Thunstetten Commandery

The Thunstetten Commandery was a medieval monastery of the Knights Hospitaller in the Swiss municipality of Thunstetten in the Canton of Bern. Today the lands house Thunstetten Castle, which is a national landmark of Switzerland.

The commandery was established prior to 1210 for the Knights Hospitaller by an unknown benefactor. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the commandery lands grew with donations and purchases from local nobles. At the height of their power, they owned land in Oberaargau, the Bernese Seeland and around Solothurn. They bought vineyards in Twann and rights over village churches in Lotzwil, Ursenbach, Egerkingen, Aetigen, Rohrbach and Waldkirchen (now part of Niederbipp).

The commandery was granted limited rights of citizenship by its neighboring cities of Wangen an der Aare (1320) and Bern (starting in 1329).

The commandery complex consisted of the commander's house (now the rectory), the 18th-century Church of St. John the Baptist—although the belltower possibly dates from the founding of the commandery—and the monastery building. The commandery at Thunstetten was often under the authority of commander at Münchenbuchsee, though each house would have its own prior. In 1274 Thunstetten was granted its own seal.

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