Tramelan

History

Tramelan is first mentioned in 1179 as Trameleins. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Tremlingen, however, that name is no longer used. During the Middle Ages the collegiate church of Saint-Imier was the major landholder in Tramelan. Politically, the villages were part of the seigniory of Erguel under the Prince-Bishop of Basel. From the 13th century until the mid 15th century there was a local noble family that ruled in Tramelan, probably as a fief under the Prince-Bishop. The village of Tramelan-le-Bas was first mentioned in 1334 while Tramelan-le-Haut appears in documents in 1358. In 1481, 1543 and 1581 the two villages met together to officially define their mutual border. In 1686, immigrants from Neuchâtel established the village of Mont-Tramelan. After the 1797 French victory and the Treaty of Campo Formio, Tramelan 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, Tramelan was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815. Tramelan's village church was controlled by the Archbishop of Besançon and so formed an enclave in the diocese of Basel. In 1530, the villages accepted the Protestant Reformation and transferred their allegiance to Basel. In 1839, the church was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt in 1843-44 and renovated in 1958 and enlarged in 2000. The Catholic Church of Saint-Michel was built in 1910. In 1884 a narrow gauge railway connected Tramelan to Tavannes and in 1913 it was extended to Le Noirmont. At the beginning of the 18th century, the watch making industry slowly moved into Tramelan, eventually transforming the villages into an industrial center. In 1896, there were about 2,500…

Geography

Tramelan has an area of . Of this area, or 58.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 31.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 8.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 1.2% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.7%. Out of the forested land, 27.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.8% is used for growing crops and 34.2% is pastures and 17.3% is used for alpine pastures. On 31 December 2009 District de Courtelary, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Arrondissement administratif Jura bernois.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  5,005
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  3,436
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  3,063
• Yellow-legged hornet

  Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 · Insecta
  2,923
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  2,495
• Small Heath

  Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,451
• Alcon Blue

  Maculinea alcon (Denis & Schiffermüller), 1776 · Insecta
  2,388
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,043

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France
• M 3.1 — 2018-05-04
  2 km W of Schliengen, Germany