Renan, Switzerland

Renan
Renan village
Coat of arms
Renan Show map of Switzerland Renan Show map of Canton of Bern
Location of Renan
Coordinates: 47°8′N 6°56′E / 47.133°N 6.933°E / 47.133; 6.933Coordinates: 47°8′N 6°56′E / 47.133°N 6.933°E / 47.133; 6.933
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Jura bernois
Government
• Mayor	Maire
Area
• Total	12.64 km2 (4.88 sq mi)
Elevation	907 m (2,976 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	896
• Density	71/km2 (180/sq mi)
Postal code	2616
SFOS number	0441
Surrounded by	La Ferrière, Sonvilier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Cernier, Fontaines, La Chaux-de-Fonds (NE)
Website	www.renan.ch SFSO statistics

Renan 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).

Renan is first mentioned in 1372 as Renens. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Rennen, however, that name is no longer used.

The village was owned by the collegiate church of Saint-Imier which was part of the seigniory of Erguel under the Prince-Bishop of Basel. After the 1797 French victory and the Treaty of Campo Formio, Renan became part of the French Département of Mont-Terrible. A few years later, it became part of the Département of Haut-Rhin. After Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna, Renan was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815. Following an unsuccessful revolt in Neuchâtel in 1831, a number of the insurgents took refuge in Renan. Following the French Revolution of 1848, the people of the neighboring canton of Neuchâtel made preparations for a republican coup. A republican leader Ami Girard raised a body two hundred volunteers and on 1 March 1848 set out from Renan to join the Neuchâtel Revolution. By 8pm that evening, Neuchâtel Castle fell to the volunteers and on 5 March, ambassadors from Switzerland had recognized the new government and the Republic of Neuchatel was formed.