Därstetten

Geschichte

Därstetten is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.HistoryDärstetten is first mentioned in 1228 as Tarenchat. The village of Weissenburg was first mentioned around 1270 as Wisinburc and in 1278 as Album-castrum.The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a single Neolithic artifact found at Stufengrind. During the Middle Ages the land was owned by the Freiherr von Weissenburg, who was first mentioned in 1175. Around the third quarter of the 12th century he donated land along the Simmen river to the Augustinian order for a monastery. The monastery was first mentioned in 1228 along with the surrounding village. Weissenburg Castle was probably built in the mid-13th century and was first mentioned in 1278. In 1368 the Freiherr von Brandis inherited the Weissenburg lands including patronage of the monastery. It continued to expand during the 13th and 14th centuries as nobles donated lands and the monastery bought estates. The monastery church of St. Mary became the burial church of the Freiherrs. In 1439 the city of Bern acquired the Weissenburg lands including the monastery and the village. In 1486 they forced the monastery to accept the authority of the college of canons of the Cathedral of Bern. In 1528, Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and secularized the monastery. The monastery church became the parish church of newly created parish.