[3] The name either comes from the Germanic settler "Suomolt" or the Latin term summa vallis ("bank over the valley").

The last member of the family, Lütold, donated the village, land and churches in Sumiswald and Escholzmatt to the commandery of the Teutonic Knights of the "Ballei" Swabia-Alsace-Burgundy.

[6] In 1525, the town bought its way out of serfdom, but stayed a part of the Teutonic Knights even after the Protestant Reformation was introduced in 1528; Sumiswald was sold to the city of Bern for 36,000 Reichs thaler in 1698.

In the following century many of the high forests were cleared to provide additional meadows for grazing.

In 1572 the municipality passed laws to limit further clearing to prevent total deforestation.

The settlements of Wasen, Ey and Grünen all developed out of small seasonal herding camps.

In the following centuries ownership of the fields in the valley and the alpine meadows became firmly entrenched, creating a class of wealthy landowners and a class of poor artisans, day laborers and sharecroppers.

The poor were forced to begin small scale spinning and weaving to supplement their income.

By the 18th century, Sumiswald, was a local center of the yarn and cloth trade as well as horse breeding and cheese production.

[3] Following the 1798 French invasion, Sumiswald became the capital of the Helvetic Republic district of Unteremmental.

After the collapse of the Republic and 1803 Act of Mediation it joined the newly created Trachselwald District.

The construction of the Emmental road in 1875, the Ramsei-Huttwil railroad in 1908 and the Sumiswald-Wasen rail line in 1915 brought new factories and industry to the municipality.

Today Sumiswald is a regional cultural and economic center, with workers commuting into the municipality from surrounding villages.

[9] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Argent a Bar Gules and of the last.

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 319, of which 316 were in agriculture and 2 were in forestry or lumber production.

In the tertiary sector, 185 or 23.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 53 or 6.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 106 or 13.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 15 or 1.9% were in the information industry, 69 or 8.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 30 or 3.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 64 or 8.3% were in education and 129 or 16.7% were in health care.

The entire village of Sumiswald is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[26] The glass windows of the church Mariekirche depict benefactors with their patron saints.

[citation needed] It is said that all the men in Sumiswald could have taken a seat at the large table in the inn "Bären" after the plague in 1434.

[27] From the 2000 census[update], 4,258 or 80.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 227 or 4.3% 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 choose to attend additional schooling or enter an apprenticeship.