Aeschi bei Spiez is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

In 1269 it was mentioned as (villa) Esche..[3] The earliest traces of settlements in the area include scattered La Tene era graves and individual prehistoric tools.

In 1352, the city of Bern acquired the village land, while the low court rights remained with other noble families.

The rise of tourism the late 19th century allowed the population to begin to grow once again.

In 1901 the Lötschberg railroad allowed an increasing number of tourists to visit the village.

In the late 1960s the municipality experienced a building boom as the population grew and as demand for vacation homes rose.

[5] Aeschi bei Spiez is located along a ridge between the Kander valley and Lake Thun.

The municipality includes Aeschi bei Spiez and Aeschiried, Heustrich-Emdtal, Mülenen and Alpen im hinteren Suldtal.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a Bear paw Sable issuant from chief sinister.

[10] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (1,927 or 95.2%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (25 or 1.2%) and Albanian is the third (19 or 0.9%).

[9] Of the population in the municipality, 738 or about 36.4% were born in Aeschi bei Spiez and lived there in 2000.

[10] There were 970 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.0% of the workforce.

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 103, of which 101 were in agriculture and 1 was in forestry or lumber production.

In the tertiary sector; 48 or 11.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 55 or 13.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 108 or 26.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 12 or 2.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 32 or 7.8% were in education and 120 or 29.3% were in health care.

[10] From the 2000 census[update], 150 or 7.4% were Roman Catholic, while 1,560 or 77.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.

Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship.

[17] During the 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 283 students attending classes in Aeschi bei Spiez.