History of the villages of the Val-de-Ruz region (Neuchâtel)
The 24 documented localities of the Val-de-Ruz region, in the canton of Neuchâtel. Each page covers the origin of the name, the main stages of its history and its remains, with sources.
Bayerel
On the Seyon, between Engollon and Saules, a mill attested from 1416, rebuilt in its present form in 1642 and listed as a cultural property of national importance.
NEBoudevilliers
Given to the Count of Neuchâtel in 1308, Boudevilliers remained until 1807 a count's mairie enclosed within the lordship of Valangin, on the Vue-des-Alpes road.
NECernier
A farming village until around 1870, Cernier became the seat of the Val-de-Ruz district in 1877, with prefecture, court and agricultural school. Today it is the main town of the municipality of Val-de-Ruz.
NEChézard-Saint-Martin
Born in Chézard-Saint-Martin, Ami Girard led some 200 volunteers from the Erguël on 1 March 1848 in the expedition that overthrew the monarchy in Neuchâtel.
NEClémesin
Above Villiers, a farmhouse of 1680 turned métairie, which keeps a yew-wood ceiling and has been run by the same family for several generations.
NECoffrane
Recorded from 1092, Coffrane gave its name to the battle of 1296 and is home to the agricultural museum founded in 1956 by the schoolteacher Bertrand Perrenoud.
NEDombresson
In 1824 the soil of Dombresson yielded a hoard of 400 gold and silver coins struck between 145 BC and AD 55. The street village stretches along the Seyon.
NEEngollon
Its church, built on the foundations of an early medieval church, keeps 14th- and 15th-century frescoes telling the life of Christ.
NEFenin
Its church keeps a round stone communion table of 1643, unique in the canton, and its manor of 1561 has quatrains by Pibrac painted on its walls.
NEFontainemelon
In 1793 Fontainemelon gained an ébauche factory described as the oldest in Switzerland. By 1815 more than half the village worked in watchmaking.
NEFontaines
Fontaines takes its name from the many springs on its land, and its motto warns: « One must not say, Fountain, I shall not drink of your water. »
NELa Jonchère
A hamlet peopled mainly by the Guyot family, La Jonchère opened its school in 1711, in the house of M. Chambrier.
NELa Vue-des-Alpes
At 1'283 metres, between Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds, the pass owes everything to its view of the Alps: its name as well as the hotel that has stood here since 1902.
NELe Pâquier
Le Pâquier takes its name from grazing land, recorded in 1328. Above the village, the Col des Pontins led towards the Bishopric of Basel, and its toll was abolished in 1818.
NELes Geneveys-sur-Coffrane
Félix Flisch founded Felco here in 1945 in a former factory. The Felco 2 pruning shears, launched in 1948, won the Swiss Grand Award for Design in 2018.
NELes Hauts-Geneveys
For half a century the francs-habergeants of Les Hauts-Geneveys stood up to the lord of Valangin, until Bern imposed a settlement in 1478.
NELes Vieux-Prés
At 1'030 metres above Dombresson, Les Vieux-Prés reportedly correspond to the former Geneveys-de-Saint-Martin, one of three sites opened up for clearing from the 14th century.
NEMalvilliers
Reportedly nicknamed « Jérusalem, terre déserte », this estate of a few farms in the Val-de-Ruz became a small health resort in the early 20th century, with a sanatorium and a holiday camp.
NEMontmollin
In 1827 the community's forests were divided into plots drawn by lot: this split, which ignores municipal boundaries, is still in force.
NESaules
Small farming village in the Val-de-Ruz at the foot of Chaumont, recorded from 1269, where a Roman villa was discovered in 1989.
NESavagnier
On the Seyon, below the slope of Chaumont, two hamlets, Grand-Savagnier and Petit-Savagnier, united into one community from 1498.
NE · Merger 2013Val-de-Ruz
Fifteen communes of the valley joined into one on 1 January 2013, after each of them voted yes in 2011.
NEVilars
Recorded from 1191, Vilars shared the Chaumont forests with Fenin and Saules, then a common school and administration, before the three villages merged.
NEVilliers
In 1903 Villiers became the terminus of the tramway from Les Hauts-Geneveys, which was replaced by trolleybuses in 1948.