Berg

Berg is a municipality in the district of Weinfelden in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.

History

The earliest traces of human settlement come from the Stone Age and there are scattered Bronze Age items around Berg. The modern village of Berg is first mentioned in 796 as Berga. In the Early Middle Ages, Berg and the surrounding land were in the possession of the Bishop of Constance and were on the southern border of the Bishop's land. A fortress was first built in the 12th-13th Century, which was replaced in 1600 by a castle. The castle and the rights to rule over the villages of Berg, Andhausen, Donzhausen and parts of Andwil (TG), Mauren and Mattwil were rented out by the Cathedral of Constance (not the Bishop) until 1798. The circumstances behind the removal of the diocese's administration and the emergence of the court in 1386 are unclear. Some of the owners of the village included Egli von Zug (1518–67), Brümsi von Herblingen (1586-1653/56) and the von Thurn-Valsassina family (1676–1798).

The village chapel was probably built in the 11th Century. In 1506 a benefice was donated, so that a chaplain could be supported in the village. The chapel remained a filial church of Sulgen. During the Protestant Reformation in 1529, the village converted to the new religion, while the court and ruler remained Catholic. Due to the religious tension, regular church services were not held in Berg until 1575. Until the founding of the Reformed parish in 1851, Berg was part of the parish of Sulgen. In 16th and 17th Centuries, the Catholic parish also included Altishausen, Birwinken, Dotnacht, Graltshausen, Guntershausen, Hugelshofen and Mattwil. In 1935, the church stopped being a shared church and a Catholic church was built.

The majority of the local economy was made up of fruit production along with a distillery, livestock (in 1899 a municipal dairy was built) and until 1900 vineyards. As a result of industrialization, in about 1865, the Brauchli brickyard was built. This was followed in 1900 by several embroidery companies. In 1911, the village was connected to the Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn rail line through stations at Kehlhof and Berg. More recently, a favorable tax rate and an attractive location, have led to strong population growth and development of new residential areas. In 1990 about 45% of the workers in Berg, worked in the manufacturing and services sectors.

Geography

Berg has an area, as of 2009, of 13.09 square km. Of this area, 9.37 km2 (3.62 sq mi) or 71.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.22 km2 (0.86 sq mi) or 17.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.48 km2 (0.57 sq mi) or 11.3% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 6.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 0.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.0%. Out of the forested land, 15.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 56.5% is used for growing crops, while 15.0% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is located in the Weinfelden district. It consists of the villages of Berg, Andhausen, Graltshausen, Mauren, Birwinken and Guntershausen bei Birwinken (now Guntershausen bei Berg) and the hamlet of Beggelschwilen.

Sights

The hamlets of Hard and Kehlhof are designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites

Religion

From the 2000 census, 785 or 27.3% were Roman Catholic, while 1,575 or 54.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 Old Catholics (or about 0.10% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland there are 43 individuals (or about 1.50% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 109 individuals (or about 3.79% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish, and 69 (or about 2.40% of the population) who are Islamic. There are 6 individuals (or about 0.21% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 228 (or about 7.93% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 57 individuals (or about 1.98% of the population) did not answer the question.