History
While various Roman era bricks and coins have been discovered, the first record of Oberflachs is in 1342 as Obreflaht. From the Middle Ages until 1732, Kasteln Castle held the rights to low justice in the village. The rights to administer High Justice was held by the bailiwick of Schenkenberg and was acquired in 1460 by the city of Bern. In 1732 the village came fully under Bern's authority when Bern bought the Kasteln Castle. By 1607 the village is identified as a partly independent municipality.
Oberflachs was, like the whole Schenkenbergertal in the 18th Century, a very poor municipality. Grain and vineyard cultivation were the major economic sources in the 17th Century. However, in 1850 wine production collapsed because of vine diseases and phylloxera. The poverty and collapse of the wine industry forced many residents (particularly in the 1880s) to emigrate overseas. The wine recovered, so that in 1990 there were 22 hectares cultivated.
In the 1970s several new housing districts were built. In 1960, the number of commuters exceeded the number of locals that worked in the municipality. In 2005, agriculture provided 28% of the jobs in the community. A merger of Oberflachs with four municipalities failed in 2009 because Veltheim voters rejected the proposal.
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