History Eggiwil

swiss reformed church in eggiwil, built in 1630-32

eggiwil first mentioned in 1323 eggenwile.

the village settled in 14th century. kyburg ministerialis (unfree knights in service of feudal overlord) family of eggiwil first appears around same time. villagers bought land freiherr von schweinsberg in 1372 , later bought right hold court on themselves. while still part of bailiwick , parish of signau, on local matters independent. in 1528 city of bern adopted new faith of protestant reformation , converted surrounding area, including eggiwil. in following year, bern brought entire signau area under control. in years following reformation in bern, anabaptists began settle in eggiwil. in 1630-32 bern built swiss reformed church in village try restrain anabaptists. in 1648, church became parish church of eggiwil parish.

the village surrounded number of alpine meadows , of local economy depended on raising cattle in meadows or harvesting timber surrounding forests. deforestation grazing , timber production caused number of floods damaged farm land , houses around village , in 19th century encouraged villagers reforest surrounding mountains. until 1830 construction of road schüpbach, way reach village narrow mountain path. today, agriculture still important, though few machine shops, mills , sawmills provide additional jobs. eggiwil lacks convenient road or rail link major city , few residents commute jobs elsewhere. because municipality spread out, there 8 primary school buildings scattered throughout area.