Hasle Bei Burgdorf - Geography

Geography

Hasle bei Burgdorf has an area of 21.89 km² (8.45 sq mi) . Of this area, 12.87 km2 (4.97 sq mi) or 58.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.12 km2 (2.75 sq mi) or 32.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.68 km2 (0.65 sq mi) or 7.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.19 km2 (0.073 sq mi) or 0.9% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.0% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. Out of the forested land, 30.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 22.5% is used for growing crops and 34.1% is pastures, while 2.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is located along the Emme river and in the Bigen and Biembach valleys at elevations of 570–900 meters (1,870–3,000 ft). It consists of the villages of Hasle, Goldbach, Schafhausen and Biembach along with hamlets and farm houses.

Hasle bei Burgdorf is located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) as the crow flies southeast of the district capital Burgdorf. It is in the Emmental in the floodplain on the left shore of the Emme in the molasse hills of the higher Swiss plateau.

The northeastern border of the municipality runs along the Emme. The main settlement area is the floodplain and the rock terrace, which is about 20 meters (66 ft) higher than the river bed. In the area by Hasle bei Burgdorf, the Emmental is about 1 to 2 kilometres (0.6 to 1 mi) wide. From the Southwest and the South four other valleys meet the Emmental: Biembachtal, Bigental, Talgraben and Goldbachtal. Almost the whole watershed of the Biembachtal belongs to Hasle bei Burgdorf, while only the lower segments the other valleys are located in the municipality.

The entire southern and western part of the municipality is covered by´the molasse hills between Emmental and Aaretal. This landscape is characterized by hill crests as well as valleys and trenches, which are often very steep - this makes agricultural use of the land very difficult. Therefore, the hills are dominated by pasture and forests from a certain height. The hills reach an average height of 800 meters (2,600 ft) above sea level. On the Wägesse a broad crest between Biembachtal and the Widimattgraben - another valley - the highest point in Hasle bei Burgdorf is reached with 918 meters (3,012 ft) above sea level.

On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Burgdorf, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Emmental.