FRDEITEN
Villages / Neuchâtel / Val-de-Ruz / Val-de-Ruz

Val-de-Ruz

Merger 2013 Canton of Neuchâtel · Region: Val-de-Ruz · 17'533 inhabitants (31.12.2025)
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Val-de-Ruz

The name is set by article 2 of the merger agreement of 21 March 2011: «Le nom de la nouvelle Commune est Val-de-Ruz». In French one therefore does not say "commune du Val-de-Ruz", because Val-de-Ruz here designates an entity in its own right, not just a geographical place.[1]

Founding of Val-de-Ruz

The commune unites the fifteen former communes of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys, Montmollin, Le Pâquier, Savagnier and Villiers. On 27 November 2011 each of them accepts the merger, with yes votes ranging from 52.4 % in Fontainemelon to 74.8 % in Les Hauts-Geneveys. Valangin was not part of the project. At the time the project was presented as the largest merger ever carried out in Switzerland. The municipality covers the Val-de-Ruz, a 128 km² synclinal valley between two Jura ridges, between Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds, formerly called Rudolfstal in German. Under the Ancien Régime almost the whole valley belonged to the lordship of Valangin. Only Boudevilliers stood apart, until it was attached to the mairie of Valangin in 1807.[2][3][4][7][8]

History of Val-de-Ruz

1228. Engollon, « Engolun », is mentioned with its parish, the centre of a large area taking in Valangin, Boudevilliers, Fontaines and Cernier.[9]

1324. Cernier appears as « Cernies ».[10]

1536. The Reformation is imposed throughout the lordship of Valangin, despite the opposition of Guillemette de Vergy.[8]

1592. Marie de Bourbon secures the attachment of the lordship of Valangin to the county of Neuchâtel for 70'000 gold écus.[8]

1848. The mairies disappear with the republican revolution. The district of Val-de-Ruz is created, with Fontaines as its capital.[7][8]

1877. Cernier becomes the district capital. The prefecture sits there until 1935.[7][10]

1888. Montmollin joins the district of Val-de-Ruz.[7]

1903. The Régional du Val-de-Ruz links Les Hauts-Geneveys with Villiers. A trolleybus replaces it in 1948, then a bus in 1986.[7][10]

1970. After 1970, watchmaking gives way to small and medium-sized firms in microtechnology and computing.[7]

2008. A regional contract signed with the Council of State makes the merger of the communes one of the valley's priority goals.[2]

2011. The merger agreement is signed on 21 March.[1]

2011. Vote of 27 November: the fifteen communes accept the merger.[2][3]

2012. The ARVR, a regional body of the valley no longer needed after the merger, is dissolved on 18 December.[2]

2013. The commune of Val-de-Ruz is constituted on 1 January and takes over regional development.[2][5]

2023. The commune celebrates its tenth anniversary.[3]

Population of Val-de-Ruz

Sources and references: [6][7]

Population of Val-de-Ruz
17503'866 (Val-de-Ruz valley)
18005'402 (Val-de-Ruz valley)
18507'197 (Val-de-Ruz valley)
19009'622 (Val-de-Ruz valley)
19508'691 (Val-de-Ruz valley)
200014'528 (Val-de-Ruz valley)
202517'533

Historic sites in Val-de-Ruz

Engollon church. In Engollon. Once the parish centre of the valley, the church of Saint Peter keeps choir frescoes from the second quarter of the 14th century, completed in the early 15th century. It is listed as a cultural property of national importance.[9][11]

La Bonneville. On Engollon land, the remains of this abandoned medieval settlement are listed as a cultural property of national importance.[9][11]

Cernier agricultural school. In Cernier. The municipality founded it in 1885 and the canton took it over in 1886.[10]

Farms and mill of national importance. The federal inventory also places in this category the Bayerel mill, the Domaine des Planches at Dombresson and two farmhouses on Rue Jean-Labran in Chézard-Saint-Martin.[11]

Communal administration. It is in Cernier, rue de l'Epervier 6.[1]

Sources

  1. Commune de Val-de-Ruz, « Administration communale »
  2. objectif:ne, « Val-de-Ruz : 50 ans d'Histoire régionale » (21 avril 2023)
  3. Canal Alpha, « François Cuche retrace dix ans de vie commune » (23 août 2023)
  4. Recueil systématique de la législation neuchâteloise, « Arrêté portant modification de la réglementation cantonale en matière communale tenant compte de la création des nouvelles Communes de Val-de-Ruz et de Milvignes » (22 mai 2013)
  5. Etat de Neuchâtel, rapport du Conseil d'Etat au Grand Conseil 20.044, « Fusion et création de communes » (2 novembre 2020)
  6. Etat de Neuchâtel, Conseil d'Etat, « Arrêté portant homologation des résultats du recensement cantonal de la population du 31 décembre 2025 » (4 février 2026)
  7. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Val-de-Ruz (vallée) » (Maurice Evard, version du 05.02.2014)
  8. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Valangin (seigneurie) » (Maurice Evard, version du 05.03.2014)
  9. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Engollon » (Maurice Evard, version du 14.02.2017)
  10. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Cernier » (Maurice Evard, version du 14.02.2017)
  11. Office fédéral de la protection de la population, Inventaire PBC, liste du canton de Neuchâtel (état au 1.1.2026)

Localities of the municipality with a page

Other villages near Val-de-Ruz

Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.

Suggest a change