Grenchen

municipality in Switzerland

Grenchen (French: Granges) is a municipality in the district Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.

Grenchen
City Hall
City Hall
Official seal of Grenchen
Grenchen is located in Switzerland
Grenchen
Grenchen
Coordinates: 47°11′27.5″N 7°23′47.4″E / 47.190972°N 7.396500°E / 47.190972; 7.396500
Country  Switzerland
Canton Solothurn
DistrictLebern
Government
 • MayorFrançois Scheidegger
Area
 • Total26.01 km2 (10.04 sq mi)
Population
 (December 5, 2000)
 • Total15,938
 • Density612.8/km2 (1,587/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
Postal code
2540
Area code2546
WebsiteOfficial website

With a population of around 16,000 people, it is one of the largest municipalities in the canton of Solothurn.

History

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In the year 1000, a castle was built in Grenchen and was lived in for a few hundred years, but the name Grenchen was not first used until 1131. Its name comes from the Gallo-Romanic word graneca, which means by the grainery.

References

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Other websites

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  Media related to Grenchen at Wikimedia Commons