Uetendorf

History

Uetendorf is first mentioned in 994 as udendorf. The number of scattered neolithic, Bronze Age and La Tène artifacts indicate that the area around Uetendorf was home to many prehistoric settlements. During the Roman era, in the 2nd century AD, there was a large country estate near the modern village. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire the estate probably remained in operation and eventually became a royal estate under the Kings of Burgundy. In 994, Emperor Otto III donated many of his royal estates, including Uetendorf, to support the imperial Selz Abbey in Alsace. The estate and village apparently passed through several owners over the next centuries. In 1232 the Lords of Uetendorf appear in records as members of the city council of Bern. In 1370 they apparently sold Uetendorf to Johann Zeinigen of Thun. He and his descendants owned the village and lands until some time in the 15th century, when they were sold to the hospital in Thun. In 1521 the hospital combined Uetendorf, Längenbühl and Uttigen together into the municipality of Uetendorf in the district court of Seftigen where it remained for over two centuries. In 1783 it became a municipality in the Thun District where it remains today. The village of Uetendorf was part of the parish of Amsoldingen. In 1528 Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and the entire parish converted. In 1578 it became part of the nearby parish of Thierachern, but remained without its own church until 1955. The village economy was based on raising crops and livestock in the flood plains and valley floors of the Glütschbach and Kander rivers. However, the frequent floods forced the villages to build and maintain an extensive network of levees and dikes. During the 1860s the Aare River…

Geography

Uetendorf has an area of . As of the 2004 survey, a total of or 71.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 7.9% is forested. Of rest of the municipality or 20.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes. Between the 1981 and 2004 surveys the settled area increased from to , an increase of 36.77%. From the same survey, industrial buildings made up 3.5% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.5%. A total of 6.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 53.4% is used for growing crops and 15.9% is pasturage, while 1.9% 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
  3,297
• Southern Damselfly

  Coenagrion mercuriale (Charpentier, 1840) · Insecta
  2,966
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,281
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,223
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,012
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  1,691
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  1,648
• Butterfly-bush

  Buddleja davidii Franch. · Magnoliopsida
  1,641

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 4.2 — 2024-06-04
  2 km NNW of Unteriberg, 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