Scherz

Scherz

Aerial view from 2000 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1923)

Scherz has an area, as of 2009, of 3.3 square kilometers (1.3 sq mi). Of this area, 1.82 square kilometers (0.70 sq mi) or 55.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.1 square kilometers (0.42 sq mi) or 33.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.39 square kilometers (0.15 sq mi) or 11.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes.[3]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.5%. 33.0% of the total land area is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 41.8% is used for growing crops and 9.4% is pastures, while 3.9% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.[3]

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a feather Gules between two other Or all issuant from a Heart Gules. This might be an example of canting, since the heart (German: Herz) is part of the name Scherz.[4]

Scherz has a population (as of December 2019) of 652[5] As of June 2009, 8.3% of the population are foreign nationals.[6] Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of -1.3%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (95.5%), with Albanian being second most common ( 1.7%) and French being third ( 1.6%).[7]

The age distribution, as of 2008, in Scherz is; 76 children or 12.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 77 teenagers or 12.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 60 people or 9.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 77 people or 12.5% are between 30 and 39, 121 people or 19.6% are between 40 and 49, and 84 people or 13.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 73 people or 11.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 40 people or 6.5% are between 70 and 79, there are 8 people or 1.3% who are between 80 and 89,and there is 1 person who is between 90 and older.[8]

As of 2000, there were 10 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 86 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 117 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. The average number of people per household was 2.52 individuals.[9] In 2008 there were 120 single family homes (or 48.6% of the total) out of a total of 247 homes and apartments.[10] There were a total of 4 empty apartments for a 1.6% vacancy rate.[10] As of 2007, the construction rate of new housing units was 1.7 new units per 1000 residents.[7]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 48.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (21.4%), the Green Party (8.7%) and the CSP (7.8%).[7]

In Scherz about 86.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).[7] Of the school age population (in the 2008/2009 school year), there are 67 students attending primary school in the municipality.[9]

The historical population is given in the following table:[8]

As of  2007, Scherz had an unemployment rate of 1.89%. As of 2005, there were 37 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 16 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 6 businesses in this sector. 58 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 17 businesses in this sector.[7]

As of 2000 there was a total of 303 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 242 or about 79.9% of the residents worked outside Scherz while 28 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 89 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality.[11] Of the working population, 12.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.4% used a private car.[7]

Church of Scherz

From the 2000 census, 129 or 22.4% were Roman Catholic, while 319 or 55.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.[9]