Niederstocken

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Niederstocken was a small municipality in the Thun district of the canton of Bern, Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 it merged with Oberstocken and Höfen to form the new municipality of Stocken-Höfen.

Location and landscape
Niederstocken sits in the Stockental (Stock Valley) and reaches up to the Stockhorn mountain. It covered about 5.5 square kilometers, with the land mainly forested, a quarter used for farming, and a small portion settled (buildings and roads). All water in the area comes from flowing streams.

History
The village was first mentioned in 1351 as Stogken. Stone Age tool sites have been found on nearby Stockenfluh. In the Middle Ages it was part of the land and parish of the college of canons at Amsoldingen; Bern acquired the lands in 1485. It belonged to the Thun district from 1505, then to Niedersimmental, and from 2010 to the Verwaltungskreis Thun. Plans to build a railway through the Stockental between 1898 and 1926 failed, and a road to the municipality was completed in 1921. There were several attempts to merge Niederstocken with Oberstocken, the last in 1988, but Niederstocken stayed independent until the 2014 merger.

People and life
In 2011 the population was 258, and most people spoke German. The vast majority belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, with a small number of Roman Catholics and other religions. About 1–2% were resident foreigners. Niederstocken was rural and agrarian, with many residents commuting to jobs outside the municipality.

Economy
Unemployment in 2011 was very low, around 0.4%. Local jobs were mostly in farming, construction, and services, but many residents worked outside the municipality.

Housing and services
There were roughly 100 apartments, with a low vacancy rate. The village had a small library and a local school serving a few dozen students in the 2011–12 school year.

Education
The local school system followed the cantonal model, including kindergarten, primary, and lower secondary levels. In 2011–12 there were 36 pupils in Niederstocken.