Official Name: | Berlin Township, Holmes County, Ohio |
Settlement Type: | Township |
Mapsize: | 250px |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | United States |
Subdivision Type1: | State |
Subdivision Name1: | Ohio |
Subdivision Type2: | County |
Subdivision Name2: | Holmes |
Unit Pref: | Imperial |
Area Total Km2: | 67.6 |
Area Land Km2: | 67.4 |
Area Water Km2: | 0.2 |
Population As Of: | 2020 |
Population Total: | 4546 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
Utc Offset: | -5 |
Timezone Dst: | EDT |
Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
Elevation Footnotes: | [1] |
Elevation M: | 341 |
Elevation Ft: | 1119 |
Coordinates: | 40.5608°N -81.8117°W |
Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
Postal Code: | 44610 |
Area Code: | 330 |
Blank Name: | FIPS code |
Blank Info: | 39-05830[2] |
Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
Blank1 Info: | 1086327 |
Berlin Township is one of the fourteen townships of Holmes County, Ohio, United States. It is at the heart of the Holmes County Amish settlement. As of the 2020 census the population of the township was 4,546, up from 4,252[3] at the 2010 census.
Located in the east central part of the county, it borders the following townships:
No municipalities are located in Berlin Township, although the unincorporated community of Berlin lies at the center of the township.
Berlin Township was organized March 20, 1820 prior to the formation of Holmes County which occurred January 20, 1824. It therefore began as a township of Coshocton County. The original township included all of the present day Berlin Township plus the part of the present day Walnut Creek Township that was then in Coshocton County as well as the parts of the present day Salt Creek and Paint Townships north of these areas and south of the Greenville Treaty Line.[4]
Statewide, other Berlin Townships are located in Delaware, Erie, Knox, and Mahoning counties.[5]
A major attraction for visitors is the Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center providing a glimpse of the traditional ways of the Amish and an illustrated history in its extensively large mural called Behalt.[6]
The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,[7] who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.
As of 2011–15, 38.9% of the population spoke only English, 48.1% spoke Pennsylvania German at home, and 12.3% spoke German.[8] According to the 2019 "ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles", the percentage of English only speakers decreased to 35.7%, while speakers of "other Indo-European languages" (basically Pennsylvania Dutch/German), increased to 64.0% of the township's population.