Ballens

Canton of Vaud · District: Morges · 580 inhabitants as of 31 December 2025, still an independent municipality of the district of Morges, not merged to date

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Ballens

It is a document of 1139, referring to the village chapel dedicated to Saint Maurice and then attached as a subsidiary to the church of Mollens, that provides the very first written trace of the name Ballens, in the old form 'Barlens'. The spelling 'Balens' is then found in 1453, before gradually settling into its present form. The sources consulted do not fully agree on the year of this first mention: most indicate 1139, but one of them places the event in 1158; this point would deserve to be settled by consulting the medieval document in question directly. Etymologically, Ballens belongs to the large family of Romand place names ending in '-ens', very widespread in the cantons of Vaud and Fribourg. This suffix derives from the Germanic '-ingos', which originally meant 'among the people of' or 'of the clan of', and was attached to personal names from the 6th century onward in the Gallo-Roman area that had come under Burgundian influence. For Ballens, the underlying personal name would be the Germanic 'Berilo', or, according to another hypothesis held by the same source, the Latin name 'Barilius'; a related root is found in the Fribourg toponym Berlens. This explanation could only be cross-checked with a single specialized toponymic reference and would remain to be confirmed by a second source of the same type. No particular patois form of the name could be found in the sources consulted. The inhabitants of Ballens are called Ballensards and Ballensardes.

Founding of Ballens

Like many villages at the foot of the Vaud Jura, Ballens has no founder and no single dated founding act: it is a rural settlement that formed gradually, on a site that, according to a description reported by only one source consulted, is said to have originally formed a kind of islet surrounded by marshes arranged in an arc around the village (information not cross-checked elsewhere, to be taken with caution). The first attested institutional structure is religious rather than seigneurial in the strict sense: a chapel dedicated to Saint Maurice, a subsidiary of the parish of Mollens, mentioned as early as 1139. The territory of Ballens then depended, like that of several neighbouring villages at the foot of the Jura, largely on the great monastery of Romainmôtier, which collected dues and tithes there; local tradition holds that a monk of the abbey financed, as early as 1257, the construction of a mill on the spot, and this same tithe was still being levied for the monastery's benefit around 1650. In the Middle Ages, Ballens thus formed the centre of a small lordship placed under the joint authority of the monastery of Romainmôtier and the lords of Aubonne, a configuration fairly typical of this part of the foot of the Vaud Jura, organized around rights shared between monastic and secular power rather than founded all at once by a single founding lord.

History of Ballens

Roman era. Remains of brick constructions and several bronze medals dating from the Roman era were uncovered in 1846 at the place called la Tuillerie, between Mollens and Ballens, attesting to an occupation of the area well before the medieval village.

Iron Age (Hallstatt period). A tumulus from this period is said to have been located on the territory of the municipality. This information is based on only one source consulted and would deserve to be cross-checked before being considered definitively established.

1139. Earliest known written mention of the village, in the form 'Barlens', through the Saint-Maurice chapel, then a subsidiary of the parish of Mollens. One source places this first mention in 1158 rather than 1139; see the remark on this disagreement in the section on the origin of the name.

1257. A monk of the abbey of Romainmôtier finances, according to local tradition, the construction of a mill in Ballens.

Middle Ages. Ballens forms the centre of a small lordship placed under the joint authority of the monastery of Romainmôtier and the lords of Aubonne.

around 1650. The tithe owed by the inhabitants of Ballens is still delivered to the monastery of Romainmôtier.

1453. The spelling 'Balens' appears in documents, an intermediate form toward the village's current name.

1536. The Bernese conquest of the Vaud region brings Ballens, like the rest of the region, under Bernese administration; the village then follows the fate of the châtellenie of Aubonne. The oldest houses still visible in the village are said to date from the beginning of this Bernese period, with fine vaulted cellars, but another source instead refers to buildings from the early 14th century, and a third mentions traditional farmhouses from the 16th to 19th centuries: these datings do not fully match and may concern different buildings.

1592. Arrival of the first Reformed pastor in Ballens, in the wake of the Reformation imposed by Bern.

1597. The departure of this pastor for the neighbouring parish of Bière brings Ballens back to the rank of a mere parish annex, a status that will last until 1849.

1609. Founding of L'Abbaye, the oldest of the shooting societies that succeeded one another in Ballens.

1701. Ballens is attached to the Bernese bailiwick of Aubonne.

1709. Founding of a second shooting society, called the Jeune Abbaye.

June 1780. Twelve inhabitants of the village found the Société militaire des Cadets de Ballens, which will remain active until its dissolution in 1876.

1798-1803. During the Helvetic Republic, Ballens first belongs to the canton of Léman, then, after that canton's disappearance, to the canton of Vaud; the village initially depends on the district of Morges.

1803. With the administrative reorganization of the canton, Ballens is attached to the new district of Aubonne.

1843-1844. Construction of the village's school building, the work of the Lausanne architects Henri Perregaux and Achille de La Harpe.

9 July 1843. Twenty-six founders create the Abbaye Suisse Indépendante de Ballens, each member paying 24.15 francs into the society's fund; this shooting society still exists today.

1849. The parish of Ballens, reduced to the rank of an annex since 1597, is re-established as a full parish.

1856. The parish of Ballens is again given a permanent pastor.

1900-1950. The number of inhabitants of Ballens fluctuates between around 350 and 400 during this period, without major variation from one decade to the next.

1 July 1895. Commissioning of the narrow-gauge Bière-Apples-Morges railway line, which serves Ballens and the neighbouring hamlet of Froideville.

1898. A linden tree is planted on the church square to commemorate the centenary of the canton of Vaud's independence.

1909. Women are admitted for the first time to the banquet of the Abbaye Suisse Indépendante.

1925. Adoption of the municipal coat of arms: a gold field with a bend gules charged with a silver cross botonny placed palewise. The bend recalls the fief of Froideville, a hamlet of the municipality of Ballens (not to be confused with the independent municipality of Froideville, in the Gros-de-Vaud), formerly held by the Monod family; the cross honours Saint Maurice, patron of the village church.

1935. Creation of specialized committees within the Abbaye Suisse Indépendante, devoted to shooting, decoration, and prizes.

1937-1938. The church's tower-porch, built in 1715, is replaced.

15 March 1942. The Abbaye Suisse Indépendante de Ballens becomes one of the 79 founding societies of the Fédération des Abbayes Vaudoises.

1955. The church of Ballens, formerly the Saint-Maurice church, is listed as a historic monument.

1960s. The main road through the village is surfaced with concrete, for military purposes.

1970. Introduction of a five-yearly festival (every five years) within the Abbaye Suisse Indépendante.

1972. Organization of the first shoot reserved for children within the Abbaye.

1982. Establishment of a special shoot reserved for ladies within the Abbaye.

1984. The Abbaye Suisse Indépendante adopts new titles for its leaders (Abbé-Président, Lieutenant d'Abbé, among others).

1993. The 1843-1844 school building receives a general protection measure as part of the built heritage.

2006. The dissolution of the district of Aubonne brings Ballens into the new district of Morges, as it still exists today.

2015. Christian Croisier, a farmer running a family farm in the municipality, becomes syndic (mayor) of Ballens after ten years on the municipal council.

2020-2025. The population of Ballens continues to grow slowly, rising from around 560 to 580 inhabitants; the municipality remains independent, having declined the merger proposals made to it, while collaborating with neighbouring municipalities on certain intermunicipal services.

2025. Ballens has 580 inhabitants as of 31 December and remains an independent municipality of the district of Morges, with a general council of 55 to 61 members owing to its size below the threshold of 1,000 inhabitants.

Population of Ballens

422

1850

361

1900

537

2018

562

2020

576

2023

579

2024

580

2025

Historic sites in Ballens

Ballens Church (former Saint-Maurice church). This Reformed building, mentioned as early as 1139 in its form as the Saint-Maurice chapel, has undergone several alterations over the centuries; the parchments and old documents consulted so far have not made it possible to date its original construction precisely. The current tower-porch dates from 1715; it was replaced in 1937-1938. The building has been listed as a historic monument since 1955 and remains, together with the square around it, the symbolic heart of the village.

1843-1844 municipal school. School building constructed in 1843-1844 to plans by the Lausanne architects Henri Perregaux and Achille de La Harpe. It was made subject to a general built-heritage protection measure in 1993.

The centenary linden tree. Planted in 1898 on the church square, this tree commemorates the centenary of the canton of Vaud's independence, proclaimed in 1798.

Ballens-Froideville station. A stop on the narrow-gauge Bière-Apples-Morges (BAM) line, commissioned on 1 July 1895, which links Ballens and the hamlet of Froideville to the regional rail network. It bears witness to the village's opening up at the end of the 19th century and remains today a public transport stop.

Old village and old houses. The village centre preserves rural houses with fine vaulted cellars, whose age is estimated differently depending on the source consulted, between the early 14th century and the beginning of the Bernese period (from 1536), alongside traditional farmhouses attributed to the 16th-19th centuries; this dating ambiguity, typical of this kind of rural building never precisely documented at the outset, would deserve to be clarified by a detailed architectural inventory.

Remains in Ballens

Roman remains of la Tuillerie. In 1846, remains of brick constructions along with several bronze medals dating from the Roman era were uncovered at the place called la Tuillerie, between the villages of Mollens and Ballens. These discoveries attest to an occupation of the area as early as Antiquity, well before the appearance of the medieval village of Ballens.

Iron Age tumulus. A tumulus from the Hallstatt period is said to have been located on the municipal territory. This information could only be cross-checked through a single source consulted and would remain to be confirmed by a reference archaeological source before being considered definitively established.

Bones from the old cemetery. Excavations carried out near the church uncovered bones attesting to the existence of a very old cemetery at this location. No precise dating of this cemetery could be found in the sources consulted.

Sources

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