Lauperswil

Lauperswil is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Lauperswil is first mentioned in 1275 as Loperswile. Lauperswil and the surrounding area were inhabited during the Middle Ages and were part of the Herrschaft of Wartenstein. By the Late Middle Ages Trub Abbey was the largest landowner in the municipality. It was part of the high court of Ranflüh, which was acquired by Bern in 1408. It was part of the Trachselwald bailiwick until the reorganization following the 1803 Act of Mediation moved it into the Signau District. The first bridge over the Emme river in the municipality was built in 1552. The village of Zollbrück grew up around the bridge and toll station. The Bern-Langnau railroad built a station in Lauperswil in 1864, followed by the Burgdorf-Langnau railroad in 1881. The two railroads combined with a new road in 1899, brought factories and industry to the municipality.