Sierre
Encyclopedia
Sierre is the capital of the district
of Sierre in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
. It has a population
of 14,355.
It is situated on the French–German language border of the canton of Wallis (Valais in French). As a German-speaking minority
lives in Sierre, it counts as one of the three official bilingual towns in Switzerland.
Sierre is first mentioned about 800 as Sidrium, though a 12th century document refers to the village being founded in 515. In 1179 it was mentioned as Sirro and in 1393 as Syder.
objects and grave goods (including a polished stone ax), Bronze Age
weapons and jewelry, Early Iron Age
objects and Roman era
inscriptions, jars, jewelry and coins. A soapstone
pot from the Early Middle Ages
and a gold signet ring with the name Graifarius from the 6th century have also been found. Other sites on nearby hills and near the chapel of Saint-Ginier, the Château de Villa, the churches of Sainte-Croix, Grands-Prés, Muraz, Glarey and Bernunes have yielded up graves originating from the Bronze Age to the Carolingian
era. In Grands-Prés there is a fire pit from the beginning of the Late Iron Age (5th-6th century BC).
During the Roman era it appears that there was no major population center, but rather several scattered groupings of separate, upper class dwellings. Under the chapel of Saint-Ginier, the remains of a Roman era house or estate have been discovered. Other Roman ruins have been found near the Château de Villa, in the church of Sainte-Croix (small terraced bath), in Grands-Prés by Muraz another house and in Gerunden the remains of buttress reinforced masonry indicate that a public or government building once stood there. Five altars were found in Saint-Ginier, along with another two in the scattered settlements, one of which was dedicated to Mercury
. During the early imperial period, the duumvir or mayor of the Civitas Vallensium, Caius Cominus Chiu, lived in Sierre. In the late imperial period, the family of the senator of Vinelia Modestina also lived in the area.
The chapel of Saint-Félix was built in the 5th or the beginning of the 6th Century on Gerunden hill.
Sigismund
to the Abbey of Saint-Maurice to hold as a fief. By the 11th Century, the fief of Sierre was owned by the Bishop of Sion. The aristocratic families and the residents of the fief lived on the Gerunden, Vieux-Sierre and Plantzette hills. On each of these hills there was a castle that served as the residence for the Bishop's representatives and as a refuge for the population. The castles were razed in the mid-14th Century when the noble families stood with the Bishop in his war with the Zenden of the Upper Valais and Counts of Savoy. The demolished castles and villages were abandoned and most residents settled farther north, in plan-Sierre. The only castle that survived the wars of the 14th Century was Goubing Castle, southeast of Sierre, which belonged to the lords of Granges.
The Contrée of Sierre was originally a group the managed the commons
. As vassals of the Bishop, they had the right to assemble twice a year to regulate the management of the common lands and the affairs of the local police. In the 14th and 15 Century this cooperative adopted a larger political role as they started to administer more of the daily affairs in the villages and acquired the right to appoint their own judges. Eventually this grew into the Noble Contrée which then formed the core of Sierre Zenden from which the city of Sierre later developed. The town of Plan-Sierre soon took over the leadership role in the Noble Contrée. Until 1798, the Noble Contrée was appointed by a council of village representatives, under the leadership of the Bishop's representative. In 1559, Plan-Sierre divided into four quarters Villa, Monderèche, La Salla and Glarey. In 1620, the town hall was built.
troops. The French set up their headquarters in Sierre.
In the conflicts between the conservative Upper Valais and the liberal Lower Valais, Sierre served as the seat of government in 1839-40. After 1848, the villages of the Noble Contrée became municipalities under the Valais cantonal constitution. The Zenden of Sierre became the District of Sierre with Sierre as the capital. The new city executive council had nine members, while of the General Council (legislature) had 60. Initially, the majority of the power was held by the Conservatives (now the Christian Democrats
). In 1913, they were joined by the Liberals
, in 1945 the Social Democrats
and in 2004 the Greens
.
is enabled by its access to hydroelectricity
. Today the aluminium
industry Novelis and Alcan employs 1200 workers in Chippis
and Sierre.
In 2007, the agglomeration of Sierre/Crans-Montana was formed to address created to common problems, especially in the fields of tourism and transportation.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 10.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.4%. Out of the forested land, 18.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.9% is used for growing crops and 2.5% is pastures, while 25.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 1.3% is in lakes and 5.5% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality is the capital of the Sierre district. It is located in the middle Rhone
valley, on the right bank of the river. The nearby Raspille mountain stream is considered the dividing line between the French
and German
speaking portions of Switzerland. It consists of the city of Sierre, the villages of Granges, Noës and Muraz, and the hamlets
and settlements of Gerunden, Plantzette, Vieux-Sierre, Bourg, Glarey, Borzuat, Zervettaz, Villa d'en Bas, d'en Haut, Sous Géronde, Cuchon and Monderèche.
Sierre is starting point for the tourist sites of the Val d'Anniviers
comprising the villages of Vercorin, Chandolin, St-Luc Vissoie, St-Jean Chandolin, Grimentz, Zinal and Ayer. Sierre is connected with Crans-Montana
by a funicular railway
.
Lac de Géronde
is a small lake at its outskirts.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules, a Sun in Splendour Or.
Most of the population speaks French
(10,710 or 74.8%) as their first language, German
is the second most common (1,803 or 12.6%) and Italian
is the third (765 or 5.3%). There are 6 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The population was made up of 5,339 Swiss men (33.8% of the population) and 2,305 (14.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 6,123 Swiss women (38.8%) and 2,020 (12.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 5,363 or about 37.5% were born in Sierre and lived there in 2000. There were 3,705 or 25.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,412 or 9.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 3,273 or 22.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 22% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 61.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.1%.
, there were 5,651 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 6,891 married individuals, 974 widows or widowers and 801 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 6,016 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 2,133 households that consist of only one person and 319 households with five or more people. , a total of 5,728 apartments (84.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 875 apartments (12.9%) were seasonally occupied and 205 apartments (3.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.15%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
. The entire Sierre town and surrounding are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
museum (Musée Valaisan de la Vigne et du Vin) and of a museum
dedicated to the memory of Rainer Maria Rilke
who lived there until his death and is buried in the nearby town of Raron
.
with the towns of Aubenas
, France
and Cesenatico
, Italy
.
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 34.23% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(19.19%), the FDP
(17.78%) and the SVP
(16.92%). In the federal election, a total of 5,203 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 57.3%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 4,904 votes were cast, of which 330 or about 6.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 54.4%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 5,130 votes were cast, of which 498 or about 9.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 57.4%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 7,876. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 134, of which 118 were in agriculture and 16 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 2,570 of which 1,834 or (71.4%) were in manufacturing, 13 or (0.5%) were in mining and 584 (22.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 5,172. In the tertiary sector; 1,373 or 26.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 224 or 4.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 401 or 7.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 255 or 4.9% were in the information industry, 104 or 2.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 414 or 8.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 300 or 5.8% were in education and 1,194 or 23.1% were in health care.
, there were 4,257 workers who commuted into the municipality and 2,470 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.7 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 10.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 63% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 359 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 2.51% of the population), there were 3 individuals (or about 0.02% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 310 individuals (or about 2.17% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 5 individuals (or about 0.03% of the population) who were Jewish
, and 430 (or about 3.00% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 31 individuals who were Buddhist
, 8 individuals who were Hindu
and 25 individuals who belonged to another church. 636 (or about 4.44% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 805 individuals (or about 5.62% of the population) did not answer the question.
. The wettest month is December during which time Sierre receives an average of 72 mm (2.8 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 7.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is August, with an average of 8.4, but with only 58 mm (2.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is September with an average of 37 mm (1.5 in) of precipitation over 5.7 days.
). Of the 1,576 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.1% were Swiss men, 28.0% were Swiss women, 7.6% were non-Swiss men and 6.3% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 149 students in the Sierre school system. The education system
in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there 2 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 31 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Sierre there were a total of 8 classes and 149 students in the primary school. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Sierre attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 1,077 students in Sierre who came from another municipality, while 517 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Sierre is home to the Bibliothèque et Médiathèque Sierre library. The library has 65,898 books or other media, and loaned out 92,412 items in the same year. It was open a total of 295 days with average of 26 hours per week during that year.
was born in Sierre. Jacques Plante
, a famous professional hockey player who was the first goaltender to wear a mask while playing a game in the National Hockey League, is buried in Sierre. Stephane Grichting
, footballer was born in Sierre. Alphorn
composer Jean Daetwyler
died in Sierre.
Districts of Switzerland
In contrast to centrally organised states, in the federally constituted Switzerland each canton iscompletely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the subnational entities between canton and municipality, loosely termed...
of Sierre 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 Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
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....
. It has a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 14,355.
It is situated on the French–German language border of the canton of Wallis (Valais in French). As a German-speaking minority
Minority language
A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.-International politics:...
lives in Sierre, it counts as one of the three official bilingual towns in Switzerland.
History
Prehistory
The area around the modern town, especially Gerunden hill, was settled very early. Archeological sites on Gerunden hill have produced neolithicNeolithic
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...
objects and grave goods (including a polished stone ax), 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...
weapons and jewelry, Early Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
objects and 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...
inscriptions, jars, jewelry and coins. A soapstone
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
pot from the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
and a gold signet ring with the name Graifarius from the 6th century have also been found. Other sites on nearby hills and near the chapel of Saint-Ginier, the Château de Villa, the churches of Sainte-Croix, Grands-Prés, Muraz, Glarey and Bernunes have yielded up graves originating from the Bronze Age to the Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
era. In Grands-Prés there is a fire pit from the beginning of the Late Iron Age (5th-6th century BC).
During the Roman era it appears that there was no major population center, but rather several scattered groupings of separate, upper class dwellings. Under the chapel of Saint-Ginier, the remains of a Roman era house or estate have been discovered. Other Roman ruins have been found near the Château de Villa, in the church of Sainte-Croix (small terraced bath), in Grands-Prés by Muraz another house and in Gerunden the remains of buttress reinforced masonry indicate that a public or government building once stood there. Five altars were found in Saint-Ginier, along with another two in the scattered settlements, one of which was dedicated to Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
. During the early imperial period, the duumvir or mayor of the Civitas Vallensium, Caius Cominus Chiu, lived in Sierre. In the late imperial period, the family of the senator of Vinelia Modestina also lived in the area.
The chapel of Saint-Félix was built in the 5th or the beginning of the 6th Century on Gerunden hill.
Medieval and early modern developments
In 515 the estate at Sierre was given by the King of BurgundyKing of Burgundy
The following is a list of the Kings of the two Kingdoms of Burgundy, and a number of related political entities devolving from Carolingian machinations over family relations.- Kings of the Burgundians :...
Sigismund
Sigismund of Burgundy
Sigismund was king of the Burgundians from 516 to his death. He was the son of king Gundobad, whom he succeeded in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis' sons and Godomar fled. Sigismund was taken by Chlodomer, King of Orléans, where he was kept as a prisoner. He...
to the Abbey of Saint-Maurice to hold as a fief. By the 11th Century, the fief of Sierre was owned by the Bishop of Sion. The aristocratic families and the residents of the fief lived on the Gerunden, Vieux-Sierre and Plantzette hills. On each of these hills there was a castle that served as the residence for the Bishop's representatives and as a refuge for the population. The castles were razed in the mid-14th Century when the noble families stood with the Bishop in his war with the Zenden of the Upper Valais and Counts of Savoy. The demolished castles and villages were abandoned and most residents settled farther north, in plan-Sierre. The only castle that survived the wars of the 14th Century was Goubing Castle, southeast of Sierre, which belonged to the lords of Granges.
The Contrée of Sierre was originally a group the managed the commons
The commons
The commons is terminology referring to resources that are owned in common or shared between or among communities populations. These resources are said to be "held in common" and can include everything from natural resources and common land to software. The commons contains public property and...
. As vassals of the Bishop, they had the right to assemble twice a year to regulate the management of the common lands and the affairs of the local police. In the 14th and 15 Century this cooperative adopted a larger political role as they started to administer more of the daily affairs in the villages and acquired the right to appoint their own judges. Eventually this grew into the Noble Contrée which then formed the core of Sierre Zenden from which the city of Sierre later developed. The town of Plan-Sierre soon took over the leadership role in the Noble Contrée. Until 1798, the Noble Contrée was appointed by a council of village representatives, under the leadership of the Bishop's representative. In 1559, Plan-Sierre divided into four quarters Villa, Monderèche, La Salla and Glarey. In 1620, the town hall was built.
19th century
As the capital of a Zenden, Sierre fought the French in the 1798-99 invasion. In 1799, the city was occupied by French and VaudoisVaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
troops. The French set up their headquarters in Sierre.
In the conflicts between the conservative Upper Valais and the liberal Lower Valais, Sierre served as the seat of government in 1839-40. After 1848, the villages of the Noble Contrée became municipalities under the Valais cantonal constitution. The Zenden of Sierre became the District of Sierre with Sierre as the capital. The new city executive council had nine members, while of the General Council (legislature) had 60. Initially, the majority of the power was held by the Conservatives (now the Christian Democrats
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
). In 1913, they were joined by the Liberals
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....
, in 1945 the Social Democrats
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
and in 2004 the Greens
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...
.
Modern Sierre
At the beginning of the 20th century, Sierre became economically important as very early aluminium smeltingAluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore Bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery....
is enabled by its access to hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
. Today the aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
industry Novelis and Alcan employs 1200 workers in Chippis
Chippis
Chippis is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-Geography:Chippis has an area, , of . Of this area, or 5.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 59.1% is forested...
and Sierre.
In 2007, the agglomeration of Sierre/Crans-Montana was formed to address created to common problems, especially in the fields of tourism and transportation.
Geography
Sierre has an area, , of 19.2 square kilometre. Of this area, 6.61 square kilometre or 34.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.1 square kilometre or 21.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 6.6 square kilometre or 34.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.31 square kilometre or 6.8% is either rivers or lakes and 0.6 square kilometre or 3.1% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 10.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.4%. Out of the forested land, 18.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.9% is used for growing crops and 2.5% is pastures, while 25.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 1.3% is in lakes and 5.5% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality is the capital of the Sierre district. It is located in the middle Rhone
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
valley, on the right bank of the river. The nearby Raspille mountain stream is considered the dividing line between the 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...
and 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....
speaking portions of Switzerland. It consists of the city of Sierre, the villages of Granges, Noës and Muraz, and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
and settlements of Gerunden, Plantzette, Vieux-Sierre, Bourg, Glarey, Borzuat, Zervettaz, Villa d'en Bas, d'en Haut, Sous Géronde, Cuchon and Monderèche.
Sierre is starting point for the tourist sites of the Val d'Anniviers
Val d'Anniviers
The val d'Anniviers is a Swiss alpine valley, situated in the district of Sierre in Valais, which extends south of the Rhône Valley. The valley was home to six municipalities: Ayer, Chandolin, Grimentz, Saint-Jean, Saint-Luc, Vissoie, Vercorin and Zinal. The citizens of those municipalities agreed...
comprising the villages of Vercorin, Chandolin, St-Luc Vissoie, St-Jean Chandolin, Grimentz, Zinal and Ayer. Sierre is connected with Crans-Montana
Crans-Montana
Crans-Montana is a ski resort in western Switzerland, in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais. It is located on a plateau above Sierre at an elevation of about 1500 m above sea level, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and Weisshorn in particular...
by a funicular railway
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
.
Lac de Géronde
Lac de Géronde
Lac de Géronde is a lake at Sierre, Valais, Switzerland. Besides the main lake, there is a "petit lac" close by....
is a small lake at its outskirts.
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, a Sun in Splendour Or.
Demographics
Sierre has a population of . , 27.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 12.3%. It has changed at a rate of 11.9% due to migration and at a rate of 0% 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...
(10,710 or 74.8%) 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 (1,803 or 12.6%) 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 (765 or 5.3%). There are 6 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The population was made up of 5,339 Swiss men (33.8% of the population) and 2,305 (14.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 6,123 Swiss women (38.8%) and 2,020 (12.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 5,363 or about 37.5% were born in Sierre and lived there in 2000. There were 3,705 or 25.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,412 or 9.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 3,273 or 22.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 22% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 61.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.1%.
, there were 5,651 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 6,891 married individuals, 974 widows or widowers and 801 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 6,016 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 2,133 households that consist of only one person and 319 households with five or more people. , a total of 5,728 apartments (84.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 875 apartments (12.9%) were seasonally occupied and 205 apartments (3.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.15%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Centrale Électrique et Bâtiments Alusuisse (Power station and buildings of the Alusuisse company) is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significanceSwiss 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 Sierre town and surrounding 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:...
.
Sights
Sierre is host to a local wineWine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
museum (Musée Valaisan de la Vigne et du Vin) and of a museum
Rainer Maria Rilke Foundation
The Rainer Maria Rilke Foundation was established in 1986 in Sierre, Switzerland, on the patronage of the municipality. Its goal is to promote the knowledge of Rainer Maria Rilke's works, through a museum, exhibitions, lectures, conferences, publications and a festival...
dedicated to the memory of Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...
who lived there until his death and is buried in the nearby town of Raron
Raron
Raron is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Raron is first mentioned around 1101-1200 as Rarogni...
.
Twin Towns
Sierre is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with the towns of Aubenas
Aubenas
Aubenas is a commune in the southern part of the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France.It is the seat of several government offices...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Cesenatico
Cesenatico
Cesenatico is a port town with about 20,000 inhabitants on the Adriatic coast of Italy. It is located in the province of Forlì-Cesena in the region of Emilia-Romagna, about 30 km south of Ravenna...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
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 CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
which received 34.23% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(19.19%), 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....
(17.78%) and 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...
(16.92%). In the federal election, a total of 5,203 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 57.3%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
Conseil d'Etat (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, Conseil d'Etat is the name of the council constituting the cantonal government of French-speaking cantons. It is not to be confused with the Conseil des États which is a chamber of the Swiss parliament....
election a total of 4,904 votes were cast, of which 330 or about 6.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 54.4%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
Swiss Council of States election, 2007
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October...
election a total of 5,130 votes were cast, of which 498 or about 9.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 57.4%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Sierre had an unemployment rate of 5%. , there were 195 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 62 businesses involved in this sector. 2,654 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 145 businesses in this sector. 6,607 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 729 businesses in this sector. There were 6,938 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.6% 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 7,876. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 134, of which 118 were in agriculture and 16 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 2,570 of which 1,834 or (71.4%) were in manufacturing, 13 or (0.5%) were in mining and 584 (22.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 5,172. In the tertiary sector; 1,373 or 26.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 224 or 4.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 401 or 7.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 255 or 4.9% were in the information industry, 104 or 2.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 414 or 8.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 300 or 5.8% were in education and 1,194 or 23.1% were in health care.
, there were 4,257 workers who commuted into the municipality and 2,470 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.7 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 10.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 63% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 11,139 or 77.8% were Roman Catholic, while 715 or 5.0% 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 359 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 2.51% of the population), there were 3 individuals (or about 0.02% 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 310 individuals (or about 2.17% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 5 individuals (or about 0.03% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 430 (or about 3.00% 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 31 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...
, 8 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 25 individuals who belonged to another church. 636 (or about 4.44% 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 805 individuals (or about 5.62% of the population) did not answer the question.
Weather
Sierre has an average of 87.2 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 657 mm (25.9 in) of precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
. The wettest month is December during which time Sierre receives an average of 72 mm (2.8 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 7.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is August, with an average of 8.4, but with only 58 mm (2.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is September with an average of 37 mm (1.5 in) of precipitation over 5.7 days.
Education
In Sierre about 4,610 or (32.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 1,576 or (11.0%) 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 1,576 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.1% were Swiss men, 28.0% were Swiss women, 7.6% were non-Swiss men and 6.3% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 149 students in the Sierre school system. The education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...
in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory 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...
. During that school year, there 2 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 31 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Sierre there were a total of 8 classes and 149 students in the primary school. The secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Sierre attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 1,077 students in Sierre who came from another municipality, while 517 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Sierre is home to the Bibliothèque et Médiathèque Sierre library. The library has 65,898 books or other media, and loaned out 92,412 items in the same year. It was open a total of 295 days with average of 26 hours per week during that year.
Events
- Festival Week-end au bord de l'eau (first weekend of July)
- Sierre Blues Festival (in August)
Notable people
The Swiss ski mountaineer Jean-Yves ReyJean-Yves Rey
Jean-Yves Rey is a Swiss ski mountaineer and long distance runner.Rey was born in Sierre. He started ski mountaineering in 1990 and competed first in the Patrouille des Glaciers short distance race in the same time...
was born in Sierre. Jacques Plante
Jacques Plante
Joseph Jacques Omer Plante was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947–1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey...
, a famous professional hockey player who was the first goaltender to wear a mask while playing a game in the National Hockey League, is buried in Sierre. Stephane Grichting
Stéphane Grichting
Stéphane Grichting is a Swiss football defender who plays for Auxerre.He currently has 36 caps for the Swiss national team, and was called up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup squads...
, footballer was born in Sierre. Alphorn
Alphorn
The alphorn or alpenhorn or alpine horn is a labrophone, consisting of a natural wooden horn of conical bore, having a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece, used by mountain dwellers in Switzerland and elsewhere...
composer Jean Daetwyler
Jean Daetwyler
Jean Daetwyler was a Swiss composer and musician. He is remembered mostly for his largely forgotten works for alphorn inspired by Jozsef Molnar beginning in 1970. Also inspired by trombonist Branimir Slokar an other aspects of Swiss culture.Daetwyler was a pupil of Vincent d'Indy at the Paris...
died in Sierre.