Burgdorf (French: Berthoud; High Alemannic: Bùùrdlef) is the largest city in the Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

[4] Berthoud is in memory of Berchthold V. Duke of Zähringen who added a plaque to the city entrance for his victory against the Burgundese.

[4] As a Latinized form of Burgdorf, Castrovilla is known, but a Villa Berchtoldi or similar has not been found to date.

[4] Scattered archeological finds indicate that the area around Burgdorf was inhabited during the Neolithic era, the Late Bronze Age and the Hallstatt.

During the High Middle Ages the land that would become Burgdorf was owned by the Kingdom of Burgundy and then after 1080 by the Dukes of Zähringen.

They expanded the city in 1278 with the upper-east section and between 1278 and 1300 absorbed the Holzbrunnen settlement which became the lower town.

This army was supported with troops from the Forest Cantons, Lucerne, Zürich, Neuchâtel and Savoy and were armed with catapults and primitive guns.

An attempt to negotiate a cease-fire on 21 April 1383, between Bern and the citizens of Burgdorf against the Neu-Kyburgs was also unsuccessful.

On 5 April 1384, the Neu-Kyburgs agreed to sell the towns and castles of Burgdorf and Thun to Bern for 37,800 guilders.

[6] As part of the peace treaty, Bern acknowledged the rights and privileges that the Kyburgs had granted to Burgdorf.

Burgdorf enjoyed a unique amount of autonomy compared to the other cities in the Bernese city-state.

Starting in 1394 the town began to buy courts, land and forests from the impoverished nobility.

This was followed in 1395 by Grasswil, 1400 by Wil (now part of Rütschelen), 1402 by Inkwil (until 1720), 1423 by Niederösch, 1429 by Bettenhausen, 1429 and 1509/10 Thörigen, 1431 by Gutenburg and Lotzwil, 1435 by Kleindietwil and at the start of the 16th century Oberösch.

There were five guild houses in the upper city (blacksmiths-carpenters, butchers-shoemakers, bakers, weavers and tailors), one in the lower town (tanners).

Each guild consisted of several trades, for example the blacksmiths-carpenters, allowed craftsmen working in 22 different jobs involving iron, stone and wood processing to join.

In the 16th century, the economies of the surrounding villages began to grow unfettered by guild rules.

These bans (in 1619 and again in 1666–74) only served to undermined Burgdorf's position as a regional market and service center.

Burgdorf remained hostile to new businesses and in some cases drove them to settle in neighboring towns.

[7] With the construction of the road on Kirchberg (1756–64) Burgdorf was no longer on any regional trade routes.

The invasion of the French in 1798 and the forced reforms of the Helvetic Republic demolished much of the traditional, conservative power structure and privilege in Burgdorf.

[11] The historical population is given in the following chart:[7] The entire old city, the former Grosse Apotheke and Diesbacher House, the former Mädchenschule (Girls' School), the former Niederspital (Hospital), the Gehöft Grafenscheuren, the Grosshaus (Large House) at Hohengasse 4 / Kronenplatz 4, the House zum Ochsen at Hohengasse 35, the Villa Schnell, the Kantonales Technikum (College), the Leinenweberei (Linen Spinning Plant) Schmid with Villa, the Museum Franz Gertsch, the Swiss Reformed City Church, the Sammlung Historisches Armeematerial Collection of Historical Military Equipment, which is shared between Thun, Burgdorf and Dübendorf in Zurich), Castle, the Quarantine House and Chapel and the Villa Roth are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance The entire town of Burgdorf is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[15] Burgdorf is twinned with the towns of In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SPS which received 24.95% of the vote.

In the tertiary sector; 1,558 or 26.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 431 or 7.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 255 or 4.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 127 or 2.1% were in the information industry, 273 or 4.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 392 or 6.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 406 or 6.8% were in education and 1,566 or 26.4% were in health care.

[11] Burgdorf has several engine works and some departments of the Bern University of Applied Sciences (e.g.

Burgdorf has a growing economy, several small companies called KMU (small and middle companies) are located and have their headquarters in Burgdorf, such as Ypsomed (former Disetronic), Aebi, Typon, Iverslee and Seewer.

The wettest month is August during which time Burgdorf receives an average of 121 mm (4.8 in) of rain or snow.

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

Between them there is regular service to Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Olten, Bern, Thun, Langnau i.E., Solothurn, and Sumiswald-Grünen.