Krauchthal is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

[4] The oldest traces of settlements near Krauchthal are neolithic flints which were discovered in Mooshubel and Buech.

After the death of Peter von Thorberg, in 1397, he left his many estates to the Carthusians who converted the castle into a monastery or chapterhouse.

The Priory was responsible for a chapel on Sandhubel which was first mentioned in 1560, but no trace of the building exists.

In 1406 both the low and high courts in Hettiswil came under Bernese control, though the Priory remained a major landowner.

[3] Beginning in the Middle Ages, there were cliff dwellings in the Linden valley (German: Lindental).

Both Krauchthal and Hettiswil remained under the power of the Carthusian Monastery and the Cluniac Priory until Bern accepted the Protestant Reformation.

In 1528, Bern secularized nearly all religious houses in the canton and acquired all their properties and rights.

[3] Thorberg Castle remained the seat of the Bernese vogt until 1798, but it also housed other care organizations including an almshouse.

After the opening of the psychiatric clinic at Waldau near Bern, the "ancillary asylum" could be closed, in 1855.

In 1893 a newly built cell block was opened as a prison; various other extensions were added during the 20th century, most recently in 1998.

[5] Hettiswil, Krauchthal and Hub formed an agricultural cooperative that organized forest grazing and timber rights in 1470.

By the early 19th century, many farmers switched from growing grain to raising dairy cattle and hay.

In addition to agriculture, the institute and prison at Thorberg and a sandstone quarry provided jobs for the residents of the municipality.

[8] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a Bend Gules between two Roses of the same barbed and seeded proper.

In the tertiary sector; 34 or 16.8% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 14 or 6.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 17 or 8.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 3.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 18 or 8.9% were in education and 1 was in health care.

[12] From the 2000 census[update], 210 or 8.5% were Roman Catholic, while 1,825 or 73.6% 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.