Spiez

Spiez is a town and municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss canton of Bern, in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town itself the municipality includes the settlements of Einigen, Hondrich, Faulensee and Spiezwiler. It stretches along a ridge between the lake and the Kander river, from 558 metres above sea level at the lake to 852 metres on the Hondrichhügel, and covers 16.69 square kilometres. Spiez is first mentioned around 761 and 762 as Spiets, and Spiez Castle is said to have been built in 933 by King Rudolph II of Burgundy. The area holds large Bronze and Iron Age settlements, and in the nineteenth century the mild climate and transport links made it a popular health and spa town. It had 12,926 residents in December 2020.