Renan BE

BE is the abbreviation for the canton of Bern in Switzerland and is used to avoid confusion with other entries of the name Renan .

Renan

State :	Switzerland Switzerland
Canton :	Canton Bern Bern (BE)
Administrative district :	Bernese Juraw
BFS no. :	0441i1 f3 f4
Postal code :	2616
Coordinates :	561 346 / 219 771 coordinates: 47 ° 7 '40 " N , 6 ° 55' 45" O ; CH1903: 561346 / two hundred and nineteen thousand seven hundred seventy-one47.127785 6.929184 907
Height :	907 m above sea level M.
Height range :	823–1265 m above sea level M.
Area :	12.63 km²
Residents:	928 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	73 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.renan.ch
View of Renan BE
Location of the municipality
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Renan is a municipality in the Bernese Jura administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland . The former German name race is no longer used today.

geography

Renan lies at 907 m above sea level. M. , 8 km east-northeast of La Chaux-de-Fonds (linear distance). The village extends in the western upper part of the Jura Long Valley Vallon de Saint-Imier , on the left the Schüss ( French Suze ), on the lower southern slope of the Montagne du Droit .

The area of the 12.6 km² municipal area includes the uppermost section of the Vallon de Saint-Imier, which is drained by the Schüss. The central part is taken by the valley basin, which narrows towards the west. In the north the area extends to the anticline of the Montagne du Droit (on the ground of Renan up to 1080 m above sea level ). To the south, the community area extends to the northernmost crest of the chain of Mont d'Amin, which is divided into several sub-ridges . On this chain lies at 1265 m above sea level. M. the highest point of Renan. A small stream has carved the rock valley L'Embossu into the north flank through erosion . In the far west, the community extends to the slopes north of the Vue des Alpes pass . On the ridges of the Montagne du Droit and 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, 6% of the municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 34% by forests and woodlands and 60% by agriculture.

Renan includes the scattered settlement of Les Convers , which includes numerous farmhouses along the road from Renan to the Vue des Alpes, as well as many individual farms that are widely scattered in the valley and on the Jura heights. Neighboring municipalities of Renan are La Ferrière and Sonvilier in the canton of Bern and Val-de-Ruz and La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel .

population

Population development
year	Residents
1850	1,820
1860	2,097
1900	1,746
1910	1,455
1930	1,176
1950	1,042
1960	1,091
1970	1,094
1980	882
1990	884
2000	836

With 928 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018) Renan is one of the medium-sized communities in the Bernese Jura . Of the residents, 70.6% are French-speaking, 25.8% German-speaking and 1.1% Italian-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Renan reached its highest level as early as 1860. After that it decreased by over 50% by 1940 due to heavy emigration. After a phase of stagnation, a significant decline was recorded again in the 1970s as a result of the economic crisis. Since then, only minor fluctuations have been observed.

politics

The voting shares of the parties in the 2015 National Council election were: SVP 35.9%, SP 19.4%, GPS 13.2%, FDP 10.1%, BDP 7.3%, EDU 4.0%, EVP 3.1 %, Pirates 2.0%, PdA 1.9%, SD 1.0%, glp 0.9%, CVP 0.7%.

economy

Renan was mainly dominated by agriculture until the first half of the 19th century . After that, with the introduction of the watch industry, a rapid economic upswing set in. Renan suffered badly from the watchmaking crisis. Today there are jobs in watchmaking, in local trade, and agriculture still plays an important role, with cattle breeding and dairy farming predominating. Many workers are commuters and work in La Chaux-de-Fonds or in Saint-Imier .

traffic

The community is very well developed in terms of transport. It is located on the busy main road 30 from Biel to La Chaux-de-Fonds , which leaves the Vallon de Saint-Imier at Renan and rises to the height of La Cibourg. On April 30, 1874, the railway line from Biel to Convers was opened with a train station in Renan.

history

Aerial photo from 100 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1925)

The first written mention of the village was made in 1178 under the name Runens . The Saint-Imier chapter owned real estate in Renan. During the Thirty Years War the place was looted and pillaged. Until 1797 the village belonged to the Erguel lordship , which was subordinate to the Duchy of Basel , although the city of Biel also exerted greater influence at times. From 1797 to 1815 Renan belonged to France and was initially part of the Mont-Terrible department , which was linked to the Haut-Rhin department in 1800 . As a result of the decision of the Congress of Vienna , the place came to the canton of Bern in the Courtelary district in 1815.

Attractions

The reformed village church was built between 1627 and 1630, and in 1885 a neo-Gothic bell tower was added. The townscape with a chessboard-like floor plan and cubic three- to four-storey houses from 1820-1850 shows the typical character of the villages of the upper Vallon de Saint-Imier and the northern part of the Val de Ruz . Some of the villas date from around 1900. Les Convers has numerous old farmhouses from the 17th and 18th centuries.