Villeret (Bern)

See also: Villeret

Villeret is a common Suisse of the Canton of Bern, located in the District of Courtelary. It belongs to the area of the the Bernese Jura, the French-speaking part of the Canton of Bern.

Geography

Villeret is to 17 km as the crow flies Bienne and to 1,5 km in the North-East of Saint-Imier, in the median part of the Small valley of Saint-Imier, along the course of the Suze. The culminating point of the communal territory is to 1590 m on the chain of Chasseral and to 1255 m on the Mountain of the Right.

The communal territory is occupied at a rate of 4% per the habitat, 51% per the forest, 44% per the agricultural zones and 1% of unproductive ground.

As in the majority of the localities of the Jurassic valleys, several smallholdings are located on the communal territory of Villeret: The Sergeant, Files, etc

History

The name of the commune appears for the first time in 1330 in a document of the prince-bishop Henri Disny ordering to the inhabitants to build a strong house with Villeret.

From 1797 to 1815, Villeret belonged to the France, within the department of Mount-Terrible, then, as from 1800, of the department of the Haut-Rhin, to which the department of Mount-Terrible was attached. By decision of the Congress of Vienna, the territory of old the évêché of Basle was allotted to the Canton of Bern, in 1815.

Economy

With the arrival of the Clock industry in the small valley of Saint-Imier, agriculture was replaced by industry. Several important companies developed in the locality: Blancpain (manufacture of clock industry), Dawn (manufacture of clock industry), Rayville (manufacture of clock industry), Pauli Brothers (boxes of watches). Today, the two principal employers are:
  • the company Straumann, specialized in the production of instruments and components for the dental surgery, established since 2000.
  • the factory of watches Minerva, established since 1858.

Personalities

  • Jules Blancpain, manufacturer of clock industry (1832 - 1928) and his son
  • Jules Blancpain, painter
  • Paul-Alcide Blancpain, Cardinal founder of the brewery in Freiburg
  • Jacques-Rene Fiechter, poet and professor at the University of Alexandria
  • Jacob Grisard (manufacturer of automats, associated of Jaquet-Droz),
  • Grock, clown

Curiosities

  • Temple builds in 1936. Stained glasses of Auguste Labouret and Henri Vermilion, precursors of the flowering of the modern religious stained glasses in the Jura.

Sport

  • Each year in September is organized a pedestrian race Villeret-Chasseral-Villeret. It disputes on a distance of 25 km, with a unevenness of 1000 meters.
  • Tennis-Club

Natural site

The path which carries out of Villeret to Chasseral crosses the natural reserve of the Combe-Grède

External bonds

  • Site of the commune

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