History of the villages of the former Moutier district (Bern)

The 33 documented localities of the former Moutier district, in the canton of Bern. Each page covers the origin of the name, the main stages of its history and its remains, with sources.

Towns and villages 30

Belprahon

Belprahon is the only village of the Grand Val that never belonged to the parish of Grandval. It comes under that of Moutier, reformed in 1531.

Bévilard

Recorded from 1263, the parish of Bévilard brought together the Protestants of Malleray and Pontenet around the church of Saint-Georges from 1571. Schäublin built machines here from 1915.

Chaindon

Only the church is left of the hamlet of Chaindon, but its fair, recorded in 1626, still draws nearly 50'000 visitors to Reconvilier every September.

Champoz

In 1499, during the Swabian War, imperial troops destroyed Champoz, a one-street village at the foot of the Moron, set apart from the Tavannes valley.

Châtelat

At the end of the Moron chain, at 1'020 metres, Châtelat has an Anabaptist refuge settlement and its Mennonite chapel. The Fornet-Dessous dairy makes Tête de Moine cheese here.

Corcelles (BE)

In Corcelles a water wheel on the Gabiatte still drives the trip hammer of a tool forge opened in 1791, which became a museum after its restoration from 1987 to 1993.

Court

Until 1715 the people of Court went to church in Mévilier, a neighbouring village that has since vanished. Their present church was inaugurated in 1864.

Crémines

The Pré de Sales meadow at Crémines was the duelling ground for the whole provostship of Moutier-Grandval. The village has kept some twenty granaries, twelve dated 1615 to 1798.

Eschert

In 1733 a fire destroys almost all of Eschert. In 1842 its mayor certifies by letter that a resident owns a leather fire bucket.

Grandval

Recorded as early as 962, the chapel of Saint-Martin at Grandval is among the oldest sanctuaries of the Jura. As the only church of the valley, it gave the Grand Val its name.

Le Chaluet

In the Chaluet valley four glassworks melted glass from 1658 to 1738. One of them has yielded the earliest known imitations of filigree glass in Switzerland.

Le Fuet

In the late 19th century Le Fuet dug a white glass sand that was exported far afield until 1914. This village of the municipality of Saicourt has had its own chapel only since 1938.

BE · Town

Loveresse

In 1404 the bishop of Basel grants franchises to draw settlers onto the lands of Bellelay, notably at Loveresse. In 2025 the village rejects joining Clairval by 77.8 %.

Malleray

In 1367 the troops of Prince-Bishop Jean de Vienne, sent to force Biel to break with Bern, were beaten at Malleray by men of Solothurn who had come to help the Bernese.

Monible

With 37 inhabitants, Monible was the smallest municipality in the canton of Bern when its citizens accepted the Petit-Val merger by 100 % in 2014.

Perrefitte

With the Reformation of 1531, the chapel of Chalières becomes the church of a parish uniting Perrefitte and Champoz. The village cedes it to Moutier in the 19th century.

BE · Merger 2015

Petit-Val

Monible, the smallest municipality in the canton with 37 inhabitants, voted 100 % for the merger. Petit-Val was born on 1 January 2015 from four villages that had talked of it since 1873.

Pontenet

In 1750 a great flood of the Birse swept away a stone bridge at Pontenet and damaged a sawmill and a mill.

Rebévelier

Catholic and French-speaking until the late 19th century, Rebévelier became Mennonite and German-speaking with the arrival of the Amstutz family. In 1976 it changed district to remain in Bern.

Reconvilier

In 2006 a widely supported strike lasting several weeks shook « la Boillat », the brass works founded in Reconvilier in 1855. The village will form Clairval with Saules on 1 January 2027.

Roches (BE)

Deep in the Moutier gorges, Roches had a glassworks from 1791 to 1840. Célestin Chatelain, who leased it from 1805 and bought it in 1817, later went on to found the one in Moutier.

Saicourt

Since 1798 the municipality of Saicourt has included the former abbey of Bellelay, where tête de moine cheese has been made since the Middle Ages.

Saules

In 1294 the mill of Saules belonged to Guidon de Saules. It turned until 1912, and the village of 151 people will form Clairval with Reconvilier on 1 January 2027.

Schelten

The northernmost municipality of the canton of Bern, La Scheulte becomes Schelten in 1914, then in 1974-1975 refuses to follow the other Val Terbi villages into the canton of Jura.

Seehof

Called Elay until 1914, Seehof is a municipality of the Bernese Jura where German speakers have been the majority since 1840. It took its German name with the backing of the Bernese government.

Sornetan

Built in 1708-1709 to replace the church of Sapran, the church of Sornetan keeps the original layout of its pulpit and pews. Since 1971 the village has housed the Centre de Sornetan.

Sorvilier

A stone bridge built in 1773 crosses the Birse at Sorvilier, a village of the Tavannes valley that has always belonged to the parish of Court.

From 1926 to 1937, on the brink of bankruptcy, Souboz handed the functions of its municipal assembly to the mayor of Moutier. The one-street village keeps its farmhouses of the 17th to 19th centuries.

Tavannes

In 1499, during the Swabian War, imperial mercenaries burned the castle and the whole village of Tavannes. Around 1740 the castle's stones went into the church of Chaindon.