Photos

Here is Thun Castle, a magnificent building looking over the city.

The name "Thun" is ancient. In the time before Christ, this part of Switzerland was occupied by Celtic tribes, in whose language the word "dunum" meant "a fortified place." In 58 B.C. the Romans under Julius Caesar defeated the Celts at Bibracte (France), and most of Switzerland came under Roman rule. Thun and the nearby village of Allmendingen were important religious and economic centers in the time of Roman rule. Many important archaeological discoveries have been made in the Thun-Allmendingen area.

The Romans were driven from Switzerland about 400 A.D. The Aare River, which flows through Thun, became the frontier between the Christian, Latin-speaking Burgundians and the pagan, German-speaking Alemanni. Beginning about 592 missionaries from Ireland, including Columban and Gall, arrived and established Christianity throughout Switzerland.

Switzerland was unified under the Merovingian and Carolingian kings of France. However, the Aare again became an important frontier in 843, when Charlemagne's empire was partitioned by the Treaty of Verdun. Ludwig, "the German," ruled east of the Aare, while Lothaire ruled to the west.

In 919, the Kingdom of Burgundy succeeded in pushing the frontier eastward, and Thun again came under French control. In this era King Rudolf II of Burgundy built a number of Romanesque churches in the area around Thun, some of which still stand today. The church in Amsoldingen is an outstanding example. A Romanesque church was built in Steffisburg during the Burgundian era, and fragments of this structure, dating from approximately 1000 A.D., survive as part of the present Steffisburg church.

The 11th and 12th Centuries in Switzerland were a turbulent, violent time. The Thun region became part of the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) in 1033, when the German Kaiser Konrad II was crowned King of Burgundy. A protacted conflict began in 1077 when Rudolf von Rheinfelden attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow Emperor Heinrich IV (grandson of Konrad II). For a time the Aare formed the border between the warring forces.


The Dukes of Zähringen were prominent in this period of Swiss history. They represented the German Empire in its struggle to subdue the local nobles of Switzerland. Duke Berchtold V von Zähringen built many fortified cities including Bern, present capital of Switzerland. He also built Thun castle in 1195. Thun castle today houses a museum of Swiss history and culture. A guidebook in English can be purchased from the ticket seller at the entrance. The museum is quite interesting, and views from the castle towers are spectacular.

Berchtold V died childless in 1218, and the von Zähringen properties in Switzerland, including Thun, passed to Ulrich III von Kiburg, who had married Berchtold's sister Anna.

A famous murder, the Brudermord (brother murder), occurred in Thun Castle during the Kiburg era. After Count Hartmann I von Kiburg (?) died, his sons Hartmann and Eberhard feuded over the division of their inheritance. Their mother tried to arrange a settlement of the dispute in Thun Castle in 1322, but a violent argument broke out after dinner. Eberhard wounded his brother Hartmann, and had him thrown from the castle ramparts.

During these years, the city of Bern was increasing in power, and it gradually assumed a greater and greater role in governing Thun.