Hindelbank is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of Mötschwil merged into Hindelbank.
History
Hindelbank is first mentioned in 1275 as Hundelwanc.
The earliest human traces are some possibly neolithic items have been discovered in the village. The remains of a Roman era settlement were discovered at Lindachfeld. The village formed the center of a small lower court. Beginning in 1347 the village and its court passed through the hands of a number of local nobles as it was sold, divided and inherited repeatedly. In 1406 the village was acquired by Bern and the court continued to pass through the hands of Bernese nobles. After the 1798 French invasion, under the Helvetic Republic the local court was dissolved. Five years later, under the Act of Mediation, it became part of the district of Burgdorf.
The village church was first mentioned in 1275. The old church was replaced with a new building in 1514-18. The church tower was built almost a century and a half later in 1666-68. After a fire in 1911, the building was repaired and renovated. Two monumental tombs were carved in the church by Johann August Nahl.
The village converted to mechanized farming relatively early. In 1878 the regional Dampfdresch-Genossenschaft or steam farming cooperative was established in the village. The dairy and potato distillery in the village led to the creation, in 1888, of a yeast factory. Several other factories opened as well, including a biscuit factory in 1920, a gravel mine in 1960 and a laundry. In the 1960s a freight yard opened which took advantage of the nearby A1 motorway. Good transportation links, including the motorway and the railroad, have allowed the village's population to grow rapidly. While several factories were built in the early 20th century, in the later half century the population grew while industry remained constant. Today many residents commute to jobs in neighboring towns.
The first village school opened in 1662, while the current schoolhouse was built in 1903. In 1839, the rectory was converted into a teacher training school which remained in operation until it relocated to Thun in 1918.
In 1721-25 Schultheiss Hieronymus von Erlach built an elegant manor house known as Hindelbank Castle near the ruins of the old castle in Wiler. During the 18th century the castle became an internationally renowned center of high society. In 1866 Robert von Erlach sold the castle's lands to a private party, while the castle was sold to the Canton of Bern. The canton built a poorhouse and in 1896 a women's prison on the castle grounds. The castle was used as an administrative center.
Mötschwil
Mötschwil was first mentioned in 1328 as Mötschwile. Until 1910 it was known as Mötschwil-Schleumen.
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a La Tène cemetery. Politically and judicially, the village of Mötschwil, Schleumen and Grüt were part of the village of Alchenflüh. However, they were part of the parish of Hindelbank and part of the military district of Zollikofen. In 1331 Fraubrunnen Abbey became one of the large land owners in the villages.
Starting in 1804, Mötschwil Lyssach and Rohrmoos (part of the Oberburg municipality) formed a school district. They built a school in the settlement of Kreuzweg in 1806. Despite being located close to the railroad stations of Hindelbank and Lyssach the municipality remained largely rural and agricultural.
Geography
Hindelbank has an area of . Of this area, or 60.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 22.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 16.3% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 5.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.4%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 51.4% is used for growing crops and 8.9% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
Hindelbank includes the Ribbon road village of Hindelbank and the women's prison in Wiler.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Burgdorf, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Emmental.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure a Hind Argent statant on a Base Or.