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

[3] Scattered mesolithic, Bronze Age and medieval artifacts indicate a long history of settlements in the area.

By the High Middle Ages the Lords of Schweinsberg-Attinghausen had built their ancestral castle above the village.

By 1800 the town was home to a number of industries and businesses in addition to the farmers and livestock herders who lived there.

In 1856 the Schüpbach canal drained the swampy valley floor and opened up additional farm land.

In 1864 the Bern-Langnau railroad connected Signau to the growing Swiss rail network.

The good rail and road connections encouraged industry to settle in the town.

[3] There are several primary schools scattered around the municipality in Höhe, Häleschwand, Mutten and Schüpbach.

[5] The municipality is located in the upper Emmental near the head waters of the Emme river.

It consists of the linear village of Signau, part of the hamlet of Steinen, the Schüpbach settlement and scattered farmhouses in the surrounding mountains at elevations of 700–1,100 meters (2,300–3,600 ft).

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Pally of six Argent and Azure and overall two Bars Gules.

[9] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (2,741 or 95.2%) as their first language, Albanian is the second most common (53 or 1.8%) and French is the third (16 or 0.6%).

In 2012, single family homes made up 29.0% of the total housing in the municipality.

[14] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][15][16] As of  2011[update], Signau had an unemployment rate of 1.47%.

In the tertiary sector; 62 or 27.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 18 or 8.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 30 or 13.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 2.7% were in the information industry, 12 or 5.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 17 or 7.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 38 or 16.9% were in education and 13 or 5.8% were in health care.

[22] The entire village of Signau is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[24] From the 2000 census[update], 2,226 or 77.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 110 or 3.8% 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.

It was open a total of 165 days with average of 9 hours per week during that year.