Cernier

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Cernier
Coat of arms of Cernier
State : SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
Canton : Canton of NeuchâtelCanton of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (NE)
District : No district divisionw
Municipality : Val-de-Ruzi2
Postal code : 2053
former BFS no. : 6472
Coordinates : 559187  /  212 372 coordinates: 47 ° 3 '40 "  N , 6 ° 54' 5"  O ; CH1903:  559187  /  two hundred and twelve thousand three hundred and seventy-two
Height : 820  m above sea level M.
Area : 9.11  km²
Residents: 2285 (December 31, 2012)
Population density : 251 inhabitants per km²
Website: cernier.ne.ch
map
Cernier (Switzerland)
Cernier
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Parish before the merger on January 1, 2013

Cernier was a political municipality and capital of the Val-de-Ruz district in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland . On January 1, 2013, it merged with the municipalities of Boudevilliers , Chézard-Saint-Martin , Coffrane , Dombresson , Engollon , Fenin-Vilars-Saules , Fontainemelon , Fontaines , Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane , Les Hauts-Geneveys , Montmollin , Le Pâquier , Savagnier and Villiers to form the new municipality of Val-de-Ruz .

geography

Cernier is 820  m above sea level. M. , eight kilometers north of the canton capital Neuchâtel (linear distance ). The municipality extends in an elevated position on the northern edge of the Val de Ruz basin in the Neuchâtel Jura , at the foot of the Mont d'Amin .

The area of ​​the 9.1 km² municipal area includes in the southern part a section of the agriculturally intensively used basin of the Val de Ruz. To the north, the area extends over the densely wooded escarpment of the Côte Devant to the terrace of the Montagne de Cernier and the anticline of the Mont d'Amin. At this height is 1410  m above sea level. M. reached the highest point of the municipality. To the north of the summit of Mont d'Amin, the municipal soil extends in a narrow corner over Montperreux ( 1371  m above sea level ) to the anticline valley of La Grand 'Combe . The northern municipal boundary, which is also the cantonal border between Neuchâtel and Bern, runs on the ridge L'Envers des Convers (up to 1231  m above sea level ) on the southern edge of the Vallon de Saint-Imier . At the height of the Mont-d'Amin chain there are extensive Jura high pastures with the typical mighty spruce trees , which either stand individually or in groups. In 1997, 7% of the municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 39% for forests and woodlands and 54% for agriculture.

The hamlet of Montagne de Cernier ( 1190  m above sea level ) on a terrace on the southern slope of Mont d'Amin and a few individual farms belong to Cernier . Neighboring municipalities to Cernier are Chézard-Saint-Martin , Engollon , Fontaines (NE) and Fontainemelon in the canton of Neuchâtel and Renan in the canton of Bern .

Historic aerial photo by Werner Friedli from 1949

population

Population development
year Residents
1850 633
1900 1361
1910 1513
1930 1426
1950 1440
1960 1545
1970 1717
1980 1901
1990 1866
2000 1921

With 2285 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2012), Cernier is one of the medium-sized communities in the canton of Neuchâtel. 89.9% of the residents are French-speaking, 3.3% German-speaking and 2.6% speak Italian (as of 2000). The population of Cernier recorded a marked increase, especially in the second half of the 19th century. A further increase in population from 1950 to 1980 was followed by a period of stagnation before an increase was observed again in recent years. Today, the settlement area of ​​Cernier has almost completely merged with that of Fontainemelon.

government

Legislature: Conseil général

The Conseil général consists of 31 members and is elected by the people every four years using the proportional representation system .

The Conseil général meets mandatory twice a year; once to approve the budget for the coming year and once to discuss the previous year's bill. Furthermore, the legislature is divided into commissions that often meet to discuss the area of ​​community life that affects them. Extraordinary community meetings can be called by the people, the community council or at the request of the members, which usually happens three to four times a year.

Executive: Conseil communal

The Conseil communal consists of 5 members elected by the Conseil général. Meetings take place as often as day-to-day business requires, but usually at least once a week. Each member of the municipal council heads one or more departments. The presidency rotates every year.

The main task of the parish council is to lead the different areas of the parish within the framework set by the Conseil général . The Conseil général acts as a supervisory body.

economy

For a long time, Cernier was mainly an agricultural village. At the end of the 18th century, however, industrialization began with the introduction of watchmaking. Today there are some small watchmaking , printing, metal construction, mechanical workshops and carpentry companies in Cernier . Thanks to the fertile soils in the valley of the Val de Ruz, agriculture continues to have a certain importance: while arable farming is predominant in the valley basin , cattle and dairy farming are practiced on the Jura heights . In the last few decades, Cernier has also developed into a residential community. Many workers are commuters and work mainly in Neuchâtel or in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

traffic

The community has good transport connections. It is located on a road connecting Les Hauts-Geneveys to Dombresson . The next connection to the H20 expressway, which connects Neuchâtel with La Chaux-de-Fonds, is only around 2 km from the town center. The place is connected to the public transport network by the TRN bus lines , which operate the route from Neuchâtel to Cernier and from Les Hauts-Geneveys in a circular route through the Val de Ruz. Before that, from 1903 to 1948 the Les Hauts-Geneveys – Villiers tram ran through the town. It was replaced by the Val de Ruz trolleybus , which in turn was replaced in 1984 by the buses that still operate today.

history

The name Cernier is derived from the French word Cernil for enclosure. These Cernils are fields in the Jura , delimited by hedges and dry stone walls , which were created under the Burgundians to protect the work of the smallholders from free-grazing cattle .

Originally, the forest on the slope of Mont d'Amin extended to the base of the valley. At some point in the 14th century, the Count of Valangin cleared what is now the municipality so that his people could cultivate the soil.

For centuries, Cernier remained a small, unimportant farming village. Its growth only began with the development of traffic routes. In the Middle Ages is apparently not done much. The church chronicles only mention the normal disputes between residents and some border disputes with the neighboring parishes of Fontaines and Chézard .

A problem with bears and wolves is mentioned in the 18th century . Furthermore, the local farmers felt threatened by the steady stream of refugees from all over Europe. In the 1740s, "Chasses aux gueux" ("beggar hunts") were held several times to drive people away.

In 1813, 20 dragoons belonging to Archduke Jean, who were actually ordered to Serrières , lost their way to Cernier . When they saw their mistake, they reacted angrily and threatened the villagers. They broke windows, beat the governor, asked for wine and food and threatened to set the houses on fire if you weren't at your service. They were calmed down and offered alcoholic beverages. The next day the dragoons were sent on the right track to Serrières. The incident cost the community 1,740 pounds (the equivalent of 2,418.60 francs).

In 1875, Cernier submitted a petition to be able to become the capital of the valley community instead of Fontaines. Fontaines did not want to go into the matter and so the file was passed on to the State Council of the canton . Finally, on November 21, 1877, due to the better financial situation of the municipality, the cantonal government decided to make Cernier the capital of the Val-de-Ruz district.

On October 12, 1885, the Cernier Farming School was inaugurated. The idea for such a school came from Frédéric Soguel , and after a successful year of operation, the school was turned into a cantonal agricultural school in 1886. In the 1890s the operation of this school was stopped and the Site de Cernier , an agricultural research institute with an attached cantonal vocational school for "earth and nature professions" (Ecole Cantonale des Métiers de la Terre et de la Nature), opened in the form of it still exists today.

In 1897 the furniture factory Jules Perrnoud & Cie, founded in 1867, was converted into a public limited company. Jules Perrnoud was the largest employer in the region at the end of the 19th century.

From around 1890 there was discussion about building a regional steam train line between Villiers and Les Hauts-Geneveys similar to the Littoral train between Neuchâtel and Boudry . It was discussed for so long whether narrow gauge or standard gauge that the problem finally solved itself with the introduction of electricity : on February 23, 1903, the electric tram, "Le Régional", was used by the population of the northern Val-de-Ruz inaugurated.

In 1902 electricity came to Cernier, and running water had been around since 1899.

Attractions

Buildings

post Office

When the post in Switzerland was still a matter for the cantons, Cernier only had one mailbox (from 1832) that was emptied twice a week. In 1849 the post office became federal and Cernier applied for its own post office in Bern. On April 1, 1852, the first post office was opened in Cernier. With the construction of the school house in 1856, the post office also moved in. In 1904, the community bought the old farmhouse west of the school house, tore it down and built the new post office (today's police station ) in its place . The post office has been located in the newly built village center since October 7, 1991.

Cantonal Bank

The cantonal bank building was built in 1911 instead of a farmhouse in the village center. It was the only BCN branch in Val-de-Ruz. The bank was in this building until 1990 when it moved to the new building on Rue Vergy. The old bank building was converted into a well-off residential building.

church

The "temple" has existed since 1453. It was rebuilt in the 16th century. The choir is still the same today as it was in 1515. The chapel on the northern edge of the village was demolished in 1734 and rebuilt. In 1782 the church tower of the "temple", which was rebuilt again in 1875, was fitted with bells. The decorations inside are by the painter Charles L'Eplattenier from La Chaux-de-Fonds . The rectory dates from 1887.

school

The first school in Cernier opened during the Reformation in 1531. A record from 1649 shows that the school was only open from November 5th to April 23rd and took place in the hall of the parish hall.

The old schoolhouse was built in 1856 to house primary and secondary schools . From 1875 an official "Ecole secondaire du Val-de-Ruz", approved by the canton, was created, a joint secondary school for the municipalities of the district.

The gymnasium was built in 1896 and the school building was completely renovated in 1898. Until 1970 there was a public indoor swimming pool on the ground floor of the gym . The building is still used today by local associations.

In 1971 the new primary school building was built on the edge of the forest, the old school building was demolished and replaced by the current community center. The new secondary school "La Fontenelle" was inaugurated in November 1971 - 364 students were registered at the time.

Between 1991 and 1993, the Fontenelle was expanded to include a sports hall, additional classrooms and a new indoor swimming pool to accommodate the more than 700 students.

Parish hall or town hall

In order for Cernier to become the capital of the Val-de-Ruz district in 1877, it had to be able to provide adequate administrative facilities. As a result, the public service was expanded enormously from 1879.

The Hôtel des services publics (later the Hôtel de Ville ) was planned and built with financial support from the canton . In addition to the normal administrative rooms, it had to have a courtroom, prison cells and an apartment for the local gendarme.

On November 22nd, 1897 the new parish hall was built in the village center. The municipal administration, the district court and various meeting rooms are still in this building today.

Cantonal agricultural school

On November 16, 1884, the local authorities decided to build a school for "practical agriculture" with the aim of training "good farmers". On October 12, 1885, this school was opened with twelve students.

At the beginning, the agricultural school was a semi-private foundation, which was also co-financed by the beneficiary communities and the canton. Built on the site of the Ferme de l'Aurore , it was soon called Ecole de l'Aurore .

The enormous increase in students meant that the school had to be expanded just one year after it opened in 1886. The municipality of Cernier had to ask the canton for financial support, whereupon the canton took the school under its wing and opened a cantonal agricultural school instead of the old school.

Since then the school has grown continuously and has had a major impact on the local and cantonal primary economy.

Site de Cernier

In 1995 the cantonal agricultural school in Cernier was completely reorganized and had to make way for the Site de Cernier . The Site de Cernier is the cantonal vocational school for all earth and nature professions : landscape gardener , gardener , farmer (with various specializations), forester , lumberjack etc. are trained here today.

The site also has the task of sensitizing the population of the canton to ecological issues. This happens u. a. through the annual Fête de la Terre ("Earth Festival") and the Festival des jardins extraordinaires ("Festival of Extraordinary Gardens").

There is also a small zoological park with old breeds of domestic animals, where the development of domestic domestic and farm animals since the late Middle Ages is presented.

Web links

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