Thun City Church, Protestant church in Thun, Switzerland
The Stadtkirche Thun is a Reformed church on the Schlossberg above the old town, next to Thun Castle. Its octagonal front tower, built around 1320–30, has two lookout oriels at the roof tip. The nave, built in 1738 to plans by Paulus Nader, has a large hipped roof and a bright preaching hall with a flat plaster ceiling.
A church dedicated to Saint Maurice stood here in the Middle Ages, and the current octagonal tower dates from around 1330. After the Reformation made the building Protestant in 1528, the old nave was replaced by the present one in 1738 under Paulus Nader.
The church was formerly dedicated to Saint Maurice; after the Reformation of 1528 it became Protestant. The late Renaissance pulpit by Daniel Gintzi dates from 1661, and the wooden communion table with a slate top from 1602. The 1748 epitaph for Schultheiss Beat Ludwig May was made by Johann August Nahl the Elder.
The main part of the church is open to visitors every day, though services and events can limit tourist access. Walking up the narrow tower staircase is worth it for the view over the rooftops, the lake, and the peaks of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.
The tower is even older than the nave, and its two small lookout oriels near the roof ridge came from the early 1300s. From that height, the narrow stairs lead to a view that reaches beyond the city toward the three peaks known locally as the Three Virgins.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,717 contributors worldwide.
