Mühlethurnen

History

The first mention of the village is in the 14th century when the von Blankenburg family owned land in it and in neighboring Kirchenthurnen. The family donated their lands and rights in 1343 and 1362 to Interlaken Monastery. In 1528, Bern accepted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and forcefully secularized the monastery and all its lands. The village became part of the district and parish of Thurnen. The Gürbe river correction projects from 1855 until 1911 drained the swampy valley floor and opened up additional farm land. In 1901 the Gürbetal railroad built a station in the municipality and connected it to the rest of the Swiss rail network. In the 1970s the population began to grow as Mühlethurnen became a regional center in the Gürbe valley. Today the residents work in agriculture, produce sauerkraut or in small businesses. About three-fourths of the work force commutes to jobs in nearby towns and cities. A village school opened in Mühlethurnen in 1871. In 1912 it moved to Riggisberg. Today Mühlethurnen and Lohnstorf form a single school district, with the school in Mühlethurnen.

Geography

Mühlethurnen has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 72.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 7.5% is forested. The rest of the municipality is or 19.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes. During the same year, housing and buildings made up 11.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.4% of the area All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 51.5% is used for growing crops and 19.1% is pasturage, while 1.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,516
• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  3,145
• Southern Damselfly

  Coenagrion mercuriale (Charpentier, 1840) · Insecta
  3,032
• Common Toad

  Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Amphibia
  2,485
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,472
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,192
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,105
• Eurasian beaver

  Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  1,965

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 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-10-05
  10 km SSW of Evolène, Switzerland