The long way to church

The area around the Buchholterberg, the ridge northeast of Thun, on the border of the Bernese Oberland and the Emmental, used to belong to the parish of Diessbach (called Oberdiessbach from 1870). The area was vast; the walk from the easternmost edge of the parish to the church in Diessbach took three hours. The paths were poorly developed and almost impassable for carts.

After the strenuous journey, to the annoyance of the priest, the people who had traveled far often went to the inn to fortify themselves. It is said that some people stayed there and missed the service. Another problem was the lack of space in the church. On holidays there was no longer room for everyone in church and some had to go home without having accomplished anything.

It is therefore not surprising that the desire for their own church at Buchholterberg was a recurring topic. Various petitions from the population to the “lords of Bern” testify to this. From 1712 onwards, the priest of Diessbach had an assistant who provided “children’s education” (church education) in the Bruchenbühl school building on the Buchholterberg.

A few years later, the wish was also expressed to build a cemetery next to this school building. Especially in winter it was very difficult to bring the deceased through the snow to the cemetery in Diessbach. Baptisms were also a challenge in winter. It is said that those who were baptized repeatedly did not survive the long journey to the church in Diessbach.

Over time, the classrooms in the school building became too small for the large group of children: around 1800, about 200 children and young people attended the school and attended the children’s lessons. Organized education was no longer possible and it became increasingly difficult to find a parish assistant. Pastor Bachmann from Worb, who was responsible for the school system as school commissioner, warned of the decline in morality and religiosity due to inadequate pastoral care and instruction. In his report to the authorities in 1805 he also found clear words and wrote:

The preacher’s warnings were taken seriously by the government of Bern; In 1810 a cost estimate was commissioned for the construction of a church and a suitable location was sought. However, construction was still a long way off, as the patrician von Wattenwyl family, owners of the Diessbach estate, had the “right of collation” and therefore had a say in all ecclesiastical affairs. The state of Bern tried to buy this right from the family. The negotiations lasted 26 long years before an agreement was reached.

On May 15, 1835, the Great Council in Bern finally decided to build the church. Four years earlier, a suitable property had already been found in the hamlet Heimenschwand be acquired. For reasons of savings, a project was chosen for a simple box building with 720 seats at a price of 13,799 francs. Stones and sand from the region were used in the construction of the church; the window and door frames and the base were hewn from two large boulders that came to the Buchholterberg from the Grimsel area during the last ice age. The population also had to contribute to the construction. However, because no financial resources were available – the Buchholterberg was one of the poorest areas of the canton at the time – this was provided in the form of work.

But that was not the end of the long journey to the church: as soon as the church tower was finished, the first cracks began to appear. The church was inaugurated a few months late on April 16, 1837, but no one dared to hang and ring the two existing bells in the tower. This only happened in the spring of 1838, after structural strengthening measures had been taken on the tower.

However, the construction was still flawed and further warranty work needed to be carried out. The takeover by the client, and thus the payment of the craft bills, did not take place until 1841.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the Canton of Bern wanted, as usual, to transfer the church in Heimenschwand to the parish. However, there were already cracks in the church tower, some up to 10 centimeters wide. The parish therefore refused to take over the unsafe building. Further renovations and structural improvements followed until the church finally became parish property on July 15, 1960, as the last church in the canton, more than 120 years after its completion. Again, this has been a long journey.