Meienried | ||
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Group of houses in Underfar (Meienried), view from the old course of the Zihl river
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Coordinates: 47°8′N 7°20′E / 47.133°N 7.333°ECoordinates: 47°8′N 7°20′E / 47.133°N 7.333°E | ||
Country | Switzerland | |
Canton | Bern | |
District | Seeland | |
Area | ||
• Total | 0.66 km2 (0.25 sq mi) | |
Elevation | 430 m (1,410 ft) | |
Population (Dec 2015) | ||
• Total | 52 | |
• Density | 79/km2 (200/sq mi) | |
Postal code | 3294 | |
SFOS number | 0389 | |
Surrounded by | Büren an der Aare, Dotzigen, Safnern, Scheuren | |
Website |
website missing SFSO statistics |
Meienried is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Meienried is first mentioned in 1255 as Meinrieth.
The village grew around a medieval ferry dock and customs station, which was first mentioned in 1268. It was located on a small rise between the Zihl and Aare rivers. On the eastern or Zihl side was Underfar village with a boat landing and a ferry to Safnern. On the western or Aare side was Oberfar with ferries to Dotzigen and Büren an der Aare. The village was part of the Büren district in the lands of the Counts of Neuchâtel-Nidau. In 1255, the Counts gave Meienried to the Gottstatt Monastery, which they had recently founded. After the extinction of the Counts, between 1388 and 1393 the entire Herrschaft of Büren, including Meienried, went to Bern.
The Jura water correction of 1868-75 helped protect the village from flooding from the surrounding rivers. In 1970 the marshes around the village were drained, which opened up additional farmland. In 1934 the Meienried Nature Preserve was established to help protect the old Zihl water course and the Meienriedloch. In 2003 the Tümpel bei Alter Aare was designated as part of the Federal Inventory of Amphibian Spawning Areas.
This small village has its own town hall and school district, but most of the residents commute to jobs in Büren or even Bern.
Meienried has an area of 0.66 km2 (0.25 sq mi). Of this area, 0.47 km2 (0.18 sq mi) or 71.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.11 km2 (0.042 sq mi) or 16.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 3.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 6.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 4.5% is unproductive land.