La Neuveville
Origin of the name La Neuveville
The name appears in 1314 in the Latin form «Nova-villa». In German the town is called Neuenstadt.[1]
Founding of La Neuveville
La Neuveville grew out of the bishops of Basel's wish to hold the southern border of their lands against the counts of Neuchâtel. Prince-bishop Henri d'Isny first had Schlossberg castle built on the heights, from 1283 to 1288. The town was founded on the lakeshore around 1310, when a burgher is already mentioned there, and building went on until 1318 under bishop Gérard de Vuippens. The charter of liberties of 1318 gave the new town wide self-government. The idea that La Neuveville grew out of La Bonneville, in the Val-de-Ruz, destroyed in 1301, is considered mistaken.[1][2][3]
History of La Neuveville
866. The chapel of Saint-Ursanne, the later Blanche Église, appears in a confirmation of the possessions of Moutier-Grandval abbey by Lothair II.[1]
999. With the donation of Moutier-Grandval abbey, the area passes to the bishopric of Basel.[1]
1283-1288. Henri d'Isny has the fortified castle of Schlossberg built above the future town.[1][2]
Around 1310. The bishop of Basel founds the town. A chapel of Saint Catherine is built inside the walls in 1312.[1]
1318. The town receives its charter of liberties, and its building is completed.[1][3]
1338. Bishop Jean Senn de Münsingen grants the town a weekly market.[1]
1367. The townspeople drive off the Bernese troops besieging the town and the Schlossberg. In 1368 bishop Jean de Vienne grants them a seal and the right to a banner.[1][3]
1388. The town signs a treaty of co-citizenship with Bern, renewed in 1633.[1][2]
1520. The mason Jehan Jornot completes the Tour Carrée, planned as the bell tower of a church that was never built.[6]
1529-1530. Guillaume Farel preaches the Reformation in La Neuveville.[1]
1604. The town adopts a first customary law, then a second in 1704.[1]
1720. The Protestant church rises on the site of the chapel of Saint Catherine and the old grain halls.[1]
1797-1815. La Neuveville belongs to the department of Mont-Terrible, then from 1800 to 1813 to that of Haut-Rhin, before passing to the canton of Bern in 1815.[1]
1846. Attached since 1816 to the bailiwick, then district of Erlach, the town becomes the seat of a French-speaking district, which exists until 2010.[1]
1860. The Biel-Neuchâtel railway reaches the town, which a lakeside road has run past since about 1830.[1]
1869. The guilds of the Escoffiers, the Winegrowers and the Fishermen are dissolved for good.[1]
1877. The history museum opens. It moves to new rooms in 1959.[1]
1912. A commercial school is founded.[1]
1974-1975. In the plebiscites on the Jura question, the population chooses to stay in the canton of Bern.[1]
2006. The Council of the Bernese Jura takes its seat in La Neuveville.[1]
Population of La Neuveville
Sources and references: [1][9]
| 1800 | 1'178 |
| 1850 | 1'719 |
| 1900 | 2'248 |
| 1950 | 2'709 |
| 1970 | 3'917 |
| 2000 | 3'445 |
| 2010 | 3'495 |
| 2025 | 3'781 |
Historic sites in La Neuveville
Old town and gates. The old town keeps its walls and its two original gates. The Tour de Rive, the south gate built when the town was founded, held prisons on its upper floor. The Tour Rouge, the north gate whose lower part dates from 1313-1318, was raised around 1593 and given a small spire.[1][4][5]
Tour Carrée. White stone tower bearing the date 1520, built against the town hall, which houses the history museum. Of its four bells, only the one cast in 1660 by Georges Kottelat of Delémont is historic.[6][7]
Protestant church. Built in 1720 on the model of the Temple du Bas in Neuchâtel.[1]
Blanche Église. The former chapel of Saint-Ursanne, mentioned in 866, has been called Blanche Église since 1276. It keeps wall paintings of the 14th and 15th centuries.[1]
Schlossberg castle. The fortified castle of 1283-1288 overlooks the town. It now belongs to the municipality and the canton.[1][8]
Church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. Catholic church built in 1954. The parish was created in 1967.[1]
Houses of the old town. The Maison des Vignolants is the seat of the winegrowers' brotherhood, the Cour de Berne was once the house of Bellelay abbey, and the Hôtel du Faucon was partly rebuilt in 1838-1840.[7]
Remains in La Neuveville
Chapel of Saint Catherine. Built inside the walls in 1312, it disappeared in 1720, when the Protestant church was built on its site and that of the old grain halls.[1]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Neuveville, La (commune) » (Pierre-Olivier Léchot, version du 21.10.2019)
- Dictionnaire du Jura, « Schlossberg (château) » (Jacques Bourquard et Jean-René Quenet)
- Société de développement de La Neuveville, « Un peu d'histoire »
- Commune de La Neuveville, curiosités, « Tour de Rive »
- Commune de La Neuveville, curiosités, « La Tour Rouge »
- Quasimodo, sonneur de cloches, « Cloches, La Neuveville (CH-BE), Tour Carrée »
- Commune de La Neuveville, « Curiosités »
- Commune de La Neuveville, curiosités, « Château de Schlossberg »
- Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, population résidante permanente au 31.12.2025
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near La Neuveville
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