Guttannen

Guttannen is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Origin of the name

Guttannen is the name of a meadow, which became the name of the municipality. It comes from the phrase ze den guoten tannen (by the good firs).

History

Guttannen is first mentioned in 1377 as Guotentannon.

During the Middle Ages it was part of the Vogtei of Hasli and the parish of Meiringen. In 1334 the entire Vogtei was acquired by Bern. A chapel was built in the village in 1467 though it did not have a baptismal font. When the entire Canton accepted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation, the chapel was converted and remained under Meiringen. In 1713 it joined the parish of Innertkirchen where it remained until it became an independent parish in 1816. The old chapel was damaged in a fire in 1723 and replaced with a new chapel which became a parish church when Guttannen became a parish. Following the 1798 French invasion, Guttannen became part of the Helvetic Republic Canton of Oberland. With the 1803 Act of Mediation it returned to the Canton of Bern and the Oberhasli district.