Canton of Berne

The Canton of Berne comprises a major and historically important part of central Switzerland. The city of Berne serves as its capital.

History

Berne joined the Swiss Confederation early and became its major military power, conquering and colonising neighbouring Italian-, Romansch and French-speaking areas.

The canton of Bern includes various districts which the town of Bern acquired by conquest or by purchase in the course of time. Such districts include (with dates of acquisition):

• Laupen (1324)
• Hash and Meiringen (1334)
• Thun and Burgdorf (1384)
• Unterseen and the Upper Simme valley (1386)
• Frutigen, etc. (1400)
• Lower Simme valley (1439 - 1449)
• Interlaken, with Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Brienz (1528, all the suppression of the Austin Canons of Interlaken)
• Saanen or Gessenay (1555)
• Koniz (1729)
• the Bernese Jura with Bienne (1815, from the bishopric of Basel).

But certain regions previously won left the canton in 1798: Aargau (1415), Aigle and Grandson (1475), Vaud (1536), and the Pays d'En-Haut or Chateau d'Oex (1555). From 1798 to 1802 the Oberland formed a separate canton (capital, Thun) of the Helvetic Republic.

Certain French-speaking portions of Canton Berne broke away from the canton only in the late 20th century and now comprise the Canton of Jura.

Location of the canton

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Some text from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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