Laupen - History

History

Laupen is first mentioned in 1130-33 as Loupa. In 1173 it was mentioned, in French, as Loyes.

It was the site of the Battle of Laupen in 1339. The Battle of Laupen was a decisive victory for Bern and its Swiss Confederation allies against the town of Fribourg. Laupen was one of a string of battles presaging the definite decline of High Medieval heavy cavalry (knights) in the face of improving infantry tactics during the following century and led to Bern joining the Swiss Confederation in 1353.

The oldest traces of settlements in Laupen is some Bronze Age sword blades which were found in a gravel pit and two grave mounds at Holzmatt-Laupenholz. Roman era coins, weapons and vessels were found north of Laupen town and at Zollgässli, while traces of a Roman road have been found at Laupenmühle. The remains of the supposed "Roman" Saane bridge 120 m (390 ft) downstream of the confluence of the Sense and Saane rivers Sarine have been recently dendrochronologically dated to the period around 1400.

Laupen Castle was built in the 10th-13th centuries as part of a line of imperial castles along the Sense and Saane rivers. The castle was built with a keep, main tower, and ring wall on a sandstone spur above the Sense river. Under the Second Kingdom of Burgundy, the castle was a residence of the kings. It then passed to the Dukes of Zähringen under whom it became the residence of a count. After the extinction of the Zähringen family it eventually was acquired by the Counts of Kyburg in 1253. The Kyburg main line died out in 1263 and the castle and surrounding lands became the center of a power struggle between the Habsburgs (the inheritors of the Kyburg lands) and the Counts of Savoy. The victorious Habsburgs appointed a castellan for Laupen Castle in 1269. The castellan was replaced by an imperial governor after 1300. In 1310 Emperor Henry VII pledged the castle and lands as collateral for a loan. In 1324, Bern acquired the pledged castle and lands. When the Emperor was unable to repay the loan, Laupen became the first bailiwick of Bern.

After Laupen became part of the Canton of Bern, the castle was the Bernese administrative headquarters. The castle stairway was expanded in 1580-99. The administrative offices in the castle were expanded in 1648-50 and it was totally renovated in 1983-88. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the bailiwick of Laupen expanded several times as Bern acquired more lands along the Sarine and Sense rivers. Until 1798 the castle was the official residence of bailiff of Laupen. The bailiwick of Laupen was reorganized into the Laupen District in 1803, which became part of the Bern-Mittelland District in 2010.

The town of Laupen was surrounded by its own city walls in the 13th Century. In 1275 King Rudolf I of Habsburg granted a town charter to Laupen, based on the charter of Bern. While the city was allied with Bern by 1301, it came under full Bernese control in 1324. The city authorities; mayor, town council and general assembly, were subordinate to the Bernese governor. Under the Ancien Régime, the 15-20 member council was appointed, by secret ballot, from members of the guilds. Laupen had a town seal in 1294 and a town flag in 1539. The town built a town hall around 1522 and a hospital in 1545.

Until the 15th Century Laupen was an important stage on the east-west road between Bern and Fribourg. As the Sarine and Sense rivers could only be forded at the low water, Bern built a bridge across the Sarine in 1324. The bridge was often destroyed in floods and after the construction of the Sense bridges at Gümmenen by Bern in 1450 and at Neuenegg by Fribourg in 1467, it was not rebuilt. The small bridge over the Sense at the town gate only served local traffic. Without convenient trade routes, the town remained stagnant. The poverty of the population and the resulting low construction activity helped to leave the old town almost untouched. This consists of two full rows of houses dating from the 16th and 17th centuries and a church around a triangular market plaza. After the partial demolition of the fortifications (1847–70) only parts of the curtain wall and the Freiburgtor (Fribourg gate), from the 15th century, remained. In 1784 Laupen had 42 town houses, some of which were in front of the wall.

In the last quarter of the 19th century the railroad and new roads led to an economic upswing. Today, service establishments (restaurants) and manufacturing (including printing, cardboard, computer, transportation companies and metal manufacturing) are the major employers. In 1997, the district government was reorganized and some district administration offices moved to other municipalities.