Belp

History

Belp is first mentioned in 1263 as Belpo. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the family expanded their authority from Belp to include neighboring villages. In 1277 they created the Herrschaft of Belp to include all their estates and villages. Their expanding power brought them into conflict with the growing city-state of Bern and in 1298 Bern attacked Belp. At the Battle of Donnerbühl or Dornbühl in 1298 Bern destroyed the castle. Eight years later, in 1306, they forced the Freiherren of Belp-Montenach to become citizens of Bern and give up their independence. The Hölzernes Schloss or Wooden Castle was built in 1327 by the Freiherr in Belp village. By the late 14th century the male line of the Belp-Montenach family died out and Belp and the surrounding lands were acquired by a noble family in Bern. Over the following centuries, Belp passed through several noble families. In 1550-54 the von Luternau family built the Old Castle in the village across from the Wooden Castle. The Old Castle was the administrative seat of the Herrschaft during the 16th and 17th centuries. By the 18th century, wealthy Bernese families began moving to Belp to escape the noise and crowding in the city. In 1735 Victor Fischer built Oberried Estate above the growing town. This estate was followed in 1740 by the Schlössli or Neues Schloss on Rubigenstrasse which was built for the historian Alexander Ludwig von Wattenwyl. Lindenegg Mansion was built in 1800. The Wooden Castle was demolished in 1783. In 1721 the von Wattenwyl family acquired the Herrschaft, which they ruled until the 1798 French invasion and creation of the Helvetic Republic abolished the old aristocratic order. In 1810 the Canton of Bern bought the castle from Karl von Wattenwyl and used it as the center of the newly created…

Geography

Before the merger Belp had an area, , of . After the 2012 merger, Belp has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 57.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 25.9% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 14.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.1% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.2% is unproductive land. During the same year, housing and buildings made up 7.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.9%. A total of 24.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 39.1% is used for growing crops and 17.3% is pasturage, while 1.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.3% is in lakes and 1.8% is in rivers and streams. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Seftigen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,695
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  3,356
• Common Toad

  Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Amphibia
  3,343
• Southern Damselfly

  Coenagrion mercuriale (Charpentier, 1840) · Insecta
  3,034
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,942
• Eurasian beaver

  Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  2,634
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,368
• Yellow-legged hornet

  Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 · Insecta
  2,367

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.2 — 2024-05-09
  9 km SW of Evolène, Switzerland
• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France