Unterseen

History

The oldest traces of a settlement in the area are scattered neolithic tools. During the second century AD, a Roman graveyard was built in the area. An Early Middle Ages cemetery shows that there was a settlement in the area and by the High Middle Ages at least three forts had been built in the area. The area was known as Interlacus by 1133 when Interlaken Monastery was founded on the opposite side of the Aare. Interlaken village grew up across from the Monastery in the following years. By 1239 it was known as villa Inderlappen and in 1280 it was civitas Inderlappen. The city of Unterseen was founded on 13 July 1279, when King Rudolf I von Habsburg granted Baron Berchtold III of Eschenbach-Oberhofen permission to build a stronghold between the two lakes. The name came from "unter," which in Middle High German meant "between", and "seen," which means "lake." The fortification was given Stadtrecht (town privileges) in this agreement. By 1281 Interlaken and Unterseen was mentioned collectively as stat ze Inderlappen oder Undersewen and in 1291 they were called Inderlappen, genant Undersewen. It was built by the secular nobles of the area to limit the growing power of the Monastery and to control a bridge over the Aare. The young town was put in an ongoing conflict with the Interlaken Monastery and early on sought protection from Bern. After the Swiss Confederation's victory in the Battle of Sempach in 1386, the villages were brought under Bernese control and a Bernese bailiff was appointed. During the Reformation the town turned against Interlaken Monastery and did not join the Berner Oberland uprising. As a result of their loyalty they were rewarded with the Alp Sefinen. In 1364, a fire broke out in the Monastery's mill. It spread to the village of Unterseen and…

Geography

Unterseen has an area of . Of this area, or 18.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 60.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 15.3% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 4.1% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 5.5%. Out of the forested land, 58.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.7% is used for growing crops and 11.8% is pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is in lakes and 2.4% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 2.7% is unproductive vegetation and 1.4% is too rocky for vegetation.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,805
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,660
• Scotch Argus

  Erebia aethiops Esper, 1777 · Insecta
  2,605
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  1,774
• Norway Spruce

  Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. · Pinopsida
  1,560
• chamois

  Rupicapra rupicapra (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  1,535
• Butterfly-bush

  Buddleja davidii Franch. · Magnoliopsida
  1,521
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  1,475

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 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland
• M 4.1 — 2021-10-05
  10 km SSW of Evolène, Switzerland
• M 4.1 — 2017-07-01
  7 km E of Châtel-Saint-Denis, Switzerland