Bevaix

Bevaix
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Neuchâtel (NE)
District :	No district division
Municipality :	La Grande Béroche
Postal code :	2022
former BFS no. :	6402
UN / LOCODE :	CH BVX
Coordinates :	552637  /  198 062 coordinates: 46 ° 55 '55 "  N , 6 ° 49' 0"  O ; CH1903:  552637  /  198062
Height :	475  m above sea level M.
Area :	10.76  km²
Residents:	3784 (December 31, 2017)
Population density :	352 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.lagrandeberoche.ch
map

Parish before the merger on January 1, 2018

Until December 31, 2017, Bevaix was a municipality in the Boudry district of the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland .

geography

Bevaix lies at 475  m above sea level. M. , eleven kilometers southwest of the canton capital Neuchâtel (linear distance ). The village extends on a plain in front of the southern foot of the Jura , which is around 50 m higher than the shores of Lake Neuchâtel .

The area of ​​the 10.8 km² municipal area comprises a section on the northwestern shore of Lake Neuchâtel in the area of ​​the Pointe du Grain headland . The lake has only a narrow, partly swampy and reed-lined shoreline, behind which the land rises quickly by around 50 m to the Bevaix plain. To the west, the municipality extends over the densely wooded slope ( Forêt de Bevaix ) to the Montagne de Boudry on the anticline of the foremost Jura chain. Here is at 1335  m above sea level. M. reached the highest point of Bevaix. In 1997, 13% of the municipal area was in settlements, 48% in forests and woodlands, 38% in agriculture and a little less than 1% was unproductive land.

Bevaix includes the hamlet L'Abbaye ( 471  m above sea level ) on the edge of the plain in front of the steep drop to Lake Neuchâtel, some holiday and weekend houses on the lake shore as well as numerous individual farms and a youth hostel called La Rouvraie . Bevaix's neighboring communities are Gorgier , Boudry and Cortaillod .

Historic aerial photo by Werner Friedli from 1954

population

Population development
year	Residents
1850	740
1900	1074
1950	1217
1960	1407
1970	1945
1980	2601
1990	3375
2000	3603

With 3784 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2017) Bevaix was one of the larger municipalities in the canton of Neuchâtel. 86.6% of the residents are French-speaking, 5.1% German-speaking and 2.4% Italian-speaking (as of 2000). Since 1950 there has been a sharp increase in population combined with a tripling of the population of Bevaix.

politics

The voting shares of the parties at the 2015 National Council election were: FDP 30.6%, SP 27.3%, SVP 19.4%, GPS 7.1%, PdA 6.4%, glp 3.8%, CVP 3.1 %, BDP 1.0%.

economy

Bevaix was a predominantly agricultural village until the 20th century . Agriculture is practiced in the vicinity of the village , the steep south-facing slopes along the lake shore and in an erosion valley east of the village are ideal for viticulture . The industry today is focused on microtechnology and construction. In La Tuilerie on the lakeshore there is an old brick and brick factory. Over the past few decades, Bevaix has developed into a residential community from which many workers commute and mainly work in the Neuchâtel region.

traffic

Bevaix is ​​very well developed in terms of traffic. It is located on the main road 5 from Neuchâtel to Yverdon . There has been a local village bypass for a long time. The A5 motorway , which was opened to traffic in May 2005, was built on the route of this bypass . On November 7, 1859, the Yverdon – Neuchâtel railway line was opened with a station in Bevaix. The bus line, which runs from Boudry via Bevaix to Saint-Aubin-Sauges , ensures the fine distribution of public transport .

history

Bevaix can look back on a very long tradition of settlement, which is attested by the remains of settlements from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age . A menhir and a burial ground of the urn field culture can also be found at this time. The area around Bevaix was also inhabited during the Roman and Burgundian times.

The first written mention of the place took place in 998 under the name villa Bevacensi , when the priory Bevaix was founded by a noble named Rudolf and was endowed with a property that corresponded approximately to today's municipality boundaries. The monastery initially belonged to the Cluny Abbey , but came to the Romainmôtier Monastery in 1139 (when the name Betuaci appeared ) . Since 1263, the prior, the lords of Gorgier and those of Colombier shared control of the monastery property. The Counts of Neuchâtel held the patronage of the monastery. At the beginning of the 15th century the priory was in poor condition and fell apart after the Reformation . Today there is a homestead on the site of the former monastery.

After the priory was dissolved, the lords of Colombier took control of Bevaix, and in 1564 ownership passed to the Counts of Neuchâtel. From 1648 Neuchâtel was a principality and from 1707 it was linked to the Kingdom of Prussia through personal union. In 1806 the area was ceded to Napoleon I and came to the Swiss Confederation in the course of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 , whereby the kings of Prussia until the Neuchâtel trade in 1857 also remained princes of Neuchâtel. Bevaix formed a mairie under civil law, which was merged with the Burgvogtei Boudry in 1832.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in La Grande Béroche

The reformed village church of Bevaix was built in 1605 and contains Romanesque components of the former priory. Next to the church is the 18th and 19th century Hôtel de Commune. The castle is a baroque mansion built in 1722 . In the town center, some town houses from the 17th to 19th centuries have been preserved, including the Maison Chambrier from 1746–47.

Web links

Commons : Bevaix  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Bevaix (French)
• Germain Hausmann: Bevaix (community). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Election du Conseil National du October 18, 2015, Résultats des partis - Les suffrages. (aspx) (No longer available online.) Chancellerie d'État neuchâtelois, October 18, 2015, archived from the original on November 1, 2015 ; Retrieved October 30, 2016 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.