Matten bei Interlaken | ||
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Matten b.I. on the left of the Chli Chrugge and Wilderswil in the back
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Coordinates: 46°40′N 7°51′E / 46.667°N 7.850°ECoordinates: 46°40′N 7°51′E / 46.667°N 7.850°E | ||
Country | Switzerland | |
Canton | Bern | |
District | Interlaken-Oberhasli | |
Area | ||
• Total | 5.9 km2 (2.3 sq mi) | |
Elevation | 572 m (1,877 ft) | |
Population (Dec 2015) | ||
• Total | 3,916 | |
• Density | 660/km2 (1,700/sq mi) | |
Postal code | 3800 | |
SFOS number | 0587 | |
Surrounded by | Interlaken, Bönigen, Gsteigwiler, Wilderswil and Därligen | |
Website |
www SFSO statistics |
Matten bei Interlaken (abbreviated as Matten b.I., or simply Matten) is a village and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Matten b.I. belongs to the Small Agglomeration Interlaken with 23,300 inhabitants (2014).
Matten bei Interlaken is first mentioned in 1133 as inter lacus Madon.
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are some Roman coins and fragments of a Roman road. During the Early Middle Ages there was a graveyard and probably a village in the area.
In the seventh century, Alemanni first settled in the modern municipal area, pushing out the Celts into the surrounding valleys. The first documented reference to the town, in the phrase inter lacus Madon, was on 8 November 1133 in a letter from Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor. It is known that many residents of Matten served as soldiers in service of a foreign power.
Between 1300 and 1310 Interlaken Monastery acquired the village and bailiwick from other local nobles. The Monastery held the village for about two centuries. In 1528, the city of Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and began imposing it on the Bernese Oberland. Matten joined many other villages and the Monastery in an unsuccessful rebellion against the new faith. After Bern imposed its will on the Oberland, they secularized the Monastery and annexed all the Monastery lands. Matten became a part of the Bernese bailiwick of Interlaken.