Undervelier

Canton of Jura · District: Delémont · 291 inhabitants (2012, former municipality of Undervelier, last figure before the merger)

Part of the municipality of Haute-Sorne

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

Origin of the name Undervelier

Name origin: first mentioned in 1179 as « Undreviller » (« Undre willer » in the ISOS inventory); old German name « Underswiler ». The etymology of the name is not explained in the sources consulted.

Founding of Undervelier

Neither the founder of the village nor the exact circumstances of its creation are known. The site was frequented long before the Middle Ages: the Sainte-Colombe cave, north of the village, served as a rock shelter mainly in the Middle Bronze Age. The village is first mentioned in 1179 and its parish is attested from the 11th century. Undervelier was one of the thirteen free villages of the Delémont valley, in the Prince-Bishopric of Basel. Set between the two gorges cut by the Sorne, at the foot of the Pichoux, it owes much of its history to ironworking, with the Les Forges complex revived in 1599 by the prince-bishop. It is now part of the municipality of Haute-Sorne (merger of 1 January 2013).

History of Undervelier

Middle Bronze Age. The Sainte-Colombe cave, north of the village, is used as a rock shelter.

11th century. The parish of Undervelier is attested.

1179. First mention of the village: « Undreviller ».

1181. A noble family of Undervelier appears (to be cross-checked).

1271. The village comes under the Prince-Bishop of Basel (to be cross-checked).

1599. The Prince-Bishop of Basel Jacques-Christophe Blarer de Wartensee brings mines and foundries back into operation, including the one at Undervelier: birth of the Les Forges complex.

1600. A large administrative building and a residence for the prince-bishop's visits are built at Les Forges.

Thirty Years' War. The ironworks are closed; they resume in 1653.

1688. A fire destroys part of the village.

1721. The church tower, still standing, is built.

1782-1794. Under Prince-Bishop François-Joseph Sigismond de Roggenbach, the Sainte-Colombe cave is fitted out as a place of pilgrimage.

1793. Les Forges pass into private hands.

1793-1814. Undervelier belongs to the French department of Mont-Terrible, then Haut-Rhin.

1815. The village is attached to the canton of Bern, to which it belongs until 1978.

1835. The road through the two gorges of the Sorne is opened.

1841-1844. The church of Saint-Érard is rebuilt.

1853. The political municipality and the burgher community are created.

1880. After Les Forges were bought by the Louis von Roll company in 1879, operations cease and the workshops are demolished.

1896. Construction begins on the Blanches-Fontaines watch factory, which is also to supply the village with electricity; watchmaking continues there until 1924, after which an electrical workshop moves in.

2013. On 1 January, Undervelier merges with Bassecourt, Courfaivre, Glovelier and Soulce to form the municipality of Haute-Sorne.

Population of Undervelier

516

1818

646

1850

707

1870

497

1900

570

1910

432

1950

315

1980

321

2000

300

2010

291

2012

Historic sites in Undervelier

Les Forges. Former ironworks brought back into operation in 1599 by the Prince-Bishop of Basel, privatised in 1793 and closed in 1880. What remains is a 17th-century farmhouse with dwelling, a master's house from the 1780s with mansard roof and outside staircase, a workers' tenement, a large workshop and two fountains, one of them in Louis XVI style. The site is part of the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS), record « Cluses d'Undervelier ».

Church of Saint-Érard. Parish church rebuilt in 1841-1844, which keeps a bell tower of 1721.

Sainte-Colombe cave. Large cave north of the village, a former Bronze Age rock shelter that became a place of pilgrimage fitted out at the end of the 18th century; its present appearance dates from about 1900.

Gorges of the Sorne and the Pichoux. The village lies between the two gorges cut by the Sorne, at the foot of the Pichoux; a road has run through them since 1835.

Les Blanches-Fontaines. Industrial buildings erected from 1896 on a shelf of the Pichoux gorge for a watch factory, active until 1924, then occupied by an electrical workshop.

Les Corbés. Group made up of an 18th-century mill, a long building of 1821 and small structures, one dated 1744, with a weir on the Sorne and a stone bridge.

Remains in Undervelier

Finds from the Sainte-Colombe cave. Excavated in 1868 by Auguste Quiquerez and in 1942 by Frédéric-Édouard Koby, the cave yielded mainly Middle and Late Bronze Age pottery, as well as human bones, flints, iron objects and Gallo-Roman and medieval pottery (to be cross-checked).

Buildings of Les Forges. The ironworking installations (blast furnace, finery, tilt hammer) have almost all disappeared; the 17th- and 18th-century residential and administrative buildings survive, along with a canal that has lost its industrial function.

Legends of Undervelier

Saint Colombe and the bear. According to tradition, Saint Colombe, a princess of Spain, stayed in the cave that bears her name, protected by a bear. The spring that drips inside the cave is thought to be beneficial and still draws pilgrims.

Sources

Other villages near Undervelier

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