Mühlethurnen is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

The first mention of the village is in the 14th century when the von Blankenburg family owned land in it and in neighboring Kirchenthurnen.

In 1528, Bern accepted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and forcefully secularized the monastery and all its lands.

The Gürbe river correction projects from 1855 until 1911 drained the swampy valley floor and opened up additional farm land.

In 1901 the Gürbetal railroad built a station in the municipality and connected it to the rest of the Swiss rail network.

In the 1970s the population began to grow as Mühlethurnen became a regional center in the Gürbe valley.

Today the residents work in agriculture, produce sauerkraut or in small businesses.

About three-fourths of the work force commutes to jobs in nearby towns and cities.

The rest of the municipality is 0.57 km2 (0.22 sq mi) or 19.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes.

The municipality includes the village of Mühlethurnen, the hamlets of Mühlebach and Pontel-Freudberg and several isolated houses.

[5] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Tower embatteled Argent and a Base Semi Wheel of the same.

[8] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (1,247 or 96.7%) as their first language, French is the second most common (10 or 0.8%) and English is the third (4 or 0.3%).

In 2011, single family homes made up 62.1% of the total housing in the municipality.

In the federal election, a total of 679 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 62.3%.

In the tertiary sector; 26 or 32.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 6 or 7.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 7 or 8.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 14 or 17.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 3 or 3.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 12 or 15.0% were in education and 8 or 10.0% were in health care.

[23] From the 2000 census[update], 965 or 74.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 99 or 7.7% were Roman Catholic.

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.