Höfen, Thun
village and former municipality in Stocken-Höfen in the canton of Bern, Switzerland
Höfen is a former municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Höfen, Niederstocken and Oberstocken merged into the new municipality of Stocken-Höfen.
Geography
Before the merger, Höfen had a total area of 4.6 km2 (1.8 mi2). Of this area, 3.42 km2 (1.32 sq mi) or 74.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.74 km2 (0.29 sq mi) or 16.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.27 km2 (0.10 sq mi) or 5.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.1 km2 (25 acres) or 2.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.08 km2 (20 acres) or 1.7% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. 14.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 23.9% is used for growing crops and 48.2% is pastures, while 2.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, 1.7% is unproductive vegetation.
“Höfen, Thun” enters the record as village and former municipality in Stocken-Höfen in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Höfen, Thun and village can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Höfen, Thun” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Höfen, Thun and village provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q66129. The first chronological checks are 2014.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Höfen, Thun”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Höfen, Thun primary sources, Höfen, Thun archive and Höfen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Höfen, Thun”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Höfen, Thun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.