Seeland Region

The City Church of Biel (German: Stadtkirche Biel) is a Swiss Reformed church in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Built in the Gothic style, its construction started around 1451 and was mostly complete in 1470. The church is considered one of the most significant late-Gothic churches in Switzerland and is a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance.

Glycine Watch SA, or simply Glycine ( ), is a Swiss watchmaker founded in 1914 in Biel/Bienne (BE), Switzerland, where its manufacturing and headquarters remain today. In 1930, Glycine released the first mass-produced automatic watches, and in 1959, it developed vacuum-sealed cases, allowing for more durable and water-resistant timepieces. The Glycine Airman, the first watch capable of tracking two 24-hour time zones, has been used extensively in commercial and military aviation, as well as in spaceflights; notable examples include its use by United States Air Force pilots during the Vietnam War and astronaut Pete Conrad during the Gemini 5 and Gemini 11 spaceflights.

Nidau is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German: [biːl] , French: [bjɛn]) is a town and a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Biel/Bienne lies on the language boundary between the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and is bilingual throughout. Biel is the German name for the town; Bienne its French counterpart. The town is often referred to in both languages simultaneously. Since 1 January 2005, the official name has been "Biel/Bienne". Until then, the town was officially named Biel or Bienne.The town lies at the foot of the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains area, guarding the only practical connection to Jura, on the northeastern shores of Lake Biel (Bielersee, Lac de Bienne), sharing the eastern tip of the lake with its sister town, Nidau. The towns Neuchâtel, Solothurn, and Bern (the capital of Switzerland) lie southwest, northeast and southeast of Biel/Bienne. They all can be reached within about 30 minutes by train or car. In 2012, Biel/Bienne had about 55,000 inhabitants, and together with the surrounding district almost 106,000. The town has been an industrial and watchmaking heart of Switzerland since the 19th century.

Biel/Bienne railway station (German: Bahnhof Biel; French: Gare de Bienne) serves the bilingual municipality of Biel/Bienne, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It is a major railway junction on the Swiss railways network. It lies on one of the two busiest major railway lines between the northeastern (St. Gallen/Zürich) and southwestern Switzerland (Geneva); the other goes via Bern. An InterCity between St. Gallen and Genève-Aéroport only takes 4:17h with one of its tilting train compositions (in 2019). The other major line is between Basel and Lausanne/Geneva; via Delémont it also connects the canton of Jura with the Swiss railway network. And third, it also connects the French-speaking part of canton of Bern (the Bernese Jura) and La Chaux-de-Fonds (NE) in the west with Bern in the east. All trains of these lines meet in Biel/Bienne at a quarter after and a quarter before o'clock in a half an hour frequency according to the Swiss-wide applied clock-face scheduling, so that seamless changes of just a few (2–5) minutes between trains of all these lines are easily possible. It is located in the center of Biel/Bienne and is therefore part of the fare zone 300 of the libero (fare network). Biel/Bienne's railway station is the thirteenth busiest station in Switzerland with 52,100 passengers per working day (in 2016).

The Biel/Bienne tramway network (Alemannic German: Strassenbahnnetz Biel; French: Réseau tramway de Bienne) was part of the public transport network of the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland, and its environs for more than 70 years. Opened in 1877, the network operated as a horsecar tramway (Rösslitram) until 1902, when it was electrified and converted from 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge. Initially, the operator was the Compagnie générale des tramways suisses (TS) of Geneva, a predecessor of today's Transports Publics Genevois (TPC). From 1901, the operator was Städtische Strassenbahn Biel / Tramway de Bienne (TrB), from which the present-day Verkehrsbetriebe Biel (VB) / Transports publics biennois (TPB) emerged. In the 1940s, the tramways were gradually replaced by the Biel/Bienne trolleybus system and motor buses, until the network's closure in 1948. But the tramways were removed in 1954 only because it got tarred. When they were found in 1953 again, many people wanted to keep them but because of the new bus system this wasn't necessary. As of 2012, there was a proposal for the reintroduction of trams to Biel/Bienne. The proposed new tramway would be named Regiotram, and would link Ipsach with Bözingen/Boujean (DE) from 2020, via the route of the Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn (DE).

Madretsch (formerly Mardrez) is a former commune in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is a suburb of Biel/Bienne, which it joined in 1920. Previously a rural suburb with some remaining farms and green areas, it has now become fully integrated as a city suburb, without any real local character any more. Local schools are taught in both German and French.

The Bienne–Evilard Funicular (German:Leubringenbahn; French:Funiculaire Bienne–Evilard) is a funicular railway in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne in the Swiss canton of Bern. The funicular links Biel/Bienne with Leubringen/Evilard in the Jura mountains above the town.The line is operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Biel/Transports publics biennois (short: VB/TPB) since 2014.

Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1903, the company formerly operated as La Generale Watch Co. until incorporating the name Omega in 1903, becoming Louis Brandt et Frère-Omega Watch & Co. In 1984, the company officially changed its name to Omega SA and opened its museum in Biel/Bienne to the public. Omega is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group.Britain's Royal Flying Corps used Omega watches in 1917 for its combat units, followed by the U.S. Army in 1918, and NASA in 1969 for Apollo 11. Omega has been the official timekeeper of the Olympics since 1932 and is the current timekeeper of the America's Cup yacht race. Omega was a main partner of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Biel/Bienne District is an administrative district in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. It is located along both shores of the northeastern half of Lake Biel and is part of the Seeland administrative region, and its capital is Biel/Bienne. It contains 19 municipalities with an area of 97.63 km2 (37.70 sq mi) and a population (as of December 2008) of 90,536, over half of which lives in the district's capital. While it is the smallest district in surface area, it has the third largest population in the canton. The present Biel/Bienne Verwaltungskreis ("administrative district") was created on 1 January 2010, consisting of the entirety of one former Amtsbezirke ("district"), Biel, about half of another, Nidau and three municipalities of Büren.

Biel/Bienne District is a constitutional district (Amtsbezirk) in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with its seat Biel/Bienne. It is bi-lingual (41% French and 59% German) and includes two municipalities in an area of 25 km²: From 1 January 2010, the district lost its administrative power while being replaced by the administrative district of Biel/Bienne. Since 2010, it remains a fully recognised district under the law and the Constitution (Art.3 al.2) of the canton of Bern.

The Suze (German: Schüss) is a river in the Bernese Jura, Canton of Berne, Switzerland.