Sonvilier

Sonvilier
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Bern (BE)
Administrative district :	Bernese Jura
BFS no. :	0445
Postal code :	2615
Coordinates :	564093  /  221050 coordinates: 47 ° 8 '22 "  N , 6 ° 57' 55"  O ; CH1903:  564093  /  221050
Height :	802  m above sea level M.
Height range :	775–1269 m above sea level M.
Area :	23.78  km²
Residents:	1237 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	52 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.sonvilier.ch
Sonvilier, from the Château d'Erguël
Location of the municipality

Sonvilier is a municipality in the Bernese Jura administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland . The former German name Sumwiler is no longer used today.

geography

Sonvilier is at 802  m above sea level. M. , 12 kilometers east-northeast of La Chaux-de-Fonds (linear distance ). The village extends in the upper part of the Jura Long Valley Vallon de Saint-Imier on both sides of the Schüss ( French Suze ), between the Jura ranges of the Montagne du Droit in the north and the Mont d'Amin in the south.

The area of ​​the 23.8 km² municipal area includes a section of the valley basin of the Vallon de Saint-Imier through which the Schüss flows. To the south, the area extends to the anticline of Mont d'Amin, on which at 1269  m above sea level. M. the highest point of Sonvilier is reached. In the north, the community area extends over the steep southern slope of the Montagne du Droit to the broad ridge of this chain (up to 1220  m above sea level ). To the north of the Montagne du Droit is the valley of La Chaux-d'Abel , which geographically belongs to the Franches-Montagnes (German Freiberge ). This over 1000 m high plateau is part of the Plateaujura , on which above-ground drainless hollows alternate with peaks made of harder limestone . On the Plateaujura as well as on the ridges of the Montagne du Droit and the Mont d'Amin there are extensive Jura high pastures with the typical mighty spruce trees , which either stand individually or in groups. In 1997, 4% of the municipal area was in settlements, 35% in forests and woodlands, 60% in agriculture and a little less than 1% was unproductive land.

Sonvilier includes the scattered settlement of La Chaux-d'Abel ( 1040  m above sea level ) on the Jura plateau north of the Montagne du Droit as well as numerous individual farms that are widely scattered in the valley floor and on the Jura mountains. Neighboring communities of Sonvilier are Renan , La Ferrière and Saint-Imier in the canton of Bern, Les Bois in the canton of Jura and Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel .

history

Aerial photo (1950)

The first written mention of the village under the name Sunvilier goes back to 1298. The lords of Erguël, who came from the Besançon area , founded Erguel Castle , southeast of Sonvilier, at the end of the 11th century . From 1264 this rule came under the rule of the Prince Bishopric of Basel , with the city of Biel also exerting increasing influence over time. From 1797 to 1815 Sonvilier belonged to France , as part of the Mont-Terrible department , which was linked to the Haut-Rhin department in 1800 . By resolution of the Congress of Vienna , the place came to the canton of Bern in 1815 as part of the Courtelary district .

On November 12, 1871, the Jura Federation ( French Fédération jurassienne ) was founded in Sonvilier . It was an amalgamation of Jurassic sections of the International Workers' Association (IAA) , also known as the First International, founded in London in 1864 . In contrast to the state-minded communists around Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , who dominated the politics of the International, the members of the Jura Federation pursued federal, collectivist and anti-authoritarian goals. With the Sonvilier circular , they distanced themselves from the decisions of the London Conference of the IAA, criticized the dictatorial behavior of the General Council and called for a reorganization of the International on a federal basis. The Jura Federation was supported by workers from the watch industry, its most important spokesmen were James Guillaume and Adhémar Schwitzguébel . She maintained close relationships with the Russian revolutionaries Mikhail Bakunin and Pyotr Kropotkin , who repeatedly visited the Vallon de Saint-Imier . The differences between the anti-authoritarian sections and the centralist International ultimately led to a rift. On September 2, 1872, James Guillaume and Michail Bakunin were expelled from the International at the Hague Congress. Following this, 15 anti-authoritarian delegates from Spain, Italy, France, the USA and Switzerland traveled to Saint-Imier at the invitation of the Jura Federation and founded there on 15/16. September 1872 the Anti-Authoritarian International .

population

Population development
year	Residents
1850	2,276
1860	2,885
1900	2,341
1910	1,907
1930	1,743
1950	1'580
1960	1,595
1970	1,497
1980	1,202
1990	1'213
2000	1,158

With 1237 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018) Sonvilier is one of the larger communities in the Bernese Jura . 76.8% of the residents are French-speaking, 17.7% German-speaking and 1.9% Italian-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Sonvilier reached its peak as early as 1860. After that, a marked decrease of 60% was recorded due to strong emigration. Since 1980 only minor fluctuations have been registered.

politics

The voting shares of the parties at the 2015 National Council election were: SVP 41.4%, SP 19.9%, EPP 8.1%, BDP 6.5%, FDP 5.6%, GPS 5.5%, EDU 3.4 %, glp 3.1%, PdA 2.3%, Philipp Jutzi 2.0%, CVP 1.8%.

economy

Sonvilier was 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. Small businesses in the watch sector specialized in the manufacture of components, nickel plating and finishing - mostly at home. In 1860 Louis-Ulysse Chopard founded the watch manufacturer Chopard in Sonvilier . The watch industry was hit hard by the crises in the 1930s and 1970s, and today there are only a few watchmaking jobs left in Sonvilier. The construction industry and mechanics are more important, and there is also a sawmill. Agriculture also still plays an important role, with livestock 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 main road from Biel to La Chaux-de-Fonds . On April 30, 1874, the railway line from Biel to Convers was opened with a train station in Sonvilier. The community got another rail connection on December 7, 1892 with a stop in La Chaux-d'Abel, when the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds railway , a predecessor of the Chemins de fer du Jura , was opened.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Sonvilier

The townscape of Sonvilier is characterized by the juxtaposition of old farmhouses, cubic tenement houses (late 19th and early 20th centuries) and industrial buildings. On the Jura heights there are numerous characteristic farms from the 17th and 18th centuries; the oldest farm is La Grande Coronelle of 1621. From the former Château d'Erguel are the ruins and the round keep maintained. The reformed village church was built in 1832 and renovated in 1931. The rectory was built in 1839 in the classical style. The restaurant Le Cercle Ouvrier was the meeting place of the Cercle Ouvrier by Sonvilier, founded in 1904, who bought the house in 1917. Between Sonvilier and Renan is the Hospice du Pré aux Bœufs, a place to live and work for people with socio-psychiatric problems.

photos

• 

  Sonvilier

• 

  SBB train station

• 

  reformed Church

• 

  Church and rectory

• 

  Schoolhouse and municipal administration

• 

  gym

• 

  Rue Ferdinand-Gonseth

• 

  Dairy

Personalities

• Adam-Louis Juillard (1758–1831), founder of the Cortébert watch company
• Louis-Ulysse Chopard (1836–1915), founder of the Chopard watch company
• Adhémar Schwitzguébel (1844–1895), theorist of collectivist anarchism
• Adhémar Richard (1853–?), Born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, painter
• Ferdinand Gonseth (1890–1975), philosopher and mathematician
• Henri Piccot (1899–1972), a native of Renan, painter
• Arthur Loosli (* 1926), concert singer and painter, was born in La Chaux-d'Abel
• Pierre-André Marchand (born 1943), journalist, satirist and chansonnier

Web links

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

• Official website of the municipality of Sonvilier (French)
• Christine Gagnebin-Deacon: Sonvilier. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent resident population from STAT-TAB of the BfS , municipalities see also regional portraits 2020 on bfs.admin.ch, accessed on May 29, 2020
2. ↑ J.-L. Charpié et al .: Sonvilier . Saint-Imier, Edition Erguel 1969.
3. ^ Marianne Enckell: La Fédération jurassienne . Genève and Paris, Entremonde 2012 (first edition: Lausanne, Âge de l'homme 1971).
4. ↑ Rolf R. Bigler: Libertarian Socialism in Western Switzerland . Cologne and Berlin, Kiepenheuer & Witsch 1963.
5. ↑ Florian Eitel: Anarchist watchmakers in Switzerland. A micro-historical global history of the beginnings of the anarchist movement in the 19th century . Bielefeld, Transcript 2018.
6. ↑ Nino Kühnis: Anarchists! From forerunners and enlightened ones, from vermin and lice - to the collective identity of a radical community in Switzerland, 1885–1914 . Bielefeld, Transcript 2015.
7. ↑ Charles Thomann: Les hauts lieux de l'anarchisme jurassien: Le Locle, Sonvilier et Saint-Imier, La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1866-1880 . La Chaux-de-Fonds, Editions du Haut 2002.
8. ↑ Max Nettlau: History of Anarchy . Berlin 1927.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Results of the Sonvilier community. State Chancellery of the Canton of Bern, October 18, 2015, accessed on April 17, 2016 . 
10. ↑ See the documentary by Beat Bieri: At the bottom. A place where failure is allowed , SRF 2015.