Herzogenbuchsee is built on a moraine of the Rhone Glacier. The area has been settled for at least 10,000 years, with ancient settlements around the Inkwilersee and Burgäschisee. There is also evidence of Roman buildings from approximately 200 CE near the current Reformed Church. The first documented use of the name puhsa is found in the writings of Saint Gallus in 886 CE. In 1220 it was mentioned as Buchse and to distinguish it from Münchenbuchsee, in 1301 it was first mentioned as Herzogenbuchze. It was ruled by Burgundy, the Zähringer, the Kyburger, and finally, brought under the Altberni sovereignty. On January 1, 2008, the municipality of Oberönz became part of the municipality of Herzogenbuchsee.
Geography
Before the merger, Herzogenbuchsee had an area of. Of this area, 35.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 35% is forested. The rest of the land, is settled. Following the merger of Oberönz into Herzogenbuchsee, the new municipality has an area,, of. Of this area, or 37.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 34.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 27.1% is settled, or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.6% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 14.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.5%. 34.0% of the total land area is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 30.9% is used for growing crops and 6.1% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. The elevation of the train station is.
Demographics
Herzogenbuchsee has a population of., 1,036 are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.1%. Most of the population speaks German , with Italian being second most common and Albanian being third. In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 32.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS, the FDP and the Green Party. The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers make up 22% of the population, while adults make up 59.6% and seniors make up 18.4%. In Herzogenbuchsee about 71.2% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education. Herzogenbuchsee has an unemployment rate of 1.88%. , there were 31 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 9 businesses involved in this sector. 1344 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 78 businesses in this sector. 1931 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 249 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:
year
population
1764
481
1850
1,525
1900
2,533
1950
3,790
2000
5,338
Transportation
The municipality has a railway station,, on the Olten–Bern line. It has regular service to Zürich Hauptbahnhof,, and.
