Ohmstal

Ohmstal is first mentioned around 1150 as Omistal. In the 15th to 17th Centuries it was known as Amanstal.[2]

Before the merger, Ohmstal had a total area of 4.5 km² (1.7 sq mi).[3] Of this area, 67.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 26.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.7%) is non-productive rivers.[3] In the 1997 land survey, 26.56% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 65.63% is used for farming or pastures, while 2.23% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 2.23% is covered with buildings, 0.22% is industrial, 0.22% is classed as special developments, 0.22% is parks or greenbelts and 2.01% is transportation infrastructure.

The former municipality is located on the left sided of the Luthern river valley.

Ohmstal had a population (as of 2010) of 312.[3] As of 2007, 19 or about 6.0% are not Swiss citizens.[4] Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -0.6%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (98.7%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 0.9%) and French being third ( 0.3%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the CVP which received 45.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (26.2%), the FDP (16.2%) and the Green Party (6.5%).

The age distribution, as of 2008, in Ohmstal is; 77 people or 24.2% of the population is 0–19 years old. 81 people or 25.5% are 20–39 years old, and 115 people or 36.2% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 31 people or 9.7% are 65–79 years old, 11 or 3.5% are 80–89 years old and 3 people or 0.9% of the population are 90+ years old.[5]

In Ohmstal about 73% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

As of 2000 there are 102 households, of which 16 households (or about 15.7%) contain only a single individual. 22 or about 21.6% are large households, with at least five members.[5] As of 2000 there were 68 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 42 were built only as housing, and 26 were mixed use buildings. There were 29 single family homes, 9 double family homes, and 4 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (29) or three (7) story structures. There were only 3 single story buildings and 3 four or more story buildings.[5]

Ohmstal has an unemployment rate of 0.68%. As of 2005, there were 66 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 22 businesses involved in this sector. 26 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 4 businesses in this sector. 22 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 9 businesses in this sector.[3] As of 2000 52.7% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 37.7% of the workforce.

In the 2000 census the religious membership of Ohmstal was; 249 (78.5%) were Roman Catholic, and 46 (14.5%) were Protestant. Of the rest; there were 20 (6.31%) who do not belong to any organized religion, 2 (0.63%) who did not answer the question.[5]

The historical population is given in the following table:[2]

• Ohmstal in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

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