Hilterfingen is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Hilterfingen is first mentioned in 1175 as Hiltolfingen.
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are some early-Bronze Age graves near Hünegg and Aebnit. The area was inhabited during the Early Middle Ages as evidenced by 6th and 7th century graves at Eichbühl and Hünegg. By the Middle Ages it was owned by the Freiherr von Oberhofen, who donated the village to the college of canons at Amsoldingen. Over the following centuries, the college gradually became impoverished and in 1484 the Pope approved the dissolution of the college and its incorporation into the newly created college of canons of St. Vincent's cathedral in Bern. Four years later, in 1488, Hilterfingen was officially incorporated into the Bernese Thun District. It joined the Oberhofen bailiwick in 1652. Following the 1798 French invasion, Hilterfingen became part of the Helvetic Republic Canton of Oberland. After the collapse of the Republic and 1803 Act of Mediation it joined the newly recreated Thun District.
In the 19th century several wealthy patricians built three stately manor houses in the community, two of which are still visible. The first was the neo-Gothic Chartreuse Manor built in 1807 for Schultheiss Niklaus Friedrich von Mülinen. A few years later, in 1811, he founded the Swiss Historians Research Society (Schweizerische Geschichtforschende Gesellschaft) at the manor. It passed through several owners before being partially demolished in 1941 and completely destroyed in 1965. The second, Eichbühl Estate, was finished in 1860 and is today used as a school house. The final estate Hünegg Castle was built by the wealthy Prussian art collector Baron Albert Ernst von Parpart and today is a museum, which still hosts regular exhibitions.
The village church of St. Andreas is located near the municipal border. According to the "Strättliger Chronicle" it is one of the original twelve churches around Lake Thun.
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Oberhofen am Thunersee is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Oberhofen am Thunersee is first mentioned in 1133 as Obrenhoven. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are scattered Bronze Age artifacts which were discovered in the Längenschachen area. The area remained inhabited through the Early Middle Ages and into High Middle Ages, when the Freiherr von Oberhofen built a castle on a hill above the village.
Heiligenschwendi is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Heiligenschwendi is first mentioned in 1285 as Helgeswendi. Originally the municipality was part of the lands of the Kyburg. After a failed raid on Solothurn on 11 November 1382 and the resulting Burgdorferkrieg, the Kyburgs lost most of their lands to Bern in 1384. Under Bernese rule it became part of the court of Steffisburg in the Thun District. Under both Kyburg and Bernese rule it was part of the parish of Hilterfingen.
Sigriswil is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Sigriswil is first mentioned in 1222-23 as Sigriswile. Archeological remains dating from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age show that the area around Sigriswil has been inhabited as early as 5000 years ago. It's thought that the first modern inhabitants can be traced back to Alamanni tribesmen who settled on the banks of Thun lake around the 5th Century A.D.