Colombier, Neuchâtel
Encyclopedia
Colombier is a municipality
in the district of Boudry
in the canton
of Neuchâtel in Switzerland
.
Four lakeside settlements from the neolithic
and the Bronze Age
have been discovered in Colombier. One of the largest Roman era
villas in Switzerland was excavated from under the castle in 1840-42 by Frédéric Dubois de Montperreux. It was built in multiple stages between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD into a palatial mansion with a peristyle
, at least two baths with mosaics and frescoes and terraced gardens. A Merovingian graveyard was found near Colombier.
In the 11th or 12th century a fortified tower was built over the ruins of the Roman villa. It expanded in the 13th Century and by the 16th century had reached its present appearance.
During the Middle Ages
, the Seigneurie of Colombier included the villages of Colombier and Areuse, a part of Bôle
and a third of the Vogt
ei of Bevaix. They also had rights in Fretereules and Val-de-Ruz. The noble Colombier family were vassal
s of the count of Neuchâtel. During the Middle Ages, they also acquired by marriage, the fiefs of Savagnier, Cormondrèche and the fief of the Pressoir of Colombeir in Thielle. In 1488 the Colombier lands were acquired by marriage by the de Chauvirey family of Franche-Comte
. In 1513, they were acquired by Johann Jakob von Watteville of Bern. Under von Watteville, the territory expanded further into Bevaix. In 1564, the land was purchased by the Counts of Neuchâtel, for 60,000 crowns. Under Johann Jakob von Watteville, the Protestant Reformation
was successfully introduced in town. When portions of the Armée de l'Est
were interred in Colombier in 1871, the Catholic Mass
began to be read once again in the church.
The boundaries of the village are first documented in 1346. In 1357 it received, along with Bôle and Areuse, a forest which the three municipalities jointly managed until the 18th Century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, much of the population was exempted from many of the feudal taxes and fees that they had paid to their feudal overlords. The last feudal tax, however, was finally abolished in the 19th centuty. In the middle of the 17th Century the town was saved from bankruptcy through a loan given by the bankers Abraham Mouchet and his son. Henri II d'Orléans, the Prince of Neuchatel, freed the municipality from its debts in 1657. In exchange, the municipality pledged to plant trees along the road from the lake to the castle.
A chapel is first mentioned in Colombier in 1177. It became a parish
before 1228, which included Montézillon in the Middle Ages, Areuse until 1832 and Auvernier until 1879. The right to appoint the priest at St. Stefan's church in Colombier was held by the cathedral chapter
of Lausanne Cathedral
. A Catholic parish was founded in 1884.
In 1734, the first spinning factory in the Lower Areuse was built in Colombier by Jean-Jacques Deluz Bied. By 1739 it had about 80 workers. The factory brought a degree of prosperity and enabled the construction stately country houses in the vicinity of the village (Le Bied, Vaudijon, La Mairesse, Cottendart, Sombacour).
In 1806, Colombier Castle was converted into a military hospital. Starting in 1824 it was used by the Federal militias as a parade ground and was converted into a barracks and given an expanded arsenal. In 1877 it became the official barracks of the 2. Division, which later became Field Division 2. In 2003, the Army XXI reforms dissolved the Division and in 2004 the barracks became an infantry training center.
In the 19th century Colombier was a regional center, with a gas plant and a bank. The first train station was built in 1859-60. In 1892 it became part of the tram line Neuchâtel-Boudry and in 1927 an airfield was built in the municipality. The regional secondary school was built in the 1969 and teaches students from Colombier, Cortaillod, Boudry, Bôle, Rochefort and Auvernier. It is now a residential community, with few industries. Many of the jobs in town support the barracks.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 21.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 11.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.5%. Out of the forested land, 17.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 9.3% is used for growing crops and 13.3% is pastures, while 16.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.
The municipality is located in the Boudry district, on a small hill above Lake Neuchatel
. The municipalities of Auvernier
, Bôle
and Colombier are considering a merger on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Milvignes.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules two Doves passant standing on a Cross Argent throughout.
Most of the population speaks French
(4,229 or 86.4%) as their first language, German
is the second most common (220 or 4.5%) and Italian
is the third (132 or 2.7%). There are 4 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 49.0% male and 51.0% female. The population was made up of 2,139 Swiss men (38.3% of the population) and 600 (10.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 2,363 Swiss women (42.3%) and 484 (8.7%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 892 or about 18.2% were born in Colombier and lived there in 2000. There were 1,646 or 33.6% who were born in the same canton, while 1,119 or 22.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,074 or 21.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.7%.
, there were 1,904 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,441 married individuals, 273 widows or widowers and 279 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 2,032 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 639 households that consist of only one person and 116 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,982 apartments (90.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 156 apartments (7.1%) were seasonally occupied and 44 apartments (2.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.23%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
with its museum, roman villa and fortifications, the Domaine de Vaudijon, the House de maître du Bied and the Manoir Le Pontet are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
. The entire urban village of Colombier and the Areuse region are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the SP
which received 25.18% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(20.67%), the FDP
(16.91%) and the LPS Party
(14.86%). In the federal election, a total of 1,786 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 52.5%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,366. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 41, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 258 of which 130 or (50.4%) were in manufacturing and 81 (31.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,067. In the tertiary sector; 224 or 21.0% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 42 or 3.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 69 or 6.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 10 or 0.9% were in the information industry, 13 or 1.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 71 or 6.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 168 or 15.7% were in education and 119 or 11.2% were in health care.
, there were 947 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,826 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 1.4% of the workforce coming into Colombier are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 17.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 62.2% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 28 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.57% of the population), there were 6 individuals (or about 0.12% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 173 individuals (or about 3.53% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 9 individuals (or about 0.18% of the population) who were Jewish
, and 77 (or about 1.57% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 3 individuals who were Buddhist
, 2 individuals who were Hindu
and 8 individuals who belonged to another church. 901 (or about 18.40% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 239 individuals (or about 4.88% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 709 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.7% were Swiss men, 26.4% were Swiss women, 11.1% were non-Swiss men and 6.8% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 6 kindergarten classes with a total of 116 students in Colombier. In the same year, there were 16 primary classes with a total of 322 students.
, there were 493 students in Colombier who came from another municipality, while 241 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Boudry
Boudry (district)
Boudry District is one of the six districts of the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It has a population of . The district capital is the town of Boudry.-Municipalities:The district consists of the following municipalities:...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Neuchâtel in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
History
Colombier is first mentioned in 1228 as Columbier.Four lakeside settlements from the neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
and the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
have been discovered in Colombier. One of the largest Roman era
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...
villas in Switzerland was excavated from under the castle in 1840-42 by Frédéric Dubois de Montperreux. It was built in multiple stages between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD into a palatial mansion with a peristyle
Peristyle
In Hellenistic Greek and Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building surrounding a court that may contain an internal garden. Tetrastoon is another name for this feature...
, at least two baths with mosaics and frescoes and terraced gardens. A Merovingian graveyard was found near Colombier.
In the 11th or 12th century a fortified tower was built over the ruins of the Roman villa. It expanded in the 13th Century and by the 16th century had reached its present appearance.
During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the Seigneurie of Colombier included the villages of Colombier and Areuse, a part of Bôle
Bôle
Bôle is a municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.-Geography:Bôle has an area, , of . Of this area, or 27.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 45.0% is forested...
and a third of the Vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
ei of Bevaix. They also had rights in Fretereules and Val-de-Ruz. The noble Colombier family were vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
s of the count of Neuchâtel. During the Middle Ages, they also acquired by marriage, the fiefs of Savagnier, Cormondrèche and the fief of the Pressoir of Colombeir in Thielle. In 1488 the Colombier lands were acquired by marriage by the de Chauvirey family of Franche-Comte
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
. In 1513, they were acquired by Johann Jakob von Watteville of Bern. Under von Watteville, the territory expanded further into Bevaix. In 1564, the land was purchased by the Counts of Neuchâtel, for 60,000 crowns. Under Johann Jakob von Watteville, the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
was successfully introduced in town. When portions of the Armée de l'Est
Armée de l'Est
The Armée de l'Est was a French army which took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71...
were interred in Colombier in 1871, the Catholic Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
began to be read once again in the church.
The boundaries of the village are first documented in 1346. In 1357 it received, along with Bôle and Areuse, a forest which the three municipalities jointly managed until the 18th Century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, much of the population was exempted from many of the feudal taxes and fees that they had paid to their feudal overlords. The last feudal tax, however, was finally abolished in the 19th centuty. In the middle of the 17th Century the town was saved from bankruptcy through a loan given by the bankers Abraham Mouchet and his son. Henri II d'Orléans, the Prince of Neuchatel, freed the municipality from its debts in 1657. In exchange, the municipality pledged to plant trees along the road from the lake to the castle.
A chapel is first mentioned in Colombier in 1177. It became a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
before 1228, which included Montézillon in the Middle Ages, Areuse until 1832 and Auvernier until 1879. The right to appoint the priest at St. Stefan's church in Colombier was held by the cathedral chapter
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
of Lausanne Cathedral
Lausanne Cathedral
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Lausanne was built between 1170 and 1240 in the gothic style, with the western portal completed later in the flamboyant style....
. A Catholic parish was founded in 1884.
In 1734, the first spinning factory in the Lower Areuse was built in Colombier by Jean-Jacques Deluz Bied. By 1739 it had about 80 workers. The factory brought a degree of prosperity and enabled the construction stately country houses in the vicinity of the village (Le Bied, Vaudijon, La Mairesse, Cottendart, Sombacour).
In 1806, Colombier Castle was converted into a military hospital. Starting in 1824 it was used by the Federal militias as a parade ground and was converted into a barracks and given an expanded arsenal. In 1877 it became the official barracks of the 2. Division, which later became Field Division 2. In 2003, the Army XXI reforms dissolved the Division and in 2004 the barracks became an infantry training center.
In the 19th century Colombier was a regional center, with a gas plant and a bank. The first train station was built in 1859-60. In 1892 it became part of the tram line Neuchâtel-Boudry and in 1927 an airfield was built in the municipality. The regional secondary school was built in the 1969 and teaches students from Colombier, Cortaillod, Boudry, Bôle, Rochefort and Auvernier. It is now a residential community, with few industries. Many of the jobs in town support the barracks.
Geography
Colombier has an area, , of 4.5 square kilometre. Of this area, 1.78 square kilometre or 39.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.85 square kilometre or 18.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.86 square kilometre or 41.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.4% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 21.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 11.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.5%. Out of the forested land, 17.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 9.3% is used for growing crops and 13.3% is pastures, while 16.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.
The municipality is located in the Boudry district, on a small hill above Lake Neuchatel
Lake Neuchâtel
Lake Neuchâtel is a lake in Romandy, Switzerland . The lake lies mainly in the canton of Neuchâtel, but is also shared by the cantons of Vaud, of Fribourg, and of Bern....
. The municipalities of Auvernier
Auvernier
Auvernier is a municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.-History:Auvernier is first mentioned in 1011 as Averniacum. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Avernach, however, that name is no longer used.-Geography:Auvernier has an area, , of...
, Bôle
Bôle
Bôle is a municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.-Geography:Bôle has an area, , of . Of this area, or 27.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 45.0% is forested...
and Colombier are considering a merger on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Milvignes.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Gules two Doves passant standing on a Cross Argent throughout.
Demographics
Colombier has a population of . , 20.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 16.4%. It has changed at a rate of 14.6% due to migration and at a rate of 1.5% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(4,229 or 86.4%) as their first language, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
is the second most common (220 or 4.5%) and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
is the third (132 or 2.7%). There are 4 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 49.0% male and 51.0% female. The population was made up of 2,139 Swiss men (38.3% of the population) and 600 (10.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 2,363 Swiss women (42.3%) and 484 (8.7%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 892 or about 18.2% were born in Colombier and lived there in 2000. There were 1,646 or 33.6% who were born in the same canton, while 1,119 or 22.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,074 or 21.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.7%.
, there were 1,904 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,441 married individuals, 273 widows or widowers and 279 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 2,032 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 639 households that consist of only one person and 116 households with five or more people. , a total of 1,982 apartments (90.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 156 apartments (7.1%) were seasonally occupied and 44 apartments (2.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.23%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Arsenal, the prehistoric lake shore settlement at Baie d‘Auvernier, Colombier CastleColombier Castle
Colombier Castle is a castle in the municipality of Colombier of the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-History:...
with its museum, roman villa and fortifications, the Domaine de Vaudijon, the House de maître du Bied and the Manoir Le Pontet are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
. The entire urban village of Colombier and the Areuse region are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
.
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
which received 25.18% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(20.67%), the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
(16.91%) and the LPS Party
Liberal Party of Switzerland
The Liberal Party of Switzerland was a party with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party to establish FDP.The Liberals....
(14.86%). In the federal election, a total of 1,786 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 52.5%.
Economy
, Colombier had an unemployment rate of 5.8%. , there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 270 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 37 businesses in this sector. 1,306 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 164 businesses in this sector. There were 2,423 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 1,366. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 41, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 258 of which 130 or (50.4%) were in manufacturing and 81 (31.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,067. In the tertiary sector; 224 or 21.0% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 42 or 3.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 69 or 6.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 10 or 0.9% were in the information industry, 13 or 1.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 71 or 6.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 168 or 15.7% were in education and 119 or 11.2% were in health care.
, there were 947 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,826 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 1.4% of the workforce coming into Colombier are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 17.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 62.2% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,682 or 34.3% were Roman Catholic, while 1,852 or 37.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 28 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
(or about 0.57% of the population), there were 6 individuals (or about 0.12% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 173 individuals (or about 3.53% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 9 individuals (or about 0.18% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 77 (or about 1.57% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There were 3 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, 2 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and 8 individuals who belonged to another church. 901 (or about 18.40% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 239 individuals (or about 4.88% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Colombier about 1,789 or (36.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 709 or (14.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 709 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.7% were Swiss men, 26.4% were Swiss women, 11.1% were non-Swiss men and 6.8% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 6 kindergarten classes with a total of 116 students in Colombier. In the same year, there were 16 primary classes with a total of 322 students.
, there were 493 students in Colombier who came from another municipality, while 241 residents attended schools outside the municipality.