FRDEITEN
Villages / Bern / Former La Neuveville district / Chavannes (BE)

Chavannes (BE)

Canton of Bern · Former district: La Neuveville · 115 inhabitants (1992)
Part of the municipality of La Neuveville
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Chavannes (BE)

The place appears in 1250 (or 1251) in the Latin form «locus Chavanes». Its German name is Schafis, which gave the wine name Schafiser.[1][2]

Founding of Chavannes (BE)

Chavannes is a hamlet of the municipality of La Neuveville, on the shore of Lake Biel, joined to the village of Ligerz. Its houses stand in a single row, some with late Gothic cellars. Patrician families owned their wine houses here, the Gléresse at the Fornel, on land that had belonged to the prince-bishop, and the Kirchbergers at the Châtelet.[1][2][3]

History of Chavannes (BE)

13th-14th centuries. Nobles of Chavannes are mentioned.[1]

1555. The Fornel house, Im Hof in German, is built for the Gléresse family.[1][2][3]

1681. The Châtelet, house of the Kirchberger family, is built.[2]

1830. A monolithic limestone fountain is set up.[2]

1835-1838. The cantonal road is laid out along the shore, between the hamlet and the lake.[1][2]

1860. The railway line further cuts the hamlet off from the shore.[1][2]

1868-1890. The Jura water correction lowers the lake level by two metres. The strip of land freed is planted with vines.[2]

Around 1900. A harbour is built.[2]

1930s. Two large wine estates and two houses are built along the cantonal road, the only real extension of the hamlet.[2]

1933. The Châtelet, already altered in 1838, is rebuilt after a fire under a Heimatstil roof.[2]

Mid-20th century. The hamlet, French-speaking until then, becomes mostly German-speaking. In 1992, 85 % of the inhabitants speak German.[1][2]

1978. The Lake Biel Wine Museum moves into the Fornel house (or 1973).[1][4]

1989. A bypass tunnel is built. Opened in 1991, it sharply reduces through traffic.[1][2]

Population of Chavannes (BE)

Sources and references: [1]

Population of Chavannes (BE)
190055
1992115

Historic sites in Chavannes (BE)

Le Fornel (Im Hof). Former patrician wine house of the Gléresse family, one of the finest houses on the left shore of Lake Biel. The Wine Museum shows a large cellar with barrels and a press, vineyard work through the seasons, a cooperage, a working distillery and a room on fishing.[1][2][3][5]

Le Châtelet. Former house of the Kirchberger family, with a Heimatstil roof.[1][2]

The hamlet. The row of wine houses is listed in the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS), which recommends coordinating its protection with that of Ligerz and keeping its limestone walls.[1][2]

Remains in Chavannes (BE)

Prehistoric and Roman settlements. Traces of Neolithic settlement, dated 3170 to 2979 BC, and of the Roman period have been found at Chavannes.[1]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Chavannes (BE) » (Frédy Dubois, version du 29.12.2003, texte allemand)
  2. Inventaire fédéral des sites construits (ISOS), « Chavannes (La Neuveville) », n° 571 (2e version, octobre 2006)
  3. Réseau interjurassien des musées, « Musée de la vigne, Gléresse »
  4. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Neuveville, La (commune) » (Pierre-Olivier Léchot, version du 21.10.2019)
  5. Commune de La Neuveville, points d'intérêt, « Musée de la Vigne / Le Fornel »

Other villages near Chavannes (BE)

Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.

Suggest a change