Thun, Canton of Bern, Switzerland

🇨🇭 Thun is a town and a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun (Thunersee), 30 km (19 miles) south-east of Bern.

Besides tourism, machine and precision instrument engineering, the largest garrison in the country, the food industry, armaments and publishing are of economic importance to Thun.

The official language of Thun is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.

History The area of what is now Thun was inhabited since the Neolithic age (mid-3rd millennium BC). During the early Bronze Age there were a number of settlements along the lake shore and the Aare. A site at Renzenbühl had a local chief or nobleman's grave which contained one of the richest collections of early Bronze Age artifacts in Europe. The Thun-Renzenbühl axe, dating from 1800 BC, is one of the earliest examples of damascening technique in the world. The gold inlay decoration on the axe may also have a numerical, astronomical meaning. Another site at Wiler contained approximately 1,500 maritime snail shells which were harvested from the Mediterranean and traded over the Alps.

The name of the town derives from the Celtic term Dunum, meaning "fortified town". It fell to Rome in 58 BC, when Roman legions conquered almost all of Switzerland, and it soon became one of the main centres of Roman administration in the region.

The Romans were driven out of Thun, and out of the rest of Switzerland, by the Burgundians around 400 AD. The Aare became the frontier between the Christian Burgundians and the Pagan, German-speaking Alemanni, who lived north. The region was mentioned for the first time during the 7th century, in the chronicle of Frankish monk Fredgar. The town is first mentioned in 1133 as Tuno.

The region of Thun became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1033, when Conrad II gained the title of King of Burgundy. The emperors entrusted the Zähringen family, centred in Bern, with subduing the unruly nobles of central Switzerland. Around 1190 Duke Bertold V of Zähringen, built Thun castle and expanded the town. After Bertold's death in 1218, his territories went to Ulrich III von Kyburg.

In 1264 Thun received town rights and in 1384 the town was bought by the canton of Bern. Thun was the capital of the Canton of Oberland of the Helvetic Republic, which lasted from 1798 until 1803.

In 1819 a Military School was founded in the town, which later developed into the main military school in Switzerland. Thun was connected to the railway network of Switzerland in 1859 and telephone access made available in 1888.

Geography The centre of Thun is located on the Aare, just downstream of the point where that river flows out of Lake Thun, and encompasses both banks of the river and an island between. The town covers an area of 21.6 km² (8.3 sq mi), with the town boundaries reaching up to 4 km (2.5 mi) from the town centre. The town ranges in altitude between about 560 m (1,840 ft), in the town centre, and 1,170 m (3,840 ft), on its eastern boundary.

Thun has an area of 21.57 km² (8.33 sq mi). As of the 2004 survey, a total of 6.03 km² (2.33 sq mi) or 27.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.32 km² (1.67 sq mi) or 20.0% is forested. Of rest of the municipality 10.76 km² (4.15 sq mi) or 49.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.29 km² (0.11 sq mi) or 1.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.19 km² (0.073 sq mi) or 0.9% is unproductive land.

From the same survey, industrial buildings made up 5.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 26.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.1%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.4%. All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 11.4% is used for growing crops and 15.6% is pasturage. Of the water in the municipality, 0.9% is in lakes and 0.4% is in rivers and streams.

On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Thun, of which it was the capital, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it became the capital of the larger Verwaltungskreis Thun.

Economy As of  2011, Thun had an unemployment rate of 2.41%. As of 2011, there were a total of 28,536 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 114 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 44 businesses involved in this sector. The secondary sector employs 6,625 people and there were 450 businesses in this sector. The tertiary sector employs 21,797 people, with 2,696 businesses in this sector. There were 20,515 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.5% of the workforce.

In 2008 there were a total of 20,331 full-time equivalent jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 66, of which 63 were in agriculture, 1 was in forestry or lumber production and 1 was in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 6,159 of which 3,898 or (63.3%) were in manufacturing and 2,092 (34.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 14,106. In the tertiary sector; 2,910 or 20.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 918 or 6.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 968 or 6.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 345 or 2.4% were in the information industry, 663 or 4.7% were the insurance or financial industry, 1,075 or 7.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 692 or 4.9% were in education and 2,457 or 17.4% were in health care.

In 2000, there were 12,673 workers who commuted into the municipality and 9,195 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.4 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. A total of 11,320 workers (47.2% of the 23,993 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Thun. Of the working population, 27% used public transportation to get to work, and 41.2% used a private car.

The local and cantonal tax rate in Thun is one of the lowest in the canton. In 2012 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Thun making 150,000 CHF was 12.1%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18.1%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in 2011, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide average was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively.

In 2010 there were a total of 20,367 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 6,140 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 133 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The greatest number of workers, 6,238, made between 50,000 and 75,000 CHF per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Thun was 113,507 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 131,244 CHF.

In 2011 a total of 2.4% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.

Transport: Public The main node for public transport in Thun is Thun railway station. Here public transport bus service, both within the urban area and connecting Thun with nearby towns, is provided by Verkehrsbetriebe STI. Intercity passenger rail service is provided by BLS AG and by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). BLS also operates passenger ships on Lake Thun, which reach the station by means of the Thun ship canal.

Tourist Industry • Thun Castle (twelfth century) with a history museum. This has several sections about medieval armour and weaponry and rural life. • The Rathaus (town hall), erected in the 16th century • Lake Thun and the view of the Bernese Alps, including the Niederhorn, Niesen, Stockhorn and Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau peaks. • The Wocher Panorama, the oldest remaining panorama drawing in the world. • The Kunstmuseum Thun • Schloss Schadau • Panzermuseum Thun, with several World War II armored vehicles and weapons

Heritage sites The Steamship Blüemlisalp, the former Hotel Bellevue-Du Parc, the former Hotel Thunerhof, the zum Rosengarten House, the Landsitz Bellerive, the armory (Mannschaftskaserne), the former hospital at Platzschulhaus, the Rathaus (Town council house), the Reformed Church of Scherzligen and the Sammlung Historisches Armeematerial (Collection of Historical Military Equipment) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Sport • Soccer: FC Thun plays in the Swiss Super League. Their home ground is Arena Thun. On 23 August 2005 FC Thun qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. • Handball: Wacker Thun plays in the SHL. Their home ground is the 2,000-seat Sporthalle Lachen. They have won the swiss championship twice. • Ice hockey: EHC Thun plays in the MySports League, the third tier of Swiss hockey. They play their home games in the 4,000-seat Grabengut. • Orienteering: Thun hosted the 1981 World Orienteering Championships. • Freestyle Kayak: Thun hosted the 2009 ICF Freestyle World Championships. • Thun Tigers: American football club that currently plays in the top division in Switzerland Nationalliga A (American football).The Tigers play their home games at Stadion Lachen in Thun.