalities of Büren an der Aare and Meinisberg.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Gules a Pale chevrony Or and Sable and Or a Barrulet wavy Azure and a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert.

[9] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (1,652 or 92.9%) as their first language, French is the second most common (81 or 4.6%) and Italian is the third (14 or 0.8%).

In 2011, single family homes made up 68.8% of the total housing in the municipality.

[9] There were 969 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce.

In the tertiary sector; 50 or 35.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 7 or 5.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 14 or 9.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 2.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 13 or 9.2% were in education and 26 or 18.4% were in health care.

[22] In 2011 a total of 2.8% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

[23] From the 2000 census[update], 1,238 or 69.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 238 or 13.4% 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.

[25] As of  2000[update], there were a total of 141 students living and attending any school in the municipality.