Tschugg

Tschugg
Former country manor house Steiger near Tschugg village
Coat of arms
Tschugg Show map of Switzerland Tschugg Show map of Canton of Bern
Location of Tschugg
Coordinates: 47°1′N 7°4′E / 47.017°N 7.067°E / 47.017; 7.067Coordinates: 47°1′N 7°4′E / 47.017°N 7.067°E / 47.017; 7.067
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Seeland
Area
• Total	3.29 km2 (1.27 sq mi)
Elevation	492 m (1,614 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	447
• Density	140/km2 (350/sq mi)
Postal code	3233
SFOS number	0501
Surrounded by	Erlach, Gals, Gampelen, Ins
Website	www.tschugg.ch SFSO statistics

Tschugg is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Tschugg is first mentioned in 1221 as Shuc.

The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Bronze Age settlement and an overlying Roman estate from the 1st to 3rd century at Steiacher. An additional Roman village was found in Mullen village. Copper and bronze waste and fragments from a foundry have been found at Riedernacker, though it is impossible to determine the age of the scrap. The village was originally part of the Herrschaft of Erlach. In 1474 all of the Erlach lands were acquired by Bern and Tschugg became part of the Bernese court of Ins. The major landholder in the village was a local noble family, the Berseth family. Their manor house was first mentioned in 1358 along with its attached vineyards. By the 16th century the Berseths were citizens of Bern. In 1678 the Steiger family acquired the Berseth estate and the village. In the following century, they rebuilt the house into a grand country manor house, which came to be known as the Landsitz Steiger. During the 19th century, the Canton of Bern bought the manor house. In 1889, it was converted into the Bethesda Hospital, a clinic for neurological rehabilitation.

The meadow between Tschugg village and Foferen was drained in 1885 and developed. The once important viticulture industry was devastated in 1900 due to disease, though a few vineyards were replanted starting in 1974. In 1879 there were 42 hectares (100 acres) of vineyards, by 2011 it was only 6 hectares (15 acres).

Mullen was first mentioned in 1185 and again in 1221 as curia de Mulnet. It originally belonged to the St. Johannsen Abbey. After the Protestant Reformation in 1528, the Abbey's land was secularized and the village came under Bernese control. It became an independent political municipality in 1832 but the population remained low. In 1764 the total population was only 66 and by 1900 had dropped to 55. The village school was in Tschugg and Mullen had other ties to Tschugg as well. In 1946 the residents of Mullen voted to join the political municipality of Tschugg.