Concept
Muri bei Bern is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Muri is first mentioned in 1180 as Mure while Gümligen appears in 1239 as Gumelingen or Gumlingin Archaeological finds at Schlosshügel, unearthed in 1832, show that Muri was already settled in the era of the Roman Empire. The earliest documentary evidence for the name was in 1180 when a clergyman named Burkhard made transactions with wealthy residents. At that time Muri belonged to the dominion of Geristein, which in 1298 was conquered by the city of Bern. The holdings consisted of the four so-called parishes Bolligen, Muri, Stettlen, and Vechigen. As the emerging Bern conquered the territories, it left the municipalities untouched, beginning the long-standing tradition of municipal autonomy. In the course of the centuries, the residents of the municipality lived in relative stability, in which the major changes in European and Swiss history seemed to pass them by. Major structural and commercial changes began to take place at the beginning of the 20th century. It followed industrialization and the trains from the city to the countryside. In the decade between 1920 and 1930, the municipal population grew from 2435 to 3938, or 62%. Muri bei Bern has an area of . Of this area, or 26.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 21.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 49.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.7% is unproductive land. Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 3.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 32.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 11.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.2%. Out of the forested land, 20.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.2% is used for growing crops and 6.8% is pastures, while 1.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
