Ferenbalm

History

Ferenbalm is first mentioned in 1123 as villa de Balmis. Since the 16th century it was called Feren-Balm to differenate it from Oberbalm. The oldest trace of settlements in the area are scattered grave mounds which are probably from the Hallstatt era. In addition, a grave mound from the La Tene era has been discovered. There was a Roman settlement at Gümirain, of which only bricks and ceramics remain, and another at Biberen, from which bronze pipes have been found. A document has been found which claims that the Kings of Burgundy gave this region to Payerne Priory in 961-62. However it is now believed to be a later forgery. However, by 1123, Ferenbalm was part of the estates of the Priory. During the 13th century the Counts of Kyburg acquired the village and made it part of the Herrschaft of Oltigen. In 1410, the Kyburg Counts were deep in debt and were forced to sell Oltigen and its Herrschaft to the city of Bern. Part of the modern municipality of Ferenbalm was placed in the district of Laupen in 1483. The villages of Biberen and Gammen were added later between 1502 and 1527. The village church of St. Peter and Paul was first mentioned along with the village in 1123. In 1528 Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation, which quickly spread throughout the entire canton. In Ferenbalm, the village church converted to the new faith and became a Reformed parish church. The parish included many of the surrounding German speaking communities, some of which were part of the French-speaking Canton of Fribourg. The Church of St. Peter and Paul was rebuilt following a fire in 1657. The villages that make up Ferenbalm have always profited from their location at the fork of the road from Bern to Lausanne and Neuchâtel. When the railroad built a station in the…

Geography

Ferenbalm has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 68.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 19.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 11.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land. During the same year, housing and buildings made up 5.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. Out of the forested land, 17.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 54.2% is used for growing crops and 12.3% is pastures, while 1.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

Most-observed species

• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  7,175
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,980
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  4,689
• Eurasian beaver

  Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  4,490
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,851
• European hare

  Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 · Mammalia
  3,630
• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  3,550
• Common Toad

  Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Amphibia
  3,497

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• 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
• M 3.1 — 2018-05-04
  2 km W of Schliengen, Germany