Sigriswil is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

[3] Archeological remains dating from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age show that the area around Sigriswil has been inhabited as early as 5000 years ago.

It's thought that the first modern inhabitants can be traced back to Alamanni tribesmen who settled on the banks of Thun lake around the 5th Century A.D., later moving on up into the higher elevations around the modern village of Sigriswil between the 8-10th century.

The patronage rights over the church and the Justistal settlement and alpine meadow were given to Interlaken Monastery in the 13th century.

In 1347, the inhabitants of Sigriswil were able to buy their independence in the Castle of Thun from Count Eberhard (a member of the Kyburg dynasty who had fallen on hard financial times) for the sum of 300 "Pfund Thuner Pfennige" (300 pounds of 'Thun Pennies').

The patronage right over the church transferred to Bern, while Justistal became part of the municipality.

[3] Following the 1798 French invasion, Sigriswil became part of the newly created Canton of Oberland in the Helvetic Republic.

After the collapse of the Republic and 1803 Act of Mediation it rejoined the Canton of Bern in the newly created Thun District.

Traditionally the villagers of Sigriswil fished in Lake Thun, raised crops and vineyards on the valley floor and raised cattle in the summer in high alpine meadows before bringing them down for winter.

During the late 19th and early 20th century steam boats and improved roads began bringing tourists to the municipality.

The first class hotels settled along the lake shore, while small chalets and vacation homes developed in the mountain valleys and terraces.

[3] Today, Sigriswil is a tranquil alpine farming village as well as a popular tourist resort.

US statistician George Gallup had a summer residence in Tschingel ob Gunten.

It includes the watershed of the Zulg river and the Güggisgrat and Sigriswilgrat mountain ranges.

It consists of eleven villages (Gunten, Merligen am See, Aeschlen, Sigriswil, Endorf, Ringoldswil, Tschingel, Schwanden, Meiersmaad, Reust and Justistal) as well as scattered hamlets.

[10] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (4,272 or 95.0%) as their first language, Portuguese is the second most common (41 or 0.9%) and French is the third (31 or 0.7%).

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 201, of which 182 were in agriculture, 14 were in forestry or lumber production and 5 were in fishing or fisheries.

In the tertiary sector; 86 or 10.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 33 or 3.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 280 or 33.1% were in a hotel or restaurant, 28 or 3.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 26 or 3.1% were in education and 311 or 36.8% were in health care.

[23] The entire hamlet of Wiler is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites[24] Sternwarte Sirius is located at Schwanden.

[25] From the 2000 census[update], 3,429 or 76.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 390 or 8.7% 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.