Thunstetten
Thunstetten is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Thunstetten is first mentioned in 1220 as Tunchsteten. Individual artifacts from the neolithic era have been found in the Thunstetterwald. Hallstatt era grave mounds are in Tannwäldli and Bützberg. The Thunstetten Commandery was established prior to 1210 for the Knights Hospitaller by an unknown benefactor. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Commandery lands grew with donations and purchases from local nobles. At the height of their power, they owned land in Oberaargau, the Bernese Seeland and around Solothurn. They bought vineyards in Twann and rights over village churches in Lotzwil, Ursenbach, Egerkingen, Aetigen, Rohrbach and Waldkirchen (now part of Niederbipp). As the Commandery grew, Thunstetten also grew. It had its own seal starting in 1274 and in 1320 entered into a Burgrecht agreement with Wangen. It entered into Burgrecht agreements with Bern in 1329, 1466, 1494 and 1504. Following the Protestant Reformation in 1528, the Commandery was secularized and its lands became the property of Bern. The former Commandery lands passed to the Bernese bailiff in Aarwangen. In 1711-13 Hieronymus von Erlach built Thunstetten Castle. Then in 1713 and 1721 he combined the herrschaft of Thunstetten with the low court of Thunstetten, which did not include Bützberg. The castle remained with the Erlach family until 1746, after which it changed hands multiple times. A foundation was established in 1971 to maintain and manage the castle as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The area of today's municipality consisted of various population centers in the 13th century, which became villages in the 14th. The farmers raised crops and sometimes vineyards on the lands around the small villages. The villages remained fairly small, in 1780 Bützberg was the largest with 31 houses, Welschland had 24 and Thunstetten had 21. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many of the large farms were subdivided into smaller ones while the commons became private property. The small farmers, who lacked enough land to feed their families and relied on the commons to make up the difference, were forced to find additional income from cottage industries such as weaving, knitting, spinning and yarn selling. In 1798, a total of 400 Juchart () (a measurement of acreage related to the Roman Jugerum, 1 Juchart was ) of forest and 200 Juchart () of pastures became private. By 1855, the local farmers had transitioned to dairy and cattle farming and dairy cooperatives opened in each village. While agriculture still plays a major role in the municipality, well-developed transport links in the village of Bützberg allowed industry and commerce to grow in that village. Bützberg is now home to almost two-thirds of the population and the municipal administration for the entire municipality. Geography Thunstetten has an area of . Of this area, or 53.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 26.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 19.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.3% is either