Rochefort
Origin of the name Rochefort
First written mentions in 1184, in the form « Rupeforti », and in 1236, in the form « Rochifort ». The name certainly comes from the castle, now in ruins, which controlled the road leading to the Val-de-Travers. The municipal website dates to 1194 the mention of a « Humbertus de Rupeforti » cited as a witness (date to be cross-checked).
Founding of Rochefort
No founding charter is known. The site has been frequented since prehistory: the Cotencher cave, in the Areuse gorges, holds a Mousterian site from around 40'000 BC, and isolated finds attest to activity in Roman times. The settlement grew at the foot of the castle that controlled the Val-de-Travers road, whose first known holder, in 1184, was Humbert de Rochefort. The lordship belonged to the Rochefort family (1184-1263), then to the Neuchâtel family (1278-1412); it then became a mairie extending to the present French border. The municipality includes notably Rochefort, Montézillon, Chambrelien, Les Grattes, La Tourne and Crostand, as well as, since 1 January 2016, the former municipality of Brot-Dessous (with Champ-du-Moulin and Fretereules).
History of Rochefort
around 40'000 BC. Mousterian occupation of the Cotencher cave, in the Areuse gorges.
Roman period. Isolated finds attest to activity on the site.
1184. Humbert de Rochefort, first known holder of the castle; the lordship remains with the Rochefort family until 1263.
1278-1412. The lordship is in the hands of the Neuchâtel family.
1369. The community receives the right of ohmgeld.
1372. Vauthier de Neuchâtel, illegitimate son of Count Louis, receives with his brother Jean the lordships of Rochefort and Les Verrières; he is the last lord of Rochefort (1372-1412).
1413. After trying to recover his confiscated fiefs and forging false charters of franchises, Vauthier is executed on 19 February on the orders of Conrad of Freiburg.
1512. The castle is described as a ruin (to be cross-checked).
1523. First mention of the Cotencher cave.
1524-1730. The community of Rochefort is united with that of Brot.
1662. Rochefort, until then in the parish of Pontareuse, forms a parish with Bôle.
1821. La Chaux-du-Milieu separates from the mairie of Rochefort.
1832. Les Ponts-de-Martel separate in turn; civil jurisdiction is abolished in favour of the castellany of Boudry, which already exercised criminal justice.
1860. Rochefort separates from the parish of Bôle. The railway lines bypass the village, which lived partly from carting goods, but a station is opened at Chambrelien.
1867. First excavations of the Cotencher cave, by Henri-Louis Otz and Charles Knab.
1916-1918. Excavations at Cotencher directed by Hans Georg Stehlin and Auguste Dubois.
1964. Discovery at Cotencher of the upper jaw of a Neanderthal woman, the most important Mousterian human remain in Switzerland.
2013. On 14 March, commemoration of Vauthier's execution, which gives rise to the Association des Amis du Château de Rochefort.
2015. On 29 November, the merger with Brot-Dessous is accepted by 92 % of voters in Rochefort and 85 % in Brot-Dessous.
2016. On 1 January, Brot-Dessous is joined to Rochefort, which keeps its name.
2018-2019. Two archaeological excavation campaigns at the castle; the Cotencher cave reopens to the public with guided tours in 2018.
Population of Rochefort
| 1750 | 442 |
| 1850 | 653 |
| 1900 | 659 |
| 1950 | 509 |
| 1960 | 476 |
| 2000 | 1'036 |
| 2015 | 1'121 (31 December, before Brot-Dessous was joined) |
| 2025 | 1'384 (31 December, including the former municipality of Brot-Dessous) |
Historic sites in Rochefort
Ruins of Rochefort castle. On a rocky spur at the entrance to the Val-de-Travers, the castle controlled the road into the valley. Seat of the lords of Rochefort and then of the Neuchâtel family, it is the only castle ruin in the canton. An enhancement project was launched in 2017, followed by archaeological excavations in 2018-2019.
Cotencher cave. Cave in the Areuse gorges, at 660 m altitude, 18 m long. Excavated in 1867 and again in 1916-1918, it yielded sixty-seven animal species, 420 stone artefacts of a Mousterian industry close to the Quina type and a human upper jaw discovered in 1964. It can be visited with a guide from June to September.
Chambrelien. Hamlet of the municipality where a station was opened when the railway was built in 1860; at the beginning of the 21st century it forms a residential district.
Remains in Rochefort
Castle walls. The castle was abandoned in the 15th century and described as a ruin in 1512 (to be cross-checked). Its masonry, cleared from 1862 onwards (to be cross-checked), was the subject of archaeological excavations in 2018-2019. Neolithic sherds and axes as well as Roman sandal nails have been found on the site.
Cotencher upper jaw. Upper jaw with ten heavily worn teeth, belonging to a woman of about forty, discovered in 1964: it is the most important Mousterian human remain in Switzerland.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Rochefort »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Cotencher »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Vauthier de Neuchâtel »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Brot-Dessous »
- Commune de Rochefort, « Histoire »
- Commune de Rochefort, « La commune en bref »
- État de Neuchâtel, arrêté du 4 février 2026 homologuant le recensement cantonal de la population au 31 décembre 2025
- État de Neuchâtel, arrêté du 10 février 2016 portant homologation des résultats du recensement cantonal de la population du 31 décembre 2015
- Tourisme neuchâtelois (j3l.ch), « Château de Rochefort »
- Burgenwelt, « Burg Rochefort » (à recouper)
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near Rochefort
Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.
Suggest a change