page_title: Erlenbach im Simmental
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Erlenbach im Simmental / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Erlenbach im Simmental, Bilderbibel, Wandmalereien in der reformierten Kirche
context_page_description: Erlenbach im Simmental is a municipality in the district of Niedersimmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
context_section_description: Erlenbach im Simmental is first mentioned in 1180-81 as Arlunbach.
  The oldest trace of humans in the area is the Paleolithic Chilchlihöhle cave.  Neolithic remains have been discovered at Branteschopf Schwynbalm.  Other prehistoric traces include the Bronze Age and Roman era artifacts at Balzenberg and Unterklusi and a horde of Roman coins at Stockhorn.  After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region remained inhabited.  The earthen fortification at Chastel probably dates to the Middle Ages.  By the High Middle Ages there were at least three castles or forts in the modern municipality, though only ruins remain.
  The Freiherr von Erlenbach first appears in records in 1133.  When the Erlenbach family died out, their lands probably passed through another noble family before ending up with the Freiherr von Brandis in 1368.  Beginning in the 14th century, the Landsgemeinde, the direct democratic assembly, of the surrounding communities met in Erlenbach.  In 1393, 1429 and 1445 the villagers bought their obligation to pay taxes and serve in corvée labor away from the Freiherr von Brandis.  When the city of Bern acquired the villages from the Freiherr in 1439, they reconfirmed the villages' rights.  Beginning in the 16th century they began to raise cattle, keeping them in the valleys for winter before moving them to spring pastures in the mountains.  Over the following years, Erlenbach became a major cattle and cheese exporter.  A number of local residents became wealthy from exports and built large chalets in the village.  In 1765, much of the village was destroyed in a fire, though it was quickly rebuilt.  Following the 1798 French invasion, Erlenbach im Simmental became part of the Helvetic Republic district of Niedersimmental in the Canton of Oberland.  In 1803, with the Act of Mediation, it rejoined the Canton of Bern.
  In the 19th century, the Simmentalstrasse connected the municipality with the rest of the country.  Traffic increased when the Spiez-Zweisimmen railroad opened a station at Ringoldingen in 1902.  With the road and railroad, the population grew and businesses and tourism grew in Erlenbach.  In the 1970s, a number of new housing developments grew up above the village.  One of the largest developed in Latterbach near the highway on ramp at Wimmis.  Erlenbach is home to the district hospital, a secondary school and a district nursing home.  In 1987 the Agenstein House, built in 1766, became the Niedersimmental Region Museum.
  The village church of St. Michael was first mentioned in 1228.  It was probably built in the 11th century on the site of an early medieval church.  The interior was decorated with murals during the 13th and 14th centuries.  However, many of the murals were redone in the 15th century.  In 1330, the patronage rights over the church were donated to Interlaken Abbey.  When Bern accepted the Protestant Reformation in 1528, the Abbey was secularized and the church came under Bernese authority.  In the years before Bern accepted the Reformation, the priest at Erlenbach, Peter Kunz, was preaching the Reformation in the village.  Later, he became the pastor of the Cathedral in Bern.
caption: 13th-15th century murals in the Erlenbach church
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