The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are some early-Bronze Age graves near Hünegg and Aebnit. The area was inhabited during the Early Middle Ages as evidenced by 6th and 7th century graves at Eichbühl and Hünegg. By the Middle Ages it was owned by the Freiherr von Oberhofen, who donated the village to the college of canons at Amsoldingen. Over the following centuries, the college gradually became impoverished and in 1484 the Pope approved the dissolution of the college and its incorporation into the newly created college of canons of St. Vincent's cathedral in Bern. Four years later, in 1488, Hilterfingen was officially incorporated into the Bernese Thun District. It joined the Oberhofen bailiwick in 1652. Following the 1798 French invasion, Hilterfingen became part of the Helvetic Republic Canton of Oberland. After the collapse of the Republic and 1803 Act of Mediation it joined the newly recreated Thun District.