Obersteckholz

Obersteckholz is a former municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of Obersteckholz merged into Langenthal. Obersteckholz is first mentioned in 1255 as Stechcholz. Obersteckholz was the property of the Baron of Langenstein. In 1194, he founded St. Urban's Abbey and granted the village to the Abbey as part of its endowment. It was part of the Abbey's court of Langenthal until 1406 when it became part of the Bernese bailiwick of Wangen. Following the 1798 French invasion it became part of the district of Langenthal under the Helvetic Republic. In 1803, after the collapse of the Republic, it became part of the Aarwangen District. The village became an independent municipality in 1831. Until 1790 and again after 1975 Obersteckholz and Untersteckholz shared a single school district. During the 18th and 19th century, small cottage industries such as linen weaving and straw plaiting began to supplement agriculture in the local economy. Today there are several small businesses in the village but about 71% of the working adults commute to jobs outside the municipality. Obersteckholz had an area of . Of this area, or 66.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 27.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.6% is settled (buildings or roads). Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 44.4% is used for growing crops and 17.9% is pastures, while 4.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. The former municipality consists of the village of Obersteckholz and the hamlets of Habkerig, Kleben, Wald, Herrengasse and Hübeli as well as scattered farm houses. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Aarwangen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Oberaargau.