Eschert

Coat of arms

Eschert

Location of Eschert

Coordinates: 47°17′N 7°24′E / 47.283°N 7.400°ECoordinates: 47°17′N 7°24′E / 47.283°N 7.400°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Maire

Area

• Total

6.58 km² (2.54 sq mi)

Elevation

596 m (1,955 ft)

Population (Dec 2015)

• Total

375

• Density

57/km² (150/sq mi)

Postal code

2743

SFOS number

0692

Surrounded by

Court, Moutier, Belprahon, Grandval, Gänsbrunnen (SO)

Website

www.eschert.ch
SFSO statistics

Eschert is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (Jura Bernois).

Eschert is first mentioned in 1179 as Escert.

For much of its history, the village was owned by Moutier-Grandval Abbey. In 1531 the parish church of Grandval along with the entire parish, including Eschert, converted to the new faith of the Protestant Reformation. In 1733 a fire destroyed most the buildings in the village. After the 1797 French victory and the Treaty of Campo Formio, Eschert became part of the French Département of Mont-Terrible. Three years later, in 1800 it became part of the Département of Haut-Rhin. After Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna, Eschert was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815.

The municipality is not on any of the major roads or railroads in the Grand Val and so remained isolated, rural and generally agrarian into the 20th century. Today an increasing number of commuters live in Eschert and work in factories in the surrounding municipalities.

Eschert has an area of 6.58 km² (2.54 sq mi). As of 2012, a total of 2.64 km² (1.02 sq mi) or 40.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.66 km² (1.41 sq mi) or 55.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.27 km² (0.10 sq mi) or 4.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

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Wikipedia