Vaumarcus

Canton of Neuchâtel · Region: Littoral · 268 inhabitants (2017, former municipality of Vaumarcus, including Vernéaz)

Part of the municipality of La Grande Béroche

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

Origin of the name Vaumarcus

The place appears in 1227 as « Valmarcuel »; the lordship is probably already mentioned in 1194, and a form « Vallis Margult » is given for that date (to be cross-checked). The old German name of the place was « Famergü ». The name is said to combine Latin « vallis » (valley) with a personal name of Germanic origin, Markold or Markwald: « Markold's valley » (to be cross-checked).

Founding of Vaumarcus

No source records an act of foundation for Vaumarcus: the history of the place is bound up with that of the lordship of the same name, probably mentioned as early as 1194. In the second half of the 13th century it was held by a local noble family, whose first documented lord is said to have been Berthold, who died in 1225 (to be cross-checked). The castle, centre of the lordship, is first mentioned in 1285. The family sold the lordship to the Neuchâtel family in 1309. The former municipality, on Lake Neuchâtel at the border with the canton of Vaud, comprised Vaumarcus and Vernéaz (Vaumarcus-Vernéaz until 1965).

History of Vaumarcus

1194. Probable mention of the lordship of Vaumarcus; a form « Vallis Margult » is given for this date (to be cross-checked).

1225. Death of Berthold, the first documented lord of Vaumarcus (to be cross-checked).

1227. The place appears in the form « Valmarcuel ».

second half of the 13th century. The lordship of Vaumarcus is held by a local noble family.

1285. First mention of Vaumarcus castle, seat of the lordship.

1309. The lordly family sells Vaumarcus to the Neuchâtel family. The seller is said to have been Pierre III de Vaumarcus, and Count Rudolf IV of Neuchâtel is said to have built a Gothic gate with a drawbridge and strengthened the castle (to be cross-checked).

1350. An arbitration ruling ends the bitter struggles between the Neuchâtel and Grandson families over the border.

1351. Othon de Vaumarcus becomes the first governor and castellan of Neuchâtel (to be cross-checked).

1375. Countess Isabelle of Neuchâtel grants Vaumarcus as a fief to Girard de Neuchâtel, illegitimate grandson of Count Louis.

1433. The neighbouring lordship of Gorgier passes to Jean de Neuchâtel-Vaumarcus; this illegitimate branch of the house of Neuchâtel keeps it until 1678.

1476. During the Burgundian Wars, Jean II de Neuchâtel-Vaumarcus sides with Charles the Bold and opens his castle to him. After the Confederate victory at Grandson, Count Rudolf of Hochberg seizes his vassal's land. The castle is said to have been burned by the Confederate troops (to be cross-checked).

1492. Rudolf of Hochberg returns the lordship of Vaumarcus, confiscated in 1476.

1506-1510. Claude I de Neuchâtel-Vaumarcus, caught up in the succession disputes of the county of Neuchâtel, temporarily loses his lands to Louis I of Orléans-Longueville in 1506, before recovering them around 1510 thanks to Emperor Maximilian I (to be cross-checked).

1574. Death of Lancelot de Neuchâtel-Vaumarcus, councillor of state (to be cross-checked).

1595. The lordship of Vaumarcus is raised to a barony.

1599. Jean Ulrich de Bonstetten, husband of Anne de Neuchâtel-Vaumarcus, takes over the barony.

1675-1831. The descendants of David von Büren, related by marriage to the Bonstettens, run the barony until the fief is bought out in 1831.

around 1773. A new château in a more classical style is built in the park, next to the medieval structures.

1812. Vaumarcus moves from the parish of Concise to that of Saint-Aubin.

1832. End of Vaumarcus's own court, which exercised civil and criminal justice: civil cases are henceforth heard by the castellany of Gorgier and criminal cases by that of Boudry.

1859. Opening of the Neuchâtel-Yverdon railway line with a stop at Vaumarcus (to be cross-checked).

1873-2009. The particularly renowned Hauser rose nurseries mark the local economy, which is essentially based on farming and wine-growing.

1875. A single municipal administration now runs Vaumarcus and Vernéaz.

1888. Vaumarcus and Vernéaz merge into a single municipality, Vaumarcus-Vernéaz. The castle is said to have been bought the same year and restored by an industrialist of the Pernod family, whose first name varies between sources (Louis or Henri-Louis) (to be cross-checked).

1915. A holiday camp of the Young Men's Christian Association is set up at Vaumarcus. According to the foundation, it was launched by the Neuchâtel pastor Charles Béguin with Dr Liengme and brought together 80 young people in August 1915; it is the origin of today's Fondation Le Camp.

1941. The theologian Karl Barth is said to have given a lecture on National Socialism at Vaumarcus (to be cross-checked).

1943. Founding of the Ecumenical Bible Camp of Vaumarcus (CBOV) by the Young Men's Christian Association (to be cross-checked).

1965. The municipality drops the name Vaumarcus-Vernéaz and is henceforth called Vaumarcus.

1978. The castle of Vaumarcus is placed under protection as a historic monument.

1991-1993. Archaeological excavations at the site of the Redoute des Bourguignons, above Vaumarcus, which reveal an internal palisade system and make it possible to date the structure to the end of the Bronze Age/beginning of the Iron Age, disproving the old hypothesis of a Burgundian construction from 1476.

2002 and 2005. The A5 motorway, opened in stages, reshapes the landscape of Vaumarcus.

1 January 2018. Vaumarcus merges with Bevaix, Gorgier, Saint-Aubin-Sauges, Fresens and Montalchez to form the new commune of La Grande Béroche; Vaumarcus is no longer an independent commune but a locality of this new entity.

December 2024. Vaumarcus station closes to passenger services at the timetable change (to be cross-checked).

Population of Vaumarcus

111

1750

169

1810

182

1850

147

1900

168

1950

140 (to be cross-checked)

1970

191

2000

260 (to be cross-checked)

2009

265

2010

268

2017

Historic sites in Vaumarcus

The Castle of Vaumarcus. The castle overlooks Lake Neuchâtel from a promontory near the Vaud border. First mentioned in 1285, it was the seat of the lordship, then of the barony of Vaumarcus. In 1476 Jean II de Neuchâtel-Vaumarcus opened it to Charles the Bold; it is said to have been burned after the battle of Grandson and then rebuilt (to be cross-checked). A new wing in a more classical style was added in the park around 1773, and the castle, restored by an industrialist of the Pernod family from 1888 (to be cross-checked), has been protected as a historic monument since 1978. It has become a lively centre (art gallery, business centre, seminars, restaurant, guest rooms).

The Fondation Le Camp. Large stay and events centre located on the heights of Vaumarcus, founded in 1915 by the Neuchâtel pastor Charles Béguin as part of the Christian Associations of Young Men (UCJG). From 1943 it hosted the Ecumenical Bible Camp of Vaumarcus (CBOV), which made it a pioneering site for ecumenical dialogue in French-speaking Switzerland from the 1960s-1970s onward. Having become a foundation under Swiss law in 2004, the site underwent major renovation work between 2015 and 2017. This place, although more recent than the castle, is part of Vaumarcus's significant historical and associative heritage.

The Redoute des Bourguignons. Prehistoric fortification located about 600 metres above Lake Neuchâtel, on the heights of Vaumarcus. See the "Remains" section below for details of its history.

Remains in Vaumarcus

The Redoute des Bourguignons. Fortification with a trapezoidal plan (about 26 x 37 x 45 x 54 m), made of a massive earth bank with a wide outer ditch, on a terrace overlooking Lake Neuchâtel above Vaumarcus. Its name comes from a long-held belief that it was built by the troops of Charles the Bold shortly before the battle of Grandson in 1476. Excavations in 1991-1993 revealed an inner palisade system and dated the work from the Late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age (about 10th-5th century BC); Celtic coins of the 1st century BC were also found there. It is the small, particularly well-preserved protohistoric quadrangular enclosure reported in a wood near Vernéaz. The site is listed in the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National Significance.

The medieval core of the castle. The present-day large residential keep of the castle of Vaumarcus, along with an older building attached to it, date back to the 13th century and form the historic core around which later extensions (Gothic gate from the early 14th century, reconstructions after the 1476 fire, new building wing from 1773) were added (to be cross-checked).

Sources

Other villages near Vaumarcus

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