Coffrane

Canton of Neuchâtel · Region: Val-de-Ruz · 695 inhabitants (31.12.2012, former municipality of Coffrane, last census before the merger)

Part of the municipality of Val-de-Ruz

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

Origin of the name Coffrane

Coffrane first appears in a written document in 1092, in the form « Cusfrano ». Many spelling variants follow: « Corfrano » in 1220 or 1228, « Corfranon » in 1264, « Corfragne » in 1270, « Corfraigno » in 1370, « Confrano » in 1401 and « Courfrasne » in 1453 (variants to be cross-checked). The name is explained as a compound of Late Latin cortis (rural estate, farm) and a Germanic personal name, probably Frano: originally it would thus have been the estate of a man called Frano (to be cross-checked). The municipal coat of arms, which shows an ash tree (frêne), rests on a pun (frêne, Coffrane) and therefore on a folk etymology, since names in cortis are followed by a personal name, not the name of a tree.

Founding of Coffrane

The territory of Coffrane was occupied long before the Middle Ages, as shown by a Middle Bronze Age burial mound reused in the Hallstatt period and the early La Tène period. The village itself grew out of an early medieval rural estate (cortis), probably that of a Germanic man named Frano (to be cross-checked); no foundation date or charter is known. The first written record dates from 1092, when the church of Coffrane was given to the priory of Corcelles. A parish recorded in 1228, Coffrane became a dependency of Corcelles before 1416. The village belonged to the lordship, later the mairie, of Valangin. From 1486 it formed a joint commune with Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane and Montmollin to manage the forests, until the division of 1827.

History of Coffrane

Bronze Age. A Middle Bronze Age burial mound is raised on the territory of Coffrane; it is reused in the Hallstatt period, with a wine cauldron and a bronze cup, and again in the early La Tène period.

1092. First written mention of the village in the form « Cusfrano »: the church of Coffrane is given to the priory of Corcelles.

1228. Coffrane is recorded as a parish.

1296. Battle of Coffrane: the count of Neuchâtel fights the lords of Valangin, supported by the bishop of Basel. According to tradition, the fighting takes place on 28 February, about one kilometre east of the village at the place called la male fin, and count Rollin wins; the defeated must among other things cede the mairie of Boudevilliers (details to be cross-checked).

1416. Coffrane is by now a dependency of the parish of Corcelles (at the latest by this date); the chapel is dedicated to Saint Agatha.

1486. Coffrane forms a joint commune with Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane and Montmollin to manage the forests.

1531. The village has 16 hearths (households).

1592. The lordship of Valangin, to which Coffrane belongs, is united with the county of Neuchâtel.

1613. The governor of the principality grants the parish 200 pounds to repair the church building (to be cross-checked).

1750. The village has 209 inhabitants.

1775. Substantial rebuilding of the church (to be cross-checked).

1827. The forests of the joint commune are divided by drawing lots between Coffrane, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane and Montmollin; this allocation is still in force.

1828. The Council of State authorises the rebuilding of the church tower; a keystone bearing the initials of the local authorities of the time is set in place (to be cross-checked).

1838. The parish of Coffrane is re-established, covering Coffrane, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane and Montmollin.

1841. A fire destroys the church and the village centre.

1842. Construction of the present church to plans by the architect Edouard de Sandoz-Rosières.

1850. The village has 385 inhabitants.

1900. The village has 510 inhabitants.

1932-1933. Restoration of the church: an eastern annex is built for the organ and Charles L'Eplattenier paints murals on the north and south façades.

1950. The village has 372 inhabitants.

1956. The schoolteacher Bertrand Perrenoud founds the Musée agricole de Coffrane to save rural tools threatened by farm mechanisation; the same year Raymond Perrenoud creates the church's non-figurative stained-glass windows.

1996. A commemorative stone designed by Raymond Perrenoud is erected for the 700th anniversary of the battle of 1296.

2000. The village has 618 inhabitants.

2012. On 31 December, last census of the independent municipality: 695 inhabitants.

2013. On 1 January Coffrane merges with fourteen other municipalities of the district to form the municipality of Val-de-Ruz.

2025. Val-de-Ruz, of which Coffrane is a locality, has 17'533 inhabitants on 31 December.

Population of Coffrane

16 hearths (households)

1531

209

1750

385

1850

510

1900

372

1950

618

2000

695 (to be cross-checked)

2011

695

2012

Historic sites in Coffrane

The church of Coffrane. A church is recorded in Coffrane from 1092, when it was given to the priory of Corcelles; the medieval chapel was dedicated to Saint Agatha. After the fire of 1841, which destroyed the church and the village centre, the present building was erected in 1842 to plans by the architect Edouard de Sandoz-Rosières. The 1932-1933 restoration added an eastern annex for the organ and murals by Charles L'Eplattenier on the north and south façades; the non-figurative stained glass is by Raymond Perrenoud (1956).

The Musée agricole de Coffrane (Musée Perrenoud). Housed in a Neuchâtel farmhouse from the early 18th century, this museum was founded in 1956 by the schoolteacher Bertrand Perrenoud to preserve the tools and objects of rural life threatened by farm mechanisation. It also presents vanished trades (saddlery, upholstery, bobbin lace, hemp working) and predates the Musée paysan et artisanal de La Chaux-de-Fonds by fifteen years. It was run by the Perrenoud family, notably by the painter Raymond Perrenoud, the founder's son, until his death in 2016, then by his niece Nathalie Merminod.

The village centre and its buildings. The centre of Coffrane, rebuilt after the fire of 1841, retains a former public weighhouse, several large Neuchâtel farmhouses and various fountains with stone and granite basins, reflecting the village's farming character.

The Paulière pond. Nature reserve on the territory of Coffrane, to be visited with care because of its ecological value (to be cross-checked).

The site of the battle of Coffrane. About one kilometre east of the village, at the place called la male fin, tradition locates the battle of 1296 between the count of Neuchâtel and the lords of Valangin with the bishop of Basel (location to be cross-checked).

Remains in Coffrane

Bronze Age burial mound. This burial mound, raised in the Middle Bronze Age, was reused in the Hallstatt period and then in the early La Tène period. It shows that the territory of Coffrane was occupied more than two thousand years before the first written mention of the village.

Bronze cauldron of Les Favargettes. The reuse of the mound in the Hallstatt period yielded a wine cauldron and a bronze cup. The cauldron, associated with the place called Les Favargettes, was presented as object of the month in an RTS feature on lake-dwelling sites and the Bronze Age.

Commemorative stone of the battle of Coffrane (1296). Erected in 1996 for the 700th anniversary of the battle, this stone designed by Raymond Perrenoud stands a little outside the village. It bears the inscription: « Ici le 28 février 1296 les seigneurs de Valangin et l'évêque de Bâle livrèrent bataille au comte Rollin de Neuchâtel ».

1828 keystone on the church tower. An element dated 1828 and bearing the initials of the local authorities of the time survives on the church tower, a reminder of the rebuilding of the belfry authorised that year by the Council of State (to be cross-checked).

Sources

Other villages near Coffrane

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