Büetigen

History

Büetigen is first mentioned in 1261 as Buetingen. The earliest trace of humans in Büetigen are scattered mesolithic and neolithic tools and items. La Tene era graves and an early medieval cemetery have also been found. The Burghubel hill was probably the family seat of the Ministerialis (unfree knights in the service of a feudal overlord) family of Büetigen. The family was first mentioned in the 13th century, but no trace of their castle has been discovered. Eventually the village passed from the Büetigen family to St. Urban's Abbey and Frienisberg Abbey. Frienisberg Abbey gradually replaced all the other landholders in the village to become the sole landlord. However, in 1365 the Büetigen jurisdiction transferred to the Bernese Vogt in Aarberg. Fifteen years later, in 1380, the court and jurisdiction were sold directly to Bern. After the secularization of the Abbey, in 1528 during the Protestant Reformation, Bern acquired all the Abbey's lands. Büetigen became part of the new bailiwick of Frienisberg while the military administration and the high court was in Büren. After the 1798 French invasion, the village of Büetigen, without the surrounding farms, became part of the Helvetic Republic's Büren district. Located in a flood plain around the Aare river, the village was responsible for maintaining the levees around the river. The Hagneck canal (built 1868-78) helped to prevent flooding. A project to drain marshes and control the river in 1943-52 drastically changed the appearance of the valley floor. Büetigen is located on the old Solothurn to Murten road, but is not on any train lines. While farming and raising livestock is still important, about 70% of the working population commutes to Lyss, Bern and Biel/Bienne. It shares a vital records office and…

Geography

Büetigen has an area of . Of this area, or 62.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 26.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 10.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.2%. Out of the forested land, 25.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 51.2% is used for growing crops and 10.8% is pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.6% is in lakes and 0.3% is in rivers and streams.

Most-observed species

• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  14,757
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  9,462
• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  5,207
• European hare

  Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 · Mammalia
  4,251
• Eurasian beaver

  Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  4,187
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,922
• Red Admiral

  Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,498
• Brimstone

  Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,424

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France