Thun castle – the unmistakable landmark of the City of Thun – was built in 1190 by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen on the location of the knights’ castle up to the height of the Rittersaal. The castle passed over to the Kyburgs in 1218, who expanded it by today’s upper floor. The mighty roof (1430-36) originates from the Bern period.
Thun Castle was never a residential castle – the “New Castle”, west of the donjon was built for this purpose in a late Gothic style in 1429, in which the official and residential premises of the Bern Schultheissen were accommodated.
Thun Castle houses the Historical Museum, which displays the cultural development of the region over the last 4,000 years on five floors.