| Subject Name: | Höfen |
| Municipality Type: | former |
| Canton: | Bern |
| Iso-Code-Region: | CH-BE |
| Coordinates: | 46.7167°N 40°W |
| Postal Code: | 3631 |
| Municipality Code: | 0930 |
| Area: | 4.62 |
| Elevation: | 705 |
| Lowest M: | 641 |
| Lowest: | Amsoldingersee |
| Highest M: | 833 |
| Highest: | Stockbeissern |
| Population: | 444 |
| Populationof: | Dec 2011 |
| Website: | www.hoefen.ch |
Höfen is a former municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Höfen, Niederstocken and Oberstocken merged into the new municipality of Stocken-Höfen.[1]
Before the merger, Höfen had a total area of 4.6km2. Of this area, 3.42km2 or 74.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.74km2 or 16.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.27km2 or 5.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.1km2 or 2.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.08km2 or 1.7% is unproductive land.[2]
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. 14.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 23.9% is used for growing crops and 48.2% is pastures, while 2.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, 1.7% is unproductive vegetation.[2]
The lake Uebeschisee is located partially in the former municipality.
Höfen had a population (as of 2011) of 444., 2.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -3.5%. Most of the population speaks German (98.7%), with French being second most common (0.3%) and Rhaeto-romance being third (0.3%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 49.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Green Party (12.3%), the SPS (11.6%) and the local small left-wing parties (10.7%).
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 29.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Höfen about 77.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).
Höfen has an unemployment rate of 0.92%., there were 65 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 26 businesses involved in this sector. 9 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 3 businesses in this sector. 56 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 10 businesses in this sector.[3] The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1764 | 184 |
| 1850 | 456 |
| 1900 | 342 |
| 1930 | 291 |
| 1950 | 341 |
| 2000 | 398 |