The prosperity of Brig is bound up with the Simplon Pass, so that it gradually supplanted the more ancient village of Naters opposite, becoming a separate parish (the church is at Glis, a few minutes from the town) in 1517.

The opening of the carriage road across the Simplon (1807) and of the tunnel beneath the pass (1906), as well as the fact that above Brig is the steeper and less fertile portion of the Upper Valais (then much frequented by tourists), greatly increased the importance and size of the town.

The first evidence of human habitation near Brig comes from a few Bronze Age objects, a bracelet and a dagger.

It is likely that the city was founded by the Bishop of Sion, when they built a tower and curtain wall in the 12th century.

In 1799 French troops pillaged the city, burned the archives and inflicted great damage.

[5] Starting in the middle of the 13th century, it was a storage, transhipment and customs station for transportation over the Simplon Pass.

By the early modern era a number of families were wealthy from trade and built palatial homes and public buildings in the city.

Outside the city, in 1677, Kaspar Stockalper built the Matteni manor house for Georg Christoph Mannhaft.

The first rail line into Brig was finished in 1874 and connected the town to the west by the Rhône Valley.

This was followed by other smaller industrial companies, including woodworking, pasta production, telephone apparatus, gloves and knitwear.

Starting around 1320, the settlement of Wickert (now part of Glis) was a farming estate that belonged to the collegiate church of Sion.

[6] Until 1642, Glis belonged to the parish of Naters but had been relatively independent in religious matters since the 12th–13th century.

The Church of Our Lady on the Glisacker has been a pilgrimage centre of the Upper Valais since the 14th century.

At that time, the parish included Brig, Brigerbad, Ried-Brig, Termen, Gamsen and Eggerberg.

The present church, which combines elements of both the Renaissance and the late Gothic period, owes its appearance to Prismell master builders Peter and Christian Bodmer.

[6] After the Second World War, Glis developed from a farming village into a residential area for Brig.

[6] Very little is known about the early history of this small village located between the Rhone and the far north side of the valley.

The village began to develop local government and law in the 16th and 17th century and the first statutes were written in 1671.

The thermal hot spring baths began to decay in the 17th century, but were rebuilt in 1934–35 and again in 1956–60.

It is a picturesque small town in Upper Valais, situated at the foot of the northern slope of the Simplon Pass in the Alps, on the right bank of the Saltine stream, and a little above its junction with the Rhone.

[8] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or, an Eagle with dragon's tail displayed Sable, crowned, beaked, langued, membered and tailed Gules bearing an Escutcheon Gules three Mullets Or in pale.

[11] The historical population is given in the following chart:[15][16] The Stockalperpalast, the Gamsenmauer and the Church of Mariä Himmelfahrt with ossuary are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The entire old town of Brig is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 33, of which 23 were in agriculture, 8 were in forestry or lumber production and 2 were in fishing or fisheries.

In the tertiary sector; 970 or 17.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 1,137 or 20.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 436 or 8.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 98 or 1.8% were in the information industry, 234 or 4.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 522 or 9.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 458 or 8.4% were in education and 1,042 or 19.0% were in health care.

From the 2000 census[update], 9,613 or 82.9% were Roman Catholic, while 634 or 5.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

The education system in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten.

The final school, the HMS-FMS-SfB (Trade school-vocational school-school for vocational preparation) has 408 students and 19 classes.

[28] Brig is popular among winter sports athletes since it is surrounded by many Alp summits.

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the Swiss Criminal Code (running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Brig-Glis was 48.8 per thousand residents, slightly lower than the national average (64.6 per thousand).