Bremgarten Bei Bern - History

History

Bremgarten bei Bern is first mentioned in 1180 as Bremecart. In 1236 it was mentioned as Bremegarten and until 1870 it was known as Bremgarten-Herrschaft.

The oldest trace of settlements in Bremgarten are from the Roman era and include a settlement, cobbled roads and Roman coins. During the Middle Ages there was a castle and village at Bremgarten, though no trace remains. However, in 1978, the outer curtain wall of the old castle was discovered. The castle, the home of the Lords of Bremgarten, was located at a narrow point on the Aare peninsula. The castle was the center of a barony that stretched along the Aare river at least as far as from Worblaufen to Kirchlindach. The Bremgarten family's personal church, St. Michaels Church was first mentioned in 1275, though it was built in the 10th or 11th century and the choir was rebuilt in 1306.

In 1298, the town and castle were destroyed by Bern after the Bernese victory at the Battle of Donnerbühl. In 1306, the Lords of Bremgarten sold their land, rights and their ferry, to the Knights Hospitaller commandry of Münchenbuchsee. Under the Commandery, the town and castle were rebuilt and the castle became the seat of the commander. In 1510 the lands in Bremgarten were sold to the Stuckihaus Commandery to hold as a fief. Following the Protestant Reformation, the Commandery was secularized in 1529 and its land became part of Bern. The last commander of Münchenbuchsee Commandry retired to Bremgarten Castle for the remainder of his life. Bremgarten was assigned to the high court of Zollikofen. Much of the land that had been part of the Barony of Bremgarten was broken up to form new municipalities. In 1545, Bern sold the village and low court right to the Schultheiss Hans Franz Nageli. He demolished the old castle, except for the keep and curtain walls, and had a renaissance country manor built. Over the following centuries the castle and land was repeatedly inherited, bought and sold by Bern's patrician families. It was held in 1579-92 by the Brügger family, 1592-1727 by the Kilchberger, 1727-43 by the de Chemilleret, 1743-61 by the von Wattenwyl and in 1761-65 by Fischer von Reichenbach. In 1743-47 the medieval keep and ramparts of the castle were demolished to make way for a baroque summer palace. Starting in 1765, the new owner Albrecht von Frisching, encouraged many tenants and craftsmen to settle in Bremgarten to help him rebuild the castle. By 1780 the project was finished and the castle was completely rebuilt. He had the castle hill built up and leveled to create a spacious courtyard and gardens around the castle. In 1770-71 the country estates of Belvedere (Friedrich von Luternau) and Aarwyl (Rudolf Albrecht Haller) were built in Bremgarten.

During the 19th century, Bremgarten Castle changed hands frequently, until 1918 when it was bought by the wealthy industrialist Wassmer family. They repaired the castle and in 1978 fully restored it.

After the 1798 French invasion and under the Helvetic Republic, Bremgarten was granted a town council and became part of the District of Bern. The first bridge over the Aare at Bremgarten was the Neubrügg which was built in 1466. However, the town remained isolated from the major roads leading to Bern until the 20th century. In 1921, the much larger Seftausteg bridge was built next to the Neubrügg. This was followed in 1928 by the Felsenaubrücke which was built by the army as a wooden bridge in 1929 and rebuilt as a solid-web girder bridge made of packed concrete in 1949.

The town was chronically short of money and sought to be incorporated into Bern in 1925, 1934 and 1945. A building boom in the 1950s helped alleviate many of the town's financial problems. With little industrial development, Bremgarten has remained a bedroom community of Bern with over 80% of the working population commuting to Bern.