Mont-Tramelan

Mont-Tramelan village school house

Coat of arms

Mont-Tramelan

Location of Mont-Tramelan

Coordinates: 47°13′N 7°3′E / 47.217°N 7.050°ECoordinates: 47°13′N 7°3′E / 47.217°N 7.050°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Maire

Area

• Total

4.63 km² (1.79 sq mi)

Elevation

1,060 m (3,480 ft)

Population (Dec 2015)

• Total

116

• Density

25/km² (65/sq mi)

Postal code

2713

SFOS number

0437

Surrounded by

Courtelary, Cortébert, Corgémont, Tramelan, Tavannes, Saicourt, La Chaux-des-Breuleux

Website

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SFSO statistics

Mont-Tramelan 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). While the majority of the population speaks German, the German form of the municipality name, Tramlingen-Berg, is no longer used. Even though it is in the French-speaking part of the canton of Bern, there is a German public school.

Around 1570 the Prince-Bishop of Basel allowed Anabaptist refugees from the Emmental to settle in the seigniory of Erguel, including in the area that would become Mont-Tramelan. The farms in the area were part of the parish of Tramelan, which adopted the Reformed faith in 1530. At the beginning of the 17th Century, a family from Neuchâtel founded the community which was known as Montagnes de la paroisse de Tramelan. The earliest record of the community is from 1647 when it was known simply as la Montagne. In 1685 it was acknowledged by the Bishop. Following the 1798 French invasion, Mont-Tramelan became a commune under French rule. It remained under French authority until 1814 and in following year became part of the Canton of Bern.

During the 19th century, the watch making industry flourished in the French-speaking Jura region. The majority of the francophone families of Mont-Tramelan abandoned their farms and moved to the nearby watch making towns, leaving a German-speaking majority in the villages. In 1897, the formerly private Baptist school in the village became a German-speaking public school for the municipality. A new German speaking school was built in 1953. In 1942, German became the official municipal language. This decision created a German-speaking enclave in a French-speaking district at a time when the Jurassic separatism movement was beginning to grow.

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Wikipedia