Laupen

Laupen
Coat of arms
Laupen Show map of Switzerland Laupen Show map of Canton of Bern
Location of Laupen
Coordinates: 46°54′N 7°14′E / 46.900°N 7.233°E / 46.900; 7.233Coordinates: 46°54′N 7°14′E / 46.900°N 7.233°E / 46.900; 7.233
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Laupen
Area
• Total	4.12 km2 (1.59 sq mi)
Elevation	489 m (1,604 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	3,079
• Density	750/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Postal code	3177
SFOS number	0667
Surrounded by	Bösingen (FR), Ferenbalm, Gurmels (FR), Kriechenwil, Mühleberg, Neuenegg
Website	www.laupen.ch SFSO statistics

Laupen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district and its district capital, situated in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

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.