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Home > Travel Switzerland > Switzerland Destinations > Thun
Thun
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked Alpine country in Central Europe. The country, which borders Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, was historically a confederation, and has been a federation since 1848. Switzerland is a federation of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics. With an area of 41,285 square kilometers, Switzerland is a relatively small country. Switzerland comprises three basic topographical areas namely the Swiss Alps, the Swiss plateau, and the Jura Mountains. Switzerland has four official languages namely German, French, Italian and Romansh.
Thun is a town in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with about 42,136 inhabitants as of 1 January 2006. It is located where the River Aare flows out of Lake Thun, 19 kilometers south of Bern. Besides tourism, machine and apparatus engineering, the largest garrison of the country, the food industry and publishing are of economic importance to Thun.
The area of Thun was inhabited since the Neolithic age. The name of the city derives from the Celtic term Dunum, meaning fortified city. The region of Thun became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1033, when Conrad II gained the title of King of Burgundy. The emperors entrusted the Zahringen family, centered in Bern, to subdue the unruly nobles of central Switzerland. In 1264, Thun received state rights and in 1384 the town was bought by the canton of Bern. Thun was the capital of the Oberland canton of the Helvetic Republic. Thun was connected to the railway net of Switzerland in 1859 and to the telephone net in 1888. Thun’s main sights are the castle with an adjacent history museum. This has several sections about medieval armors and weaponry and rural life.
Thun is a town known for its culture, exotic locations, scenic beauty, cooperative people and luxurious hotels and cottages. Thun is one of the favorite holiday destinations for most of the vacation lovers.
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