Ringgenberg

Geschichte

Ringgenberg is a village and a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Besides the village of Ringgenberg, the municipality also includes the village of Goldswil.Ringgenberg is located on the northern shores of Lake Brienz. It has a small church that was built on the ruins of a castle in the 17th century.Ringgenberg and Goldswil belong to the Small Agglomeration Interlaken with 23,300 inhabitants .HistoryThe oldest traces of a settlement in the area are neolithic graves which have been discovered in the village and at Goldswil-Mätteli.The original name of Ringgenberg was Rinchenwile which appears in the historic record in 1240. This name stems from the Old High German personal name Rinco or Rincho and the place name ending –wilari (little town). The modern name is based on an elision of Ringgenwil with the castle (burg), which was built in the Middle Ages.In 1230 Kuno von Brienz was appointed overlord of the Lake Brienz area by the German Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, and built the castle at Ringgenberg. The noble family took its name from Ringgenberg. Johann von Ringgenberg was the most significant member of this family. He was known as "the knight who handled the sword and lyre equally well". His songs were collected in Zurich in around 1300 in the Codex Manesse collection.