Witzwil
Witzwil is a men's prison in the penitentiary system in Switzerland. It has a huge farm on the territories of the municipalities Erlach, Gampelen and Ins in Canton of Berne and Haut-Vully in Canton of Fribourg. The main seat and official address are located in the community of Gampelen
History
The farms are on what was formerly a part of the huge marshlands called Grand Marais. It was realized that the land parcels could be reclaimed for agriculture through the Jura water correction. In 1860 Public Notary Witz from Erlach bought the whole land, which henceforth took up his name. In 1870 he sold it to the newly founded Landwirtschaftlichen Gesellschaft Witzwil (also called Einfache Gesellschaft Grosses Moos), to which the politician Jakob Stämpfli was involved with all his fortune. The company, however, fell 1879 in bankruptcy, and 1891 the domain was acquired by the canton of Berne from the bankruptcy estate.
In 1894 the first Barracks were built for 100 inmates. Friedrich Glauser spent one year as an "administrative inmate" in Witzwil 1925 to 1926 and tried to commit suicide. Shortly after the end of the World War II Witzwil attained its maximum capacity with 600 prisoners. Between 1980 and 1985 a new prison building was built. 1995 a closed “Wohngruppe” was opened. 1998 followed the opening of the department “Ausschaffung” for 36 people bound to be forcefully repatriated back to their country of origin.
Current
Today, Witzwil offers space for 200 inmates and employs 118 employees. With a total agricultural land area of 612 hectares, it is the largest farm in Switzerland, with an annual revenue of 17 million Swiss francs. The operation includes 20 tractors, 500 cattle, 120 horses, 600 pigs and 100 chicken.
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Coordinates: 46°59′16″N 7°3′33″E / 46.98778°N 7.05917°E