Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane

State :

Switzerland

Canton :

Neuchâtel (NE)

District :

No district division

Municipality :

Val-de-Ruz

Postal code :

2206

former BFS no. :

6480

Coordinates :

555457 / 207 459 coordinates: 47 ° 1 '0 " N , 6 ° 51' 10" O ; CH1903: 555457 / 207459

Height :

862 m above sea level M.

Area :

7.86 km²

Residents:

1611 (December 31, 2012)

Population density :

205 inhabitants per km²

Website:

www.lesgeneveys-sur-coffrane.ch

map

Parish before the merger on January 1, 2013

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

geography

Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane lies at 862 m above sea level. M. , seven kilometers west-northwest of the canton capital Neuchâtel (linear distance ). The village extends in the southwest of the Val de Ruz basin in the Neuchâtel Jura , in a panoramic position at the eastern foot of Mont Racine .

The area of the 7.9 km² municipal area comprises a small section in the southwest of the syncline of the Val de Ruz. The municipality extends from the agricultural area of the Val de Ruz to the west over the forest area La Grande Forêt to the anticline of Mont Racine. At the summit of this mountain is at 1439 m above sea level. M. reached the highest point of the municipality. Here there are extensive Jura high pastures with the typical mighty spruce trees , which either stand individually or in groups. A small part of the municipality is located on the western slope of Mont Racine above the Côtes de Marmoud in the catchment area of the Vallée des Ponts . In 1997 7% of the municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 40% by forests and woodlands and 53% by agriculture.

Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane has a number of individual farms on the Jura heights. Neighboring municipalities to Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane are Coffrane , Montmollin , La Sagne and Boudevilliers .

Historical aerial photo from 1000 m by Walter Mittelholzer from 1927

population

With 1611 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2012) Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane is one of the medium-sized municipalities in the canton of Neuchâtel. 81.4% of the residents are French-speaking, 6.7% Portuguese-speaking and 3.2% Italian-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane increased continuously until 1990 (1,480 inhabitants), since then it has shown only very small fluctuations.

economy

Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane was mainly an agricultural village until the mid-19th century . This was followed by an economic upswing through the settlement of watchmaking , furniture manufacturing, a brickworks and a brewery . After 1945 the watchmaking industry, machine tool construction and the construction industry gained great importance. In the last few decades Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane has developed into a residential community. Many workers are commuters and work mainly in Neuchâtel or in La Chaux-de-Fonds . The parish is the seat of the training and meeting center of the Neuchâtel Reformed Church Le Louverain.

traffic

The community is located off the major thoroughfares on the cantonal road from Montmollin to Les Hauts-Geneveys . On December 1, 1859, the Neuchâtel - La Chaux-de-Fonds railway line was inaugurated with a station in Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane. The municipality is connected to the other places in the western Val de Ruz by a bus that goes to Les Hauts-Geneveys via Boudevilliers and Cernier .

history

The discovery of a hammer hatchet from the Neolithic Age indicates a very early inspection and settlement of the municipality. The first written mention of the place took place in 1370 under the name Les Genevois sus Corfrano . The etymology of the name is controversial. While some sources say that emigrants from Geneva settled here at the end of the 13th century , others suggest Geneveys as a derivative of genévriers ( junipers ) .

Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane belonged to the lordship of Valangin , which was partly subordinate to the Counts of Neuchâtel, partly to the Counts of Montbéliard and finally came to Neuchâtel in 1592. 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. Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane does not have its own church, the parish belongs to the parish of Coffrane.

Attractions

Web links

Commons : Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Official website of the municipality of Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane (French)
Maurice Evard: Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .