Sottens

Canton of Vaud · District: Gros-de-Vaud · About 210 inhabitants at the 2000 census, the last widely published official figure before the 2011 merger. One source mentions population growth of around 20% between 1999 and 2009, but this figure could not be cross-checked with a second source and would therefore need confirmation.

Part of the municipality of Jorat-Menthue

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

Origin of the name Sottens

Two distinct hypotheses exist about the origin of the name Sottens, and they contradict each other: according to one, the name would derive from a Roman-era estate that belonged to someone named Sitius; according to the other, it would have a Burgundian origin, with an ending in «-ens» derived from the ending «-ingen» very common in Vaud place names of this region, the proposed root giving approximately «at the Sautingi's». Since these two explanations rest on different and non-matching sources, this information would deserve to be cross-checked by specialized toponymic studies. The name of the place is mentioned for a knight, «Philippe de Sotens», around 1100 (approximate date), while the first clearly dated written attestation of the village's name, in the form «Sotens», goes back to 1147.

Founding of Sottens

Sottens took shape progressively, from the 12th century, through the aggregation of a set of seven small distinct fiefs, a memory perpetuated to this day by the seven stars featured on the communal coat of arms adopted in 1921. There does not seem to have been a planned foundation by a single lord: the village rather arose from the coexistence, then the gradual grouping, of these seven small local lordships, which gravitated in the orbit of the counts of Savoie, barons of Vaud, before gradually coming under the rule of Berne.

History of Sottens

Early Middle Ages. A tumulus is attested at the place called Molard and burials have been uncovered at La Moranche, evidence of human occupation of the territory long before the first written mentions of the village.

around 1100. A knight bearing the name of the place, Philippe de Sotens, is mentioned; he is said to have been closely linked to the judge and administrator of Moudon. This date remains approximate.

1147. First clearly dated written mention of the village, in the form «Sotens».

12th-13th century. The village gradually forms around seven small fiefs. In the 13th century, «donzels de Sottens» (young nobles) appear in the entourage of the counts of Savoie, barons of Vaud.

1312. A chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame is mentioned at Sottens, a dependency of the parish of Chapelle-sur-Moudon; a weekly and Sunday mass was celebrated there at the time.

1323. First attested mention of a bourgeois family of the village, the Braillard, among the families that would durably make up the bourgeoisie of Sottens (notably including the Métraux, Robin, Pela, Ducs, Viret, Dubrit, Pellet and Jaton).

16th-18th century. The rights over the seven fiefs of Sottens gradually pass under the rule of Berne: one source places this process between 1536 and 1723 (the year the last fief was sold), while another indicates a shift in 1704, with the introduction of transfer duties. This discrepancy in timing would deserve to be cross-checked more precisely.

16th century (Reformation). The Notre-Dame chapel is deconsecrated from Catholic worship. The village thenceforth joins the Reformed parish of Saint-Cierges.

1798. End of the Bernese Ancien Régime; the village comes under the administration of the newly created canton of Vaud, incorporated into the district of Moudon (until 2006).

1843. Demolition of the old Notre-Dame chapel, which had meanwhile served as housing for poor people after it was deconsecrated.

1921. Adoption of the communal coat of arms of Sottens: a wavy silver fess on a field parted gules and vert, accompanied by seven gold stars recalling the seven founding fiefs.

1930-1931. Construction, at Sottens, of a national medium-wave radio transmitter intended to replace the more limited installations in Genève and Lausanne. The site is chosen for its central and open location in French-speaking Switzerland. The transmitter, originally equipped with a power of 25 kW, is inaugurated on 23 April 1931 and thenceforth broadcasts the Radio Suisse Romande programme.

1934. The power of the Sottens transmitter is increased to 100 kW.

1939-1945. During the Second World War, the Sottens transmitter broadcasts information that its managers present as free of any censorship or outside political influence; the site is then guarded by the Swiss army.

1946. Commissioning of a new 125-metre antenna, separate from the first installation, allowing a broadcasting power of up to 200 kW to be reached.

1947-1951. Construction of a second mast, known as the antifading mast, about 190 metres high and weighing around a hundred tonnes.

1970. Commissioning at Sottens of a shortwave transmitter, equipped with a prototype rotating antenna, intended for international broadcasting.

1972-2004. The Sottens transmitter broadcasts the programmes of Radio Suisse Internationale on shortwave, until this installation was shut down in 2004.

1994. The RSR La Première programme ends its medium-wave broadcasting from Sottens, replaced on that frequency by the music programme Option Musique.

2006. Abolition of the district of Moudon as part of the Vaud territorial reform; Sottens is attached to the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.

5 December 2010. Definitive end of radio broadcasting from Sottens, after 80 years of activity; the installations are decommissioned in the following weeks, marking the end of medium wave in Switzerland.

1 July 2011. Sottens merges with the municipalities of Montaubion-Chardonney, Peney-le-Jorat, Villars-Mendraz and Villars-Tiercelin to form the new municipality of Jorat-Menthue, of which Sottens becomes the administrative seat.

2011. Closure of the Sottens school class at the end of the school year, as part of the new municipality's school centralisation; the building is later converted into a cultural café, «L'Antenne».

autumn 2014. The site of the former transmitter is transferred to the municipality of Jorat-Menthue.

20 August 2014. The transmitter's main mast, about 188 metres high, is demolished with explosives and collapses towards the neighbouring village of Chapelle-sur-Moudon. The secondary 125-metre antenna, commissioned in 1946, is preserved on site as a cultural property of national importance.

Population of Sottens

155

1764

211

1850

195

1900

181

1950

210

2000

Historic sites in Sottens

Site of the Sottens national transmitter. Former radio broadcasting centre in operation from 1931 to 2010, today recognised as a cultural property of national importance. The 125-metre antenna built in 1946 was preserved after the main mast was demolished with explosives in 2014 and can be visited today, notably in the form of a climb supervised by a company specialising in antenna climbing.

L'Antenne, cultural café. Former village school building, closed in 2011 during the school centralisation of the municipality of Jorat-Menthue, it was converted into a cultural café whose name pays tribute to Sottens' radio history.

Administrative centre of Jorat-Menthue. Since the 2011 merger, Sottens has hosted the administrative seat of the municipality of Jorat-Menthue.

Remains in Sottens

Molard tumulus. A tumulus dated to the early Middle Ages was uncovered at the place called Molard, on the territory of the former municipality of Sottens.

Burials at La Moranche. Burials dated to the early Middle Ages were discovered at the place called La Moranche.

Sources

Other villages near Sottens

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