Vinelz is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

[3] There were extensive Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements along the shore of Lake Biel, which stretch into Lüscherz.

In 1691, Emanuel Gaudard, a citizen of Bern, built the Landsitz (country manor house) Obere Budlei in the village.

Following the Protestant Reformation in 1528, the patronage rights over the church transferred to Bern.

[3] In the 1960s new vacation and weekend homes changed the agricultural character of village.

Restaurants, three campgrounds and a marina have changed Vinelz into a tourist center on Lake Biel.

[5] The municipality is located on the right, upper end of Lake Biel and stretches to the foot of Schaltenrain mountain.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure a Sickle Argent bladed to sinister handled Or and a Ploughshare inverted of the second.

[10] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (677 or 92.1%) as their first language, French is the second most common (39 or 5.3%) and Albanian is the third (6 or 0.8%).

The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][13] It is home to the Strandboden prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlement that is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Strandboden and the nearby Ländti site were discovered and first excavated by E. von Fellenberg and V. Gross in 1881/82.

[15] The Ländti, a Neolithic and Bronze Age lakeshore settlement is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The entire village of Vinelz is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

In the tertiary sector; 8 or 20.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 5.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 7 or 17.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 7 or 17.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 4 or 10.3% were in education.

[10] From the 2000 census[update], 88 or 12.0% were Roman Catholic, while 578 or 78.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

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.