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Roches (BE)

Canton of Bern · Former district: Moutier · 204 inhabitants (31.12.2025)
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Roches (BE)

Roches is first mentioned in 1308, in the form «Roschers», whose meaning has not been explained.[1]

Founding of Roches (BE)

Roches lies along the Birse at the bottom of the Moutier gorges, a cluse cut through the Raimeux anticline, and also includes the hamlet of Les Hautes Roches. The village belonged to the provostship of Moutier-Grandval, a territory of the prince-bishopric of Basel, and came under the parish of Moutier for worship. It had 102 inhabitants in 1629. Its mainly agricultural economy gained a glassworks at the end of the 18th century, then the railway in 1876.[1][3]

History of Roches (BE)

1308. The village appears in the records as «Roschers». It belongs to the provostship of Moutier-Grandval, in the prince-bishopric of Basel.[1]

1531. Roches adopts the Reformation together with the parish of Moutier, to which it belongs.[1][4]

1752. A first carriage road is opened through the gorges of Moutier and Court.[3]

1791. A French citizen sets up a glassworks at Roches.[1]

1797-1800. Roches is attached to the French department of Mont-Terrible.[1]

1800-1813. The municipality belongs to the department of Haut-Rhin.[1]

1805. Célestin Chatelain leases the glassworks.[2]

1815. Roches joins the canton of Bern, first the bailiwick, then the district of Moutier.[1]

1817. Célestin Chatelain becomes owner of the glassworks and runs it until it closes.[1][2]

1824. A lithograph by M. Villeneuve showing the Roches glassworks is published in Paris in the «Lettres sur la Suisse».[2]

1840. The glassworks closes.[1]

1842. Célestin Chatelain, who has left Roches, founds the Moutier glassworks.[2]

1865. Roches becomes a mixed municipality (commune mixte).[1]

1876. The opening of the Basel-Moutier line connects the village to the railway. From then on its fortunes follow those of the industry of the Moutier valley.[1][3]

Population of Roches (BE)

Sources and references: [1][5]

Population of Roches (BE)
1629102
1850277
1900280
1950281
1970323
2000225
2010214
2020189
2025204

Historic sites in Roches (BE)

Moutier gorges. Cluse of the Birse listed in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes (object 1021) in the municipalities of Belprahon, Moutier and Roches. The road mostly follows the left bank, the railway the right bank. Karst springs supply Moutier and Roches with water.[3]

Les Hautes Roches. Hamlet of the municipality of Roches.[1]

Remains in Roches (BE)

Roches glassworks. Founded in 1791 by a French citizen, leased from 1805 and bought in 1817 by Célestin Chatelain, it closed in 1840. A lithograph by M. Villeneuve published in 1824 preserves its image.[1][2]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Roches (BE) » (Christine Gagnebin-Diacon), version du 14.01.2026
  2. Mémoires d'Ici, « Les verriers de Moutier », Les dossiers de Mémoires d'Ici, Saint-Imier, mars 2006
  3. Office fédéral de l'environnement (OFEV), Inventaire fédéral des paysages (IFP), objet 1021 « Gorges de Moutier », fiche 2017
  4. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Belprahon » (François Wisard), version du 14.01.2026
  5. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), STATPOP, population résidante permanente au 31.12.2025

Other villages near Roches (BE)

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