Sornetan
Origin of the name Sornetan
Sornetan is mentioned in 1179 in a bull of Pope Alexander III. The old German name «Sornetal», written «Sornethal» (valley of the Sorne) on German maps, points to the river, which rises close by. The Latin form handed down is «Sornedunum».[1][2]
Founding of Sornetan
The village sits on a hill at 851 metres, on a spur of the Moron, in the centre of the Petit-Val and near the source of the Sorne. A noble family of Sornetan is recorded from the 12th to the 14th century, and the chapter of Moutier-Grandval owned a courtine in the village. Under the prince-bishops of Basel, Sornetan was the seat of a mayoralty of the provostry of Moutier-Grandval. Until the Reformation it belonged to the parish of Sapran, whose church stood further down. The village has kept its farming and craft structure, and services have grown since 1970. Sornetan has been part of the municipality of Petit-Val since the 2015 merger.[1][2]
History of Sornetan
1179. A bull of Pope Alexander III mentions Sornetan.[2]
1303. Bourkhard de Sornetan is recorded. In 1358 Jean de Sornetan is primicerius at Biel. The family dies out in the 15th century.[1][2]
1530. Farel and Froment pass through the area. Alexandre Lebel becomes the first preacher.[2]
1531. On 12 March the parish accepts the Reformation. Sornetan is then attached to the parish of Tavannes-Chaindon until 1538, to that of Grandval until 1571, and then to that of Bévilard.[1][2]
1708-1709. A new church is built in the village to replace that of Sapran.[1][3]
1746. Sornetan obtains its own pastor and forms a parish with Châtelat, Monible and Souboz.[1][2]
1797-1813. The village is French, in the département of Mont-Terrible and then that of Haut-Rhin, before passing in 1815 to the canton of Bern, in the bailiwick and then the district of Moutier.[1]
1853. Sornetan becomes a mixed municipality.[1]
1906. The village has a post office counter and the telephone. It then has 33 houses and 181 Protestant inhabitants, 116 French-speaking and 65 German-speaking.[2]
1963. The church and its surroundings are listed as historic monuments. Restoration follows from 1964 to 1967, led by Charles Kleiber with Hans von Fischer.[3]
1965. In March an extraordinary synod decides to create the Association of Parishes and to build a centre at Sornetan.[4]
1971. In June the Centre de Sornetan, designed by the architect Claude Leuzinger, is inaugurated. It is enlarged in 1992 and 2002.[1][4]
2014. On 16 March Sornetan accepts the Petit-Val merger by 88.89 % yes.[6]
2015. On 1 January Sornetan becomes part of the municipality of Petit-Val.[1]
Population of Sornetan
Sources and references: [1][2]
| 1709 | 111 |
| 1850 | 299 |
| 1900 | 181 |
| 1950 | 148 |
| 1996 | 124 |
| 2000 | 113 |
Historic sites in Sornetan
Reformed church. Built in 1708-1709 and consecrated in 1709, it is a single-nave church whose pulpit and pews keep their original layout, the most original of the 18th-century Reformed churches preserved in the Bernese Jura. Its tower holds the small bell of the church of Sapran, from the 13th or 14th century. It is listed as cultural property of national importance.[1][3][5][7]
Parsonage. The parsonage, at Le Rondez, is listed as cultural property of regional importance.[5]
Centre de Sornetan. Meeting and training centre of the Reformed Churches Bern-Jura-Solothurn, opened in 1971 and enlarged in 1992 and 2002.[4]
Dated houses. One house bears an inscription of 1698, another, at Semplain, the date 1745.[2]
Caillou de Sornetan. An erratic boulder protected by the state.[2]
Remains in Sornetan
Early finds. Celtic, Roman and Burgundian objects have been found at Sornetan, along with traces of early iron working. A path known as the «Roman» road leads to Semplain.[1][2]
Semplain. This hamlet of at least five farms, shown on an 18th-century map, was a place of passage: charcoal burners took their charcoal through it to the forges of Undervelier.[2]
Legends of Sornetan
The plague cemetery. An old cemetery of plague victims, shrouded in mystery, is said to lie at Semplain.[2]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Sornetan » (Pierre-Olivier Léchot, version du 14.09.2016)
- Commune de Petit-Val, « Sornetan autrefois »
- Églises réformées Berne-Jura-Soleure, Visite d'église, « Temple (Sornetan) »
- Dictionnaire du Jura (DIJU), « Centre de Sornetan » (Emma Chatelain, 2011, modifié en 2020)
- Office fédéral de la protection de la population, Inventaire PBC, liste cantonale des objets A et B, canton de Berne (état au 1.1.2026)
- Dictionnaire du Jura (DIJU), « Petit-Val » (Kiki Lutz, 2016)
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Sapran » (Christine Gagnebin-Diacon, version du 03.10.2016)
Other villages near Sornetan
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