Cormoret

Geschichte

Cormoret is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking part of the canton in the Jura mountains.HistoryCormoret is first mentioned in 1178. By the end of the 12th Century Cormoret was owned by the town of Saint-Imier. In 1317 Rodolphe IV., count of Neuchâtel granted the village and inhabitants to Jean Compagnet de Courtelary, under the authority of the Prince-Bishop of Basel. Cormoret belonged to the Barony of Erguel. In 1530 the village adopted the Reformed faith.A fire destroyed part of the town in 1795, but about thirty buildings from the 16th to 19th century still remain in the village. Several water powered mills from the same period also still exist, though many of them were converted into factories in the 19th century. The local economy was built on agriculture and starting in the 19th century on watch manufacturing. The last watch part factory in the village closed in 1983. In 1885 Cormoret built the first public lighting system in Switzerland. The village's train station was built in 1890.GeographyCormoret has an area of. Of this area, 7.31km2 or 54.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.7km2 or 42.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.45km2 or 3.3% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03km2 or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02km2 or 0.1% is unproductive land.