112-554: The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins railway line is a railway line in Switzerland that runs from Biel/Bienne to Ins along the east side of the Lake Biel . The line is owned and operated by Aare Seeland mobil (ASm). The line was originally built by Seeländische Lokalbahnen (SLB), which was founded in 1912 with its headquarters in Täuffelen . The first section of the line from Nidau to Siselen
224-460: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it
336-437: A sacred spring nearby. However, no surviving records or inscriptions confirm this theory. Another theory states that the town grew up around a late Roman fortress. While no trace of the fortress has been found, the foundations of several Roman buildings have been found east of the medieval town. The town is mentioned in 1142 as Apud Belnam , which is taken as evidence for its derivation from Belenus . In popular etymology ,
448-402: A second language , and 75–100 million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90 million people, or 16% of
560-587: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become
672-517: A fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Biel/Bienne allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Council. The Parliament holds its meetings in the Stadtratssaal . The last regular election of the City Council was held on 27 September 2020 for the mandate period ( la législature ) from 2021 to 2024. The voter turnout was 39.23%. Currently the City Council consist of 18 members of
784-556: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from
896-434: A majority of the population spoke German (26,957 or 55.4%) as their first language. French was the second most common (13,695 or 28.1%) and Italian was third (2,925 or 6.0%). There were 37 people who spoke Romansh . German and French are both official languages of Biel/Bienne, which is the largest bilingual city in Switzerland. In 2020, when asked specifically about the two official languages, 32,154 residents (56.8% of
1008-453: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained
1120-463: A one-room apartment was 463.73 CHF, a two-room apartment was about 706.49 CHF, a three-room apartment was about 846.98 CHF and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1749.16 CHF. The average apartment price in Biel/Bienne was 83.9% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2011 , was 2%. The historical population is given in the following chart: In 2000,
1232-679: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In
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#17328698135411344-475: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
1456-464: A setback for the labor movement, even though Switzerland was not directly involved in the war. Wages were reduced significantly when the war started while inflation made everything more expensive. In July 1918, a demonstration of starving workers erupted into street riots that required military action to suppress. In 1919 a Communist Party was founded in Biel, but it remained a minor party in the town. In 1921,
1568-426: A total length of 27 kilometres, the line would be the longest tram line in Switzerland. The project was stopped by a government enquiry on 26 March 2015. Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German : Biel [biːl] ; French : Bienne [bjɛn] ; locally Alemannic German: [ˈb̥iˑəu] ; Italian : Bienna ; Romansh : Bienna ; Latin : Belna )
1680-407: A total of 23,367 apartments (86.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2,169 apartments (8.1%) were seasonally occupied and 1,398 apartments (5.2%) were empty. As of 2010 , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.2 new units per 1000 residents. As of 2003 the average price to rent an average apartment in Biel/Bienne was 935.83 Swiss francs (CHF) per month. The average rate for
1792-453: Is Gules two Axes Argent in saltire. The Municipal Council (fr: Conseil municipal , de: Gemeinderat ) constitutes the executive government of the City of Biel/Bienne and operates as a collegiate authority . It is composed of five councilors ( French : Conseiller municipal/ Conseillère municipale , German : Gemeinderat/ Gemeinderätin ), each presiding over a directorate. The president of
1904-579: Is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland . With over 55,000 residents, it is the country's tenth-largest city by population . The Biel urban area has a population of around 100,000 inhabitants. Biel/Bienne is the capital of the Biel/Bienne administrative district . The city has been an industrial and watchmaking heart of Switzerland since the 19th century. With world-famous watch brands such as Rolex , Omega and Swatch based in Biel/Bienne,
2016-580: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
2128-596: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German
2240-546: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic
2352-717: Is an example of the "new building" style and a symbol of the Social Democratic era of the city. In the years leading up to the Second World War, the Social Democrats began to lose power in the city. In the last year of the war, the Swiss Party of Labour gained nine seats on the city council and ended the Social Democrat majority. With the resignation of Mayor Müller in 1947, it would be almost thirty years (1976) before
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#17328698135412464-472: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German
2576-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25 million speak it as
2688-520: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in
2800-595: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as
2912-519: Is held every four years. Any resident of Biel/Bienne allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the Municipal Council. The current mandate period is from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2024. The mayor is elected as such by public election by means of a system of Majorz , while the heads of the other directorates are assigned by the collegiate. The delegates are selected by means of a system of Proporz . As of 2021 , Biel/Bienne's Municipal Council
3024-559: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are
3136-430: Is made up of 60 members, with elections held every four years. The City Council decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by the Municipal Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of proportional representation . The sessions of the City Council are public. Unlike members of the Municipal Council, members of the City Council are not politicians by profession, and they are paid
3248-631: Is made up of two representatives of the PS/SP ( Social Democratic Party , of whom one is also the mayor), one member of the Grünes Bündnis (GB) ( Green Party ), one of the PRR ( Les Radicaux Romands ), and one of the UDC/SVP ( Swiss People's Party ), giving the left parties a majority of three out of five seats. The last regular election was held on 27 September 2020. The mayor has been reelected with 6889 votes (57.16%) and
3360-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and
3472-587: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
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3584-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
3696-510: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
3808-566: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish
3920-481: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers
4032-577: Is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.63 km (3.72 sq mi) or 45.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.65 km (3.73 sq mi) or 45.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.13 km (32 acres) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.14 km (35 acres) or 0.7% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 21.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.7% of
4144-673: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to
4256-627: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as
4368-586: The Biel/Bienne station forecourt ( Bahnhofplatz ) followed on 21 August 1926. A transporter wagon system was opened here, too; wagon could be delivered to any point on the whole line. The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins line remained the only line of the Seeländische Lokalbahnen. The Seeländische Lokalbahnen was renamed the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins Railway ( German : Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn , BTI) as of 1 September 1945. The cooperation between
4480-526: The Biel/Bienne–La Chaux-de-Fonds lines also connect at the station. There is a Regiotram agglomeration Biel/Bienne project, in which the BTI line would in future be extended as a tram through Biel SBB station and through the city to Bözingenfeld railway station. Thus, the most important development areas (living, work, leisure) of the region would be connected without the need to change trains. With
4592-522: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share
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4704-473: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language
4816-514: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout
4928-724: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in
5040-547: The Neolithic age. The remains of two neolithic settlements were found at Vingelz in 1874. The remains of the settlements became the Vingelz / Hafen archaeological site, which is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site . East of the Vingelz site, a late Bronze Age settlement was also discovered. After the Roman conquest , the region was part of Germania Superior . During the Roman era
5152-673: The Oberaargau-Jura railway ( Oberaargau-Jura-Bahnen , OJB) and the Solothurn-Niederbipp Railway ( Solothurn-Niederbipp-Bahn , SNB), which had existed for some time, was regulated by contract from 1960. The new underground approach of the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins line to Biel/Bienne station was opened on 22 May 1975. This allowed the dismantling of the line that had run along streets under the large SBB railway bridge to Biel station forecourt. The underground station reduced
5264-644: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
5376-462: The Roman road from Petinesca to Pierre Pertuis or Salodurum (now Solothurn ) passed through the village of Mett, which is now part of Biel/Bienne. The foundations of buildings and a 4th-century cemetery in Mett come from a late Roman or an early medieval military guard station. A theory holds that the toponym is derived from the name of Belenus , probably from a Roman era sanctuary of that deity at
5488-682: The Social Democratic Party (PSR/SP) including 6 members of the French branch Parti Socialiste Romand (PSR) and 2 members of its junior parties JUSO/JS , 11 members of the Liberals (PRR/FDP) including 4 members of its French branch Parti Radical Romand (PRR) , 11 members of the Swiss People's Party (UDC/SVP) , 8 members of the Green Party (LV/Grüne) , 4 Green Liberal Party (PVL/GLP) , 2 members of
5600-640: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
5712-536: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
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#17328698135415824-628: The Swiss National Council the most popular party was the SP/PS which received 26.4% (-5.7) of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party (24.1%, +10.2), the SVP/UDC (15.4%, -6.6), the glp/pvl (8.9%, +3.3), PLR (7.9%, -1.5), and the BDP/PBD (3.9%, -3.1). In the federal election a total of 11,096 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 35.9%. In the 2015 federal election
5936-454: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
6048-462: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
6160-664: The "Canton de Bienne" into the département du Mont-Terrible of the First French Republic . Two years later, in 1800, it went to the Département du Haut-Rhin . Under Mayor Sigmund Wildermeth (1765–1847) Biel strictly followed every dictate from Paris. After the collapse of the French Empire , Biel sent Georg Friedrich Heilmann to the Congress of Vienna in 1814 to push for the creation of an independent Canton of Biel. However, he
6272-468: The 13th century Biel began making alliances with neighboring nobles and cities. In 1279 it allied with Bern . This first alliance was followed in 1311 by an alliance with Fribourg , a 1334 alliance with Solothurn, 1342 with Murten and 1395 with La Neuveville . The alliance with Bern became an eternal alliance in 1352, as Bern itself joined the Old Swiss Confederacy . Contradictory obligations to
6384-427: The 2000 census , 19,191 people or 39.4% of the total population, belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church , while 14,241 or 29.3% were Roman Catholic . Of the rest of the population, there were 613 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.26% of the population), there were 87 individuals (or about 0.18% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church , and there were 2,870 individuals (or about 5.90% of
6496-418: The 8th century, the German-speaking population became the majority on the east end of the lake. In 999 Rudolph III of Burgundy granted lands around Lake Biel to the Bishopric of Basel , during the formative period of the Holy Roman Empire . Through the Bishop of Basel, the Counts of Neuchâtel and later the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau began to exercise their power in the foothills of the Jura Mountains . In 1140
6608-498: The Bishop of Basel, Jean de Vienne , and to the Imperial City of Bern led to a war in 1367. During the war, Biel was burned and the Bishop's castle was destroyed. After the extinction of the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau in 1375 the Bishop's power around the lake began to wane. In 1388, Bern gained control of Nidau Castle and the town of Nidau. However, the Bishop retained nominal power and influence in Biel. The two competing powers struggled for power in Biel for over 400 years and prevented
6720-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
6832-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
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#17328698135416944-417: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
7056-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
7168-623: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
7280-547: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
7392-757: The Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
7504-408: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
7616-404: The Social Democrats had another mayor in Biel. On the occasion of the secession of the canton of Jura in 1978, Biel had been asked to become its capital, but it remained with the canton of Bern. The town was officially named Biel or Bienne until 2004, even though the bilingual Biel-Bienne was in common use. Since 2005, the official name has been Biel/Bienne , with forward slash . At
7728-421: The Social Democrats won a slim majority in the city councils. Under the leadership of the Social Democratic Mayor Guido Müller "Red Biel" began a series of socialist community experiments. During the 1930s the entire neighborhood around the train station was redeveloped according to the social planning theories of the era. The Volkshaus (People's House), built under the direction of Edward Lanz between 1928 and 1932,
7840-405: The alliance called Passarelle , 2 members of the Evangelical People's Party (PEV/EVP) , 2 members for the alliance of the two parties Conservative Democratic Party (PBD/BDP) from Biel/Bienne (BLB) and Christian Democratic People's Party (PDC/CVP) , one member of the Swiss Party of Labour (POP/PdA) , and one member of the Federal Democratic Union (UDF/EDU) . In the 2019 federal election for
7952-407: The area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.1%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 4.7% is used for growing crops and 2.0% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is at the southeastern foot of the Jura Mountains on the northeast end of Lake Biel . It consists of
8064-489: The beginning of the 20th century, the town's population was at 30,000 people. It doubled over the next 60 years, peaking at 65,000 in the mid-1960s. It declined gradually over the 1970s to 1990s, to below 49,000 in 2000, again rising slightly to just over 50,000 during the 2000s. Another 89,000 people live in the immediately surrounding urban agglomeration . Biel/Bienne has an area of 21.19 km (8.18 sq mi). Of this area, 1.7 km (0.66 sq mi) or 8.0%
8176-591: The city is one of the main centres of the Swiss watch industry and is also referred to as the "world capital of watchmaking". Biel/Bienne lies on the language boundary between the French -speaking and German -speaking parts of Switzerland, and is bilingual throughout. Biel is the German name for the city whereas Bienne is its French counterpart. The city is often referred to in both languages simultaneously. Since 1 January 2005,
8288-495: The counts built Nidau Castle in the neighboring village of Nidau to help secure their land on the eastern end of the lake. The town was probably built by the Bishop of Basel, Heinrich II von Thun, between 1225 (mention of domum de Bilne ) and 1230 (mention of in urbe mea de Beuna ). Biel Castle was built either shortly before or shortly after the foundation of the town, to help support Nidau Castle. Officially, Biel remained under
8400-478: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
8512-452: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
8624-831: The distance to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) trains and the station forecourt was cleared, allowing it to be rebuilt. An early indication of the later merger was a formal agreement that was contracted on 5 April 1984 between the BTI, the OJB, the SNB, the Oberaargauischen Automobilkurse (a bus company; OAK), the Ligerz-Tessenberg-Bahn (a funicular railway; LTB) and the Bielersee-Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft (Lake Biel Ferry Company; BSG) under
8736-507: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
8848-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,
8960-474: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
9072-524: The jurisdiction of the Bishop of Basel throughout the 11th to 18th centuries. However, the early history of the town is filled with conflict between the town council and the Bishop's representative. In 1252, the town council partly succeeded in becoming a free imperial city . In 1275 King of Germany Rudolph of Habsburg granted Biel a town charter . The town's legal position was strengthened in 1296 when Bishop Peter Reich von Reichenstein signed an agreement with
9184-513: The last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 3.8%. Migration accounted for 7.8%, while births and deaths accounted for −1.4%. Of the population in the municipality, 15,339 or about 31.5% were born in Biel/Bienne and lived there in 2000. There were 8,990 or 18.5% who were born in the same canton, while 9,170 or 18.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 12,244 or 25.2% were born outside of Switzerland. As of 2010 , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.8% of
9296-461: The line runs for a few hundred metres on public roads. The steepest section at 4.7 percent is located between the stations of Ins and Ins Dorf. The BTI ends under Biel SBB station, which is the hub of four SBB lines. The Biel– Grenchen – Solothurn – Olten and Biel– Neuchâtel – Yverdon-les-Bains – Lausanne lines together form the line known as the Jura Foot Railway . The Biel/Bienne–Bern and
9408-408: The most popular party was the SP/PS which received 32.0% (+0.8) of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the SVP/UDC (22.0%, +2.1), the Green Party (13.9%, -0.8), PLR/FDP (9.4%, +1.4), the glp/pvl (8.9%, +3.3), and the BDP/PBD (7.0%). In the federal election a total of xxx votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 36.9%. In the 2011 federal election the most popular party
9520-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted
9632-483: The name has been connected with the German name for axe ( Bernese German bieli ), reflected in the two crossed axes in the town's coat of arms. In the 5th century, the area was invaded by the Burgundians , and by the medieval period became part of Upper Burgundy . During the 6th or 7th century, the Germanic speaking Alamanni moved into the area around Lake Biel, creating the language boundary that exists today. By
9744-562: The name of Oberaargau-Solothurn-Seeland-Transport (OSST) . The first of seven low-floor GTW Be 2/6 articulated railcars was put into operation in 1997. The majority of the participants of Oberaargau-Solothurn-Seeland-Transport were merged to form Aare Seeland mobil (ASm) in 1999. The Ligerz-Tessenberg-Bahn joined only in 2003, while the Bielersee-Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft still remains legally independent. The line runs largely on its own right of way, although
9856-630: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from
9968-808: The official name has been "Biel/Bienne". Until then, the town was officially named Biel or Bienne . The city lies at the foot of the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains area, guarding the only practical connection to Jura, on the northeastern shores of Lake Biel ( Bielersee , Lac de Bienne ), sharing the eastern tip of the lake with its sister town, Nidau . The cities of Neuchâtel , Solothurn , and Bern (the capital of Switzerland) lie southwest, northeast and southeast of Biel/Bienne. They all can be reached within about 30 minutes by train or car. The cities of Zurich , Basel and Lausanne can each be reached in about one hour by car or train. The shoreline of Lake Biel has been inhabited since at least
10080-630: The political situation in Biel/Bienne. In 1793, the French Revolutionary Army captured the Bishopric of Basel and brought the French into the lands near Biel. When they conquered the Moutier valley and Erguel in 1797 it brought the French practically to the gates of Biel/Bienne. On 6 February 1798, French troops marched through the open city gate while the population celebrated their arrival. Bienne and its neighboring communities were incorporated as
10192-626: The population) did not answer the question. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and
10304-506: The population) mentioned German as their principal language, while 24,376 (43.2%) mentioned French. In recent years the city has used its linguistic assets as an economic advantage, becoming the Swiss City of Communication . Several call centres have been created in or around Biel, in addition to the traditional businesses established in the city and surrounding area, which have always exported most of their production worldwide. According to
10416-468: The population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 61 individuals (or about 0.13% of the population) who were Jewish , and 3,156 (or about 6.49% of the population) who were Muslim . There were 329 individuals who were Buddhist , 235 individuals who were Hindu and 68 individuals who belonged to another church. 6,012 (or about 12.36% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 3,180 individuals (or about 6.54% of
10528-439: The population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.3%. As of 2000 , there were 19,980 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 21,188 married individuals, 3,727 widows or widowers and 3,760 individuals who are divorced. As of 2000 , there were 11,014 households that consist of only one person and 797 households with five or more people. In 2000 ,
10640-444: The presidential directorate acts as mayor (fr: Maire , de: Stadtpräsident ). In the mandate period 2021–2024 ( législature , Legislatur ) the Municipal Council is presided by Maire/ Stadtpräsident Erich Fehr . Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the City Council (parliament) are carried by the Municipal Council. The regular election of the Municipal Council by any inhabitant valid to vote
10752-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation
10864-541: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,
10976-496: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in
11088-618: The town from becoming completely independent from either powerful neighbor. Biel was considered an associate of the Swiss Confederacy during the 15th century, and after its participation in the Burgundy Wars even came to be recognized as a full member by 1494. Even though Biel remained nominally under the control of the Catholic Bishops of Basel, in 1528 it converted to the new Protestant faith. The French Revolution changed
11200-580: The town. This original agreement was strengthened in 1352 and remained in force until 1798. The town's church, the Church of St. Benedict, was first mentioned in 1228. The current church was built in 1451–70 and is regarded, after Bern Cathedral , as the second most important late gothic building in the Canton of Bern. While it officially remained part of the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel , starting in
11312-398: The village of Biel/Bienne, Vingelz (since 1900), Bözingen (since 1917), Madretsch and Mett (both since 1920). On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Biel, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Biel/Bienne . It remained the capital of the new Verwaltungskreis. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms
11424-439: The voter turnout was 39.4%. Barbara Labbé is Town Chancellor ( chancelière municipale / Stadtschreiberin ) since , and Bertrand Cottier is Deputy Town Chancellor ( vice-chancelier / Vize-Stadtschreiber ) since for the Municipal Council. The Conseil de ville/Stadtrat of Biel/Bienne for the mandate period of 2021–2024 The City Council (fr: Conseil de ville , de: Stadtrat ), the city parliament, holds legislative power . It
11536-543: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during
11648-579: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
11760-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of
11872-530: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
11984-463: Was created and Biel became the district capital. The democratic reforms of the Regeneration era helped the citizens of Biel to identify with and feel a part of the Canton of Bern. By the beginning of the 20th century anarcho-syndicalist groups, which saw strikes and sabotage as legitimate means to bring about reform, began to influence the labor movement in Biel/Bienne. The first large scale strike
12096-485: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which
12208-529: Was opened on 4 December 1916 and the section from Siselen to Ins followed on 19 March 1917. Since the line ends in Ins next to the standard-gauge line of the Bern–Neuchâtel railway (BN), a transporter wagon yard was opened at the same time for the carriage of standard gauge freight cars on the metre-gauge line. The line was electrified at 1200 V DC from construction. The last section between Nidau and
12320-484: Was the SP/PS which received 31.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP/UDC (19.9%), the Green Party (14.7%) and the PLR/FDP (8.8%). In the federal election, a total of 12,363 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 39.0%. Biel/Bienne is twinned with: Biel/Bienne has a population (as of December 2020 ) of 55,206. As of 2010 , 28.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over
12432-447: Was the construction workers strike of 1902. The following years were marked with bitterly fought labor disputes. The largest strike was the journeymen carpenters strike of 1907, which lasted almost a year. Also in 1907 labor secretary Gottfried Reimann from the Social Democratic Party was elected mayor. His election marked the first time that a Social Democrat was elected to such a powerful office in Switzerland. The First World War meant
12544-568: Was unsuccessful and the Congress granted most of the territory of the Bishopric to the canton of Bern. Biel was able to resist unification until Bern agreed to retain some of Biel's historic privileges and rights. In 1815 Biel finally joined the Canton of Bern as part of the Oberamt of Nidau. The city council of Biel struggled to make it the capital of its own district. Finally in 1832 the Biel Amtsbezirk
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