Tavannes

Geschichte

Tavannes 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.HistoryThe area around Tavannes was traversed by the early inhabitants of the Helvetic plain because of the natural tunnel through the Jura between the valley of the Suze and the valley of the Birse. Under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the Romans improved this road between 161 and 169 AD. The Roman administrator left an inscription in the cliff at Pierre-Pertuis to this effect.Early mills were built along the Birse, utilizing its water as a source of power. Tavannes was one of the earliest inhabited locations in the district. Its name comes from the ancient Germanic words 'Þahs-winja, ancien haut allemand dahs, germanique *þahsu, « blaireau », et gothique vinja, germanique *venjô, « pâturage ». ',which means the same as the older German name 'Dachsfelden'.In the fourth century, as the Roman Empire crumbled, the Burgundians moved into the area around Tavannes. In 630, a monastery was established at Moutier-Grandval, and Tavannes belonged to its possessions.The first mention of Tavannes (or its Latin equivalent Theisvenna) dates to 866. In 999, King Rudolph III of Burgundy gave the monastery of Moutier-Grandval and all its possessions to the Prince-Bishop of Basel. At Rudolph's death, the district passed into the Holy Roman Empire, to which it belonged for 760 years.