Thun

During the early Bronze Age (ca. 1750 BC), a local chieftain was buried at Thun-Renzenbuehl with one of the richest collections of early Bronze Age grave goods in Europe -- six torques (neck rings), garment pins, a dagger, and a ceremonial battle axe decorated with gold inlays using a damascening technique also found in Mycenaean Greece. This suggests far-reaching trade networks connecting Lake Thun to the Mediterranean. The name Thun derives from the Celtic word dunon, meaning fortified settlement, the same root found in Verdun and London.

The Obere Hauptgasse is Thun's most distinctive street, famous for its Hochtrottoirs -- uniquely elevated sidewalks that run along the rooftops of the shops below. Medieval planners built raised walkways creating a two-level shopping street: ground-floor shops at street level, and a second row of shops, cafes, and entrances accessible from the elevated terrace above. The lower level features Lauben (covered arcades), originally built in the 12th century. This two-level design is found nowhere else in Switzerland.

The Thun-Panorama houses the oldest surviving cyclorama in the world, painted by Marquard Wocher (1760--1830), a Basel-based artist. In the summer of 1809, Wocher climbed to a rooftop in the middle of Thun's old town and sketched a 360-degree view of the town and its alpine surroundings. He then spent five years (1809--1814) translating the sketches into a monumental painting approximately 38 metres in circumference and 7.5 metres in height. First displayed in 1814 in Basel, it was rediscovered in the 1950s and is now installed in a rotunda in Schadau Park.

The DS Bluemlisalp is a historic Belle Epoque paddle steamer built in 1906 by Escher, Wyss & Co. in Zurich at a cost of 375,000 Swiss francs. It was the largest and most elegant vessel on Lake Thun. Decommissioned on 1 August 1971, it was left moored in the Kander delta for nearly 20 years. A cooperative called Vaporama undertook its restoration, and the second maiden voyage took place on 22 May 1992. Today operated by BLS Schifffahrt AG, the restored steamer offers scheduled cruises with its lovingly maintained open engine room.

The donjon of Schloss Thun, built by Duke Berchtold V of Zaehringen between 1180 and 1190, is one of the best-preserved Romanesque keeps in Switzerland. Its centrepiece is the Rittersaal (Knights' Hall), a single massive room measuring approximately 19 x 12.5 metres with a ceiling height of 14 metres -- one of the finest preserved medieval representation halls in Europe. The Kyburg additions after 1218 added four corner turrets offering 360-degree panoramas over the Aare, Lake Thun, and the Eiger, Moench, and Jungfrau. The same Berchtold V also founded the city of Bern in 1191.

The Aare river flows out of Lake Thun and splits the city into three parts, including the Baelliz, a long narrow island created by the river forking around it. The Untere Schleuse (Lower Lock) is a wooden covered bridge near Muehleplatz, first constructed in the 18th century. Both the Untere Schleuse and the Obere Schleuse (built 1818) regulate the water level between lake and river. The rapid water flowing through the sluice gates creates standing waves that have made Thun a popular spot for river surfing. The turquoise-green colour of the Aare, fed by glacial meltwater, is one of Thun's signature visual features.

Thun sits at the point where the Aare exits Lake Thun, making it the historic 'Tor zum Berner Oberland' (Gateway to the Bernese Oberland). From Thun's elevated positions, visitors enjoy one of the most celebrated alpine panoramas in Switzerland: the Eiger (3,967 m), Moench (4,107 m), and Jungfrau (4,158 m), known as the 'White Giants' (Weisse Riesen), some 50 km to the south. The Bluemlisalp massif (3,661 m) and the Niesen (2,362 m, the 'Swiss Pyramid') are also prominent in the panorama.

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the future Emperor Napoleon III, spent time in Thun during his Swiss exile in the 1830s, training at the Waffenplatz Thun military school and even obtaining Swiss citizenship. The Waffenplatz Thun, established in 1819, is the oldest and largest military training ground in Switzerland. Colonel Jost Goeldlin von Tiefenau served as the first director. Schloss Thun's museum includes exhibits about Napoleon's connection to the town.