Alle
Origin of the name Alle
The name appears in 1136 as « Alla ». The former German name is « Hall ». No explanation has yet been found for this name.[1]
Founding of Alle
Neither the founder of Alle nor the date of its birth is known. The place has nevertheless been inhabited for a very long time: Neanderthals were already knapping flint on a terrace on the left bank of the Allaine, at Noir Bois and Pré Monsieur. Farming villages followed, then the Roman road from Mandeure to Avenches crossed the area, lined by two Gallo-Roman settlements. A cemetery points to settlement in the early Middle Ages. Alle then shared the fate of the advocacy of Ajoie, until it was incorporated into the prince-bishopric of Basel at the end of the 13th century.[1]
History of Alle
120'000-50'000 BC. Mousterian flint-knapping workshops of Noir Bois and Pré Monsieur, the most important in Switzerland: over 100'000 flakes and retouched tools made of local stone.[1]
around 13'000 BC. Magdalenian hunters pass through.[1]
around 2300 BC. Bell Beaker farming village (house plans, pottery).[1]
around 400 BC. Early La Tène village.[1]
Roman period. The road from Mandeure (Epomanduodurum) to Avenches via Pierre-Pertuis, about 6.5 m wide, crosses the area past two Gallo-Roman settlements. A third lies on the heights above the village.[1]
Early Middle Ages. A cemetery points to settlement.[1]
1136. First recorded: « Alla ».[1]
Late 13th century. Alle, which shared the uncertain status of the advocacy of Ajoie, is incorporated into the prince-bishopric of Basel.[1]
1302. First mention of the parish, dedicated to St John the Evangelist. It belongs to the diocese of Besançon until 1779.[1]
14th-19th centuries. Long dispute with Courgenay over the Montagne d'Alle forest.[1]
16th century. Alle becomes the seat of one of the four great mairies of the Ajoie.[1]
1634-1639. Repeated looting during the Thirty Years' War.[1]
1730-1740. Alle is a centre of peasant unrest during the « Troubles ».
1779. The parish moves from the diocese of Besançon to that of Basel.[1]
1836. Alle becomes a mixed municipality.[1]
1901. Opening of the Porrentruy-Bonfol railway, which fosters industrialisation (wood, watch cases, hosiery, combed wool spinning).[1]
1951-1953. Remodelling of the church, which keeps its late medieval saddleback-roofed bell tower.[1]
1964. Opening of the grain collection centre of the Centre-Ajoie farming cooperative.[1]
1973. Start of the Fête des paysans jurassiens, held in Alle ever since.[1]
1984. The cantonal arsenal moves into a former factory.[1]
1990-1993. Partial excavation of the Palaeolithic sites of Noir Bois and Pré Monsieur.[1]
Population of Alle
Sources and references: [1]
| 1809 | 696 |
| 1850 | 918 |
| 1900 | 1'238 |
| 1950 | 1'371 |
| 1970 | 1'615 |
| 2000 | 1'542 |
| 2010 | 1'661 |
| 2020 | 1'868 |
| 2025 | 1'965 |
Historic sites in Alle
Church of Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste. Parish church recorded from 1302, remodelled in 1951-1953. It keeps a late medieval saddleback-roofed bell tower.[1]
Montagne d'Alle. Forest disputed between Alle and Courgenay from the 14th to the 19th century.[1]
Remains in Alle
Palaeolithic sites of Noir Bois and Pré Monsieur. On a terrace on the left bank of the Allaine, these Mousterian flint-knapping workshops, active between 120'000 and 50'000 BC, are the most important in Switzerland. Partly excavated from 1990 to 1993, they yielded over 100'000 flakes and tools, as well as traces of Magdalenian hunters (around 13'000 BC) and of Bell Beaker and La Tène villages.[1]
Roman road. Section of the road from Mandeure to Avenches, about 6.5 m wide, lined by two Gallo-Roman settlements.[1]
Early medieval cemetery. Burial ground attesting to occupation of the village before its first written mention.[1]
Legends of Alle
The pot of gold and the witches. Near the Roman ruins of Alle, tradition hid a pot full of gold coins that rose from the ground only once a century, between eleven and midnight, and vanished at the last stroke of the church bell. In the Champ-Françon combe at the edge of the plateau, the witches held their night-time gatherings.[4]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Alle » (François Schifferdecker, François Kohler)
- Statistique Jura, tableau JU-T.01.01.03, population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025
- geo.admin.ch (swisstopo), recherche de lieux « Alle »
- Auguste Quiquerez, Le Mont-Terrible, 1862, p. 173-174
Other villages near Alle
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