Kleinlützel
Encyclopedia
Kleinlützel is a municipality
in the district of Thierstein
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
. It is an exclave of the Canton of Solothurn, enclaved in the Canton of Basel-Country
and Alsace
.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, 56.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 10.2% is used for growing crops and 24.7% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Thierstein district. It is an exclave of the Canton of Solothurn along the Lützeltalstrasse . It consists of the village of Kleinlützel and the hamlets
of Ober- and Nieder-Huggerwald and Ring as well as the former nun's convent
of Klösterli.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Or a Fess wavy Azure and in chief a Mullet of Five Gules.
Most of the population speaks German
(1,154 or 92.8%), with Italian
being second most common (22 or 1.8%) and French
being third (12 or 1.0%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 559 Swiss men (44.4% of the population) and 55 (4.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 599 Swiss women (47.6%) and 46 (3.7%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 675 or about 54.3% were born in Kleinlützel and lived there in 2000. There were 107 or 8.6% who were born in the same canton, while 352 or 28.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 102 or 8.2% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 12 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 14 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 2 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 4 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2 non-Swiss men and 3 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 3 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 2 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.4%.
The age distribution, , in Kleinlützel is; 105 children or 8.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 187 teenagers or 15.0% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 55 people or 4.4% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 339 people or 27.3% are between 25 and 44, and 332 people or 26.7% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 178 people or 14.3% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 47 people or 3.8% who are over 80.
, there were 465 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 658 married individuals, 76 widows or widowers and 44 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.55 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 64.3% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 516 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 139 households that consist of only one person and 37 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 520 households that answered this question, 26.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 4 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 175 married couples without children, 170 married couples with children There were 19 single parents with a child or children. There were 9 households that were made up of unrelated people and 4 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 300 single family homes (or 69.0% of the total) out of a total of 435 inhabited buildings. There were 58 multi-family buildings (13.3%), along with 62 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (14.3%) and 15 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (3.4%). Of the single family homes 56 were built before 1919, while 47 were built between 1990 and 2000.
there were 567 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 145. There were 10 single room apartments and 234 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 504 apartments (88.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 30 apartments (5.3%) were seasonally occupied and 33 apartments (5.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.33%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 25.35% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(22.85%), the CVP
(22.68%) and the SP
(16.5%). In the federal election, a total of 450 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 46.5%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 307. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 38, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 215 of which 175 or (81.4%) were in manufacturing and 40 (18.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 54. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 20.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 18.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 7 or 13.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 7.4% were in the information industry, 1 was the insurance or financial industry, 5 or 9.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 11 or 20.4% were in education and 1 was in health care.
, there were 193 workers who commuted into the municipality and 377 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 14.5% of the workforce coming into Kleinlützel are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 23.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 46.9% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 9 individuals (or about 0.72% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 24 (or about 1.93% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist
and 2 individuals who were Hindu
. 129 (or about 10.38% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 5 individuals (or about 0.40% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 77 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.4% were Swiss men, 20.8% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 137 students in the Kleinlützel school system. The education system
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there were 24 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 113 students in primary school. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Kleinlützel attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 2 students in Kleinlützel who came from another municipality, while 74 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Thierstein
Thierstein (district)
Thierstein District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, situated to the north of the canton. Together with the Dorneck District, it forms the Amtei of Dorneck-Thierstein...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Solothurn in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It is an exclave of the Canton of Solothurn, enclaved in the Canton of Basel-Country
Basel-Country
Basel-Landschaft , is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. The capital is Liestal...
and Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
.
History
Kleinlützel is first mentioned in 1194 as Luozela. In 1207 it was mentioned as de Minori Luzela and in 1288 as Kleinen Lützel.Geography
Kleinlützel has an area, , of 16.29 square kilometres (6.3 sq mi). Of this area, 5.86 km² (2.3 sq mi) or 36.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.66 km² (3.7 sq mi) or 59.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.74 km² (0.285715597358476 sq mi) or 4.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km² (9.9 acre) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.1% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, 56.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 10.2% is used for growing crops and 24.7% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Thierstein district. It is an exclave of the Canton of Solothurn along the Lützeltalstrasse . It consists of the village of Kleinlützel and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Ober- and Nieder-Huggerwald and Ring as well as the former nun's convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of Klösterli.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Or a Fess wavy Azure and in chief a Mullet of Five Gules.
Demographics
Kleinlützel has a population of . , 6.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -0.2%. It has changed at a rate of 2.5% due to migration and at a rate of -1% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(1,154 or 92.8%), with Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
being second most common (22 or 1.8%) and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
being third (12 or 1.0%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 559 Swiss men (44.4% of the population) and 55 (4.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 599 Swiss women (47.6%) and 46 (3.7%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 675 or about 54.3% were born in Kleinlützel and lived there in 2000. There were 107 or 8.6% who were born in the same canton, while 352 or 28.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 102 or 8.2% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 12 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 14 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 2 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 4 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2 non-Swiss men and 3 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 3 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 2 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.4%.
The age distribution, , in Kleinlützel is; 105 children or 8.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 187 teenagers or 15.0% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 55 people or 4.4% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 339 people or 27.3% are between 25 and 44, and 332 people or 26.7% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 178 people or 14.3% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 47 people or 3.8% who are over 80.
, there were 465 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 658 married individuals, 76 widows or widowers and 44 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.55 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 64.3% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 516 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 139 households that consist of only one person and 37 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 520 households that answered this question, 26.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 4 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 175 married couples without children, 170 married couples with children There were 19 single parents with a child or children. There were 9 households that were made up of unrelated people and 4 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 300 single family homes (or 69.0% of the total) out of a total of 435 inhabited buildings. There were 58 multi-family buildings (13.3%), along with 62 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (14.3%) and 15 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (3.4%). Of the single family homes 56 were built before 1919, while 47 were built between 1990 and 2000.
there were 567 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 145. There were 10 single room apartments and 234 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 504 apartments (88.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 30 apartments (5.3%) were seasonally occupied and 33 apartments (5.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.33%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
which received 25.35% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
(22.85%), the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
(22.68%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(16.5%). In the federal election, a total of 450 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 46.5%.
Economy
, Kleinlützel had an unemployment rate of 2.8%. , there were 56 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 25 businesses involved in this sector. 229 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 19 businesses in this sector. 66 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 24 businesses in this sector. There were 599 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 37.2% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 307. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 38, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 215 of which 175 or (81.4%) were in manufacturing and 40 (18.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 54. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 20.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 18.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 7 or 13.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 7.4% were in the information industry, 1 was the insurance or financial industry, 5 or 9.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 11 or 20.4% were in education and 1 was in health care.
, there were 193 workers who commuted into the municipality and 377 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 14.5% of the workforce coming into Kleinlützel are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 23.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 46.9% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 913 or 73.5% were Roman Catholic, while 158 or 12.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 9 individuals (or about 0.72% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 24 (or about 1.93% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and 2 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. 129 (or about 10.38% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 5 individuals (or about 0.40% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Kleinlützel about 503 or (40.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 77 or (6.2%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 77 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.4% were Swiss men, 20.8% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 137 students in the Kleinlützel school system. The education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
. During that school year, there were 24 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 113 students in primary school. The secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Kleinlützel attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 2 students in Kleinlützel who came from another municipality, while 74 residents attended schools outside the municipality.