By the Late Middle Ages there was a village near the Priory and a parish church above Röthenbach at Würzbrunnen.

The prior retained the low court right over some of the residents of the five settlements near the Priory.

The Bernese vogt sat in judgement over the remaining villagers and the further settlements.

In 1528, Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and secularized the monasteries, including Röthenbach Priory.

The Priory lands were eventually assigned to the newly created political municipality of Röthenbach.

By the 19th century expanding demand for timber and growing alpine meadows led to massive deforestation and flooding.

Today, cattle and dairy farming remain an important part of the economy, along with wood processing and tourism.

Of the agricultural land, 4.9% is used for growing crops and 27.9% is pasturage and 10.6% is used for alpine pastures.

Also part of the municipality are the hamlets of Ober- and Niederei, and scattered farm houses.

The municipality is divided into nine sections (Kreise), each of which elect one member of the town council.

On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Emmental.

[9] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (1,247 or 98.8%) as their first language, Macedonian is the second most common (6 or 0.5%) and Serbo-Croatian is the third (3 or 0.2%).

[14] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][15][16] As of  2011[update], Röthenbach im Emmental had an unemployment rate of 1.45%.

In the tertiary sector; 60 or 46.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 7.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 23 or 18.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 5 or 3.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 3 or 2.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 13 or 10.2% were in education.

[22] The Alp Gabelspitz and Church of Würzbrunnen are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[24] From the 2000 census[update], 1,079 or 85.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 23 or 1.8% 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.

[25] During the 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 133 students attending classes in Röthenbach im Emmental.