Langenthal

Langenthal is a town and municipality in the district of Oberaargau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland, and an educational, cultural and economic centre for the Oberaargau region. The municipality of Untersteckholz merged into it on 1 January 2010 and the former municipality of Obersteckholz followed on 1 January 2021, so that it now covers 21.13 square kilometres. Archaeological evidence points to settlement around 4000 BC, a Hallstatt necropolis with twelve grave mounds has been found at Unterhard, and remnants of two Roman villae have been identified. Langenthal is first mentioned in 861 as a marcha in Langatun, referring to farming estates scattered along the Langete, a tributary of the Murg. In 1194 the local Freiherr founded the abbey of St. Urban, which shaped the region for centuries.