Vallée de Tavannes
The Vallée de Tavannes , also known as Orval , is a longitudinal valley in the Bernese Jura in Switzerland . Today it belongs politically to the administrative district of Bernese Jura , formerly part of the former District de Moutier , lies between Biel and Delémont and is drained from the Birs ( French Birse ) to the northeast to the Rhine . The most important place is Tavannes at the north foot of the Pierre Pertuis pass crossing . The valley has an area of approximately 50 km².
geography
The Vallée de Tavannes extends around 20 km in a west-east direction; the maximum width in the area of Tavannes is 4 km. The valley floor is on average 700 m above sea level. M. , but rises to the west up to 850 m above sea level. M. at. The valley stretches from the valley of the Trame between the ridges of Montbautier and La Tanne in the west to the Chaluet in the far east.
The most important river in the Vallée de Tavannes is the Birs, which rises at the northern foot of the Pierre Pertuis in a karst spring and then runs east through the wide basin before it leaves the valley at Court through the Gorges de Court north to Moutier . On its way through the Vallée de Tavannes, it first picks up the trame from the west, which drains the Tramelan basin. Although it carries less water than the Birs, it has covered a much longer distance to its mouth. Shortly before entering the Gorges de Court, the Birs receives a flow from the east through the Ruisseau de Chaluet . Further short side streams flow down from the slopes of the surrounding heights.
The Vallée de Tavannes is bounded on its south side by the ridge of the Montoz (up to a maximum of 1405 m above sea level ). The northern boundary is formed by the heights of Montbautier ( 1160 m above sea level ), Moron ( 1337 m above sea level ), Mont Girod ( 1045 m above sea level ) and Graitery ( 1280 m above sea level ) from west to east . ).
geology
From a geological point of view, the Vallée de Tavannes forms a broad syncline in the Jura folds between the anticlines of Montoz and Moron or Graitery. The valley is part of an approximately 60 km long syncline, which stretches from Tramelan eastwards over the Vallée de Tavannes, the Chaluet, the Binzberg (Synklinalpass), the Dünnern valley and the Augstbach valley to the area of the Upper Hauenstein .
The lower layers of the valley basin are filled with tertiary sandstone and marl layers , which are mainly sediments from the Miocene and Oligocene . Quaternary deposits of fluvial origin were placed on top . The competent limestone layers from the upper Jurassic period ( Malm ) emerge on the wooded slopes .
population
| year | Residents |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 3832 |
| 1900 | 8539 |
| 1910 | 10736 |
| 1930 | 11354 |
| 1950 | 12475 |
| 1960 | 13823 |
| 1970 | 14277 |
| 1980 | 12739 |
| 1990 | 12374 |
| 2000 | 12442 |
The Vallée de Tavannes has around 12,400 inhabitants (end of 2004). The most important town is Tavannes with 3354 inhabitants. The valley is made up of 11 communities. From east to west these are: Court , Sorvilier , Champoz , Bévilard , Malleray , Pontenet , Loveresse , Reconvilier , Saules , Saicourt and Tavannes.
The development of the population of the Vallée de Tavannes largely reflects the economic situation of the valley. Significant growth rates were recorded especially from the end of the 19th century to 1910. After peaking around 1970, the population decreased by more than 10% as a result of the economic crisis of the 1970s. Since then, only minor fluctuations have been observed.
economy
The important industrial sectors represented in the Vallée de Tavannes today include the machine industry, metal construction, precision mechanics, the electronic industry and wood processing. The once so important watch industry now only plays a marginal role. The fertile soils in the valley basin are used intensively for agriculture. On the surrounding Jura heights there are extensive summer pastures ( pâturages ) for cattle.
traffic
In terms of traffic, the valley is well developed. The main road from Delémont via Moutier to Biel leads through the Vallée de Tavannes. The national road A16 ( Transjurane ), opened in 2017, bypasses the villages in the Vallée de Tavannes, slightly elevated on the southern slope of the valley and is partly two-lane, partly four-lane.
With the inauguration of the railway line from Court to Tavannes on December 16, 1876, the valley was connected to the Swiss railway network. For the next 40 years, trains ran from Basel to Biel through the Vallée de Tavannes. With the opening of the Grenchenberg tunnel (1915) from Moutier to Grenchen , however, a faster route was created that no longer led through the valley. Furthermore, on August 16, 1884, the narrow-gauge line of the Chemins de fer du Jura from Tavannes to Tramelan was put into operation.
history
In Roman times , a traffic route ran from the Swiss plateau (Biel region) through the Vallée de Tavannes to Augusta Raurica . However, the Court ravine was still impassable at that time, so the route from Bévilard was led over the top of the pass from Champoz to Moutier. However, very few traces of this period have survived.
The actual settlement of the valley began in the 7th century after the Moutier-Grandval monastery was founded. The monks of this monastery laid the foundation stone for the settlement with the clearing and reclamation of the wilderness. The oldest villages in the Vallée de Tavannes include Tavannes and Reconvilier, which were first mentioned in documents as early as the 9th century. The entire valley was initially directly subordinate to the Moutier-Grandval priory. After the Bellelay Monastery was founded in the 12th century, Tavannes was subordinated to this new monastery by the Prince-Bishop of Basel . Later, other parts of the western Vallée de Tavannes came into the possession of the Bellelay monastery.
The Prince-Bishop of Basel held suzerainty over the valley. From 1530 the Reformation was introduced in the villages of the Vallée de Tavannes . As the area of the Prévôté (Provost) Moutier-Grandval, the Vallée de Tavannes was part of the Reformed Bailiwick of Sur-les-Roches and divided into two dairy farms since the 16th century . After the Prévôté was conquered by French troops in 1797 and united with France , the Vallée de Tavannes initially belonged to the Mont-Terrible department , which was connected to the Haut-Rhin department in 1800 . By the decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, French rule ended and the valley came to the canton of Bern . On the Jura question , the majority of the population of the Vallée de Tavannes voted in 1974 to remain with the Canton of Bern.
Rapid industrialization of the Vallée de Tavannes began in the second half of the 19th century . The watch industry was introduced from the neighboring Vallon de Saint-Imier , which reached its heyday in the first half of the 20th century and led to an economic boom in the region. In addition, mechanical engineering and the precision engineering industry developed. The economic crisis in the 1970s resulted in many factory closures in the watch industry and the loss of numerous jobs and was ultimately associated with a significant decline in population.
Coordinates: 47 ° 13 '34.9 " N , 7 ° 12' 21.8" E ; CH1903: 582386 / 230630