Bellelay
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Saicourt is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. It comprises the localities of Le Fuet, Bellelay, La Bottiere and Montbautier. It is located in the French-speaking
Bernese Jura Bernese Jura (, , German: Berner Jura) is the name for the French-speaking area of the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern, and from 2010 one of ten Administrative divisions of Switzerland, administrative divisions of the Cantons of Switzerland, cant ...
(''Jura Bernois'').


History

Saicourt is first mentioned in 1262 as ''Zacurt''.
Bellelay Abbey Bellelay Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery in the Bernese Jura in Switzerland, now a psychiatric clinic. It is a heritage site of national significance and the entire former Abbey complex is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Si ...
was established in the nearby Bellelay valley in 1140. The Abbey owned land and rights in the village of Saicourt for most of its history. However, both Saicourt and Le Fuet belonged to the provost of
Moutier-Grandval Moutier-Grandval Abbey was a Benedictine abbey near the villages of Moutier and Grandval in today's Bernese Jura, Canton of Bern in Switzerland. It was founded around 640, when Grandval already existed; Moutier grew up around the abbey. Histor ...
under the
Prince-Bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...
of
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
. After the 1798 French invasion, the Abbey was secularized and Saicourt became an independent political municipality. The municipality became part of the French
Département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
of
Mont-Terrible Mont-Terrible () was a department of the First French Republic, with its seat at Porrentruy. The Mont Terrible for which the department was named is now known as , a peak of near Courgenay (now in the canton of Jura, Switzerland). The toponym ...
. Three years later, in 1800 it became part of the Département of
Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...
. After
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
's defeat and the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
, Saicourt was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815. During the 18th century a number of German speaking
Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...
s settled in the village of Montbautier. The villages of Saicourt and La Fuet were part of the
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
of Tavannes-Chaindon until 1928. At that time Le Fuet and Bellelay went to the Tavannes parish while Saicourt became part of the Reconvilier parish. A Swiss Reformed chapel was built in Le Fuet in 1938. During the Middle Ages and into the
Early Modern era The early modern period is a historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date ...
most of the local economy was based on the production of Tête de Moine cheese at the Abbey. Beginning in the 18th century the watchmaking industry and mining
silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...
sand were added.
Peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
cutting became common in Bellelay and La Bottière. By the early 20th century watchmaking and sand mining both died out, followed by peat producing in 1945. In 1899 Bellelay Abbey was converted into a psychiatric clinic. It has grown into the largest employer in the municipality. In 2008 a total of 341 people worked in the clinic.


Geography

Saicourt has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 44.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 50.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 4.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.9% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
During the same year, housing and buildings made up 2.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.5%. Out of the forested land, 46.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.1% is used for growing crops and 32.8% is pastures and 7.6% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Trame, Le Fuet and Bellelay valleys. It consists of the village of Saicourt and the
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of La Bottière and Montbautier. On 31 December 2009 District de Moutier, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Arrondissement administratif Jura bernois.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 4 April 2011


Coat of arms

The
blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
of the municipal
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
is ''Or on a Pale Gules an Abbot's Crozier of the first issuant from a Mount of 3 Coupeaux vert.''


Demographics

Saicourt has a population () of . , 3.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of 1.7%. Migration accounted for 1.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.3%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 17 July 2013
Most of the population () speaks French (565 or 84.0%) as their first language,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
is the second most common (85 or 12.6%) and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
is the third (10 or 1.5%). , the population was 51.4% male and 48.6% female. The population was made up of 287 Swiss men (48.4% of the population) and 18 (3.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 284 Swiss women (47.9%) and 4 (0.7%) non-Swiss women.Statistical office of the Canton of Bern
accessed 4 January 2012
Of the population in the municipality, 219 or about 32.5% were born in Saicourt and lived there in 2000. There were 214 or 31.8% who were born in the same canton, while 102 or 15.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 53 or 7.9% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 12.9%. , there were 318 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 289 married individuals, 44 widows or widowers and 22 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 80 households that consist of only one person and 21 households with five or more people. , a total of 225 apartments (78.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 42 apartments (14.7%) were seasonally occupied and 19 apartments (6.6%) were empty.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.54%. In 2011, single family homes made up 60.2% of the total housing in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width: auto height:200 barincrement:45 PlotArea = top:20 left:35 bottom:20 right:35 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1200 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:200 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:40 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width: 35 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1818 from:start till:311 text:"311" bar:1850 from:start till:456 text:"456" bar:1860 from:start till:623 text:"623" bar:1870 from:start till:714 text:"714" bar:1880 from:start till:540 text:"540" bar:1888 from:start till:516 text:"516" bar:1900 from:start till:802 text:"802" bar:1910 from:start till:1016 text:"1,016" bar:1920 from:start till:981 text:"981" bar:1930 from:start till:946 text:"946" bar:1941 from:start till:1107 text:"1,107" bar:1950 from:start till:1140 text:"1,140" bar:1960 from:start till:1067 text:"1,067" bar:1970 from:start till:932 text:"932" bar:1980 from:start till:852 text:"852" bar:1990 from:start till:780 text:"780" bar:2000 from:start till:673 text:"673"


Heritage sites of national significance

The Former
Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...
Bellelay Abbey Bellelay Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery in the Bernese Jura in Switzerland, now a psychiatric clinic. It is a heritage site of national significance and the entire former Abbey complex is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Si ...
is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire former Abbey complex is part of the
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...
.


Monuments

The Abbey church is the second largest church of the canton. The monks of the abbey invented the famous cheese “ Tête de Moine”.


Hospital

The psychiatric clinic of Bellelay is located in Saicourt. It was founded in 1891 when the Canton of Bern acquired Bellelay Abbey and converted it into a clinic.


Politics

In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 42.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (15.3%), the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (10.7%) and another local party (8.2%). In the federal election, a total of 184 votes were cast, and the
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
was 40.3%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2011 Election
accessed 8 May 2012


Economy

, Saicourt had an unemployment rate of 1.04%. , there were a total of 452 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 45 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 19 businesses involved in this sector. 17 people were employed in the
secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...
and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 390 people were employed in the
tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...
, with 17 businesses in this sector. There were 321 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 45.8% of the workforce. there were a total of 377
full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often use ...
jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 33, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 15 of which 3 were in manufacturing and 12 were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 329. In the tertiary sector; 4 or 1.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 17 or 5.2% were in education and 293 or 89.1% were in health care. , there were 229 workers who commuted into the municipality and 167 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.4 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. A total of 154 workers (40.2% of the 383 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Saicourt.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010
Of the working population, 6.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.8% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Saicourt making 150,000 CHF was 13.4%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 19.7%. For comparison, the rate for the entire canton in the same year, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide rate was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively. In 2009 there were a total of 247 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 70 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 2 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The greatest number of workers, 78, made between 50,000 and 75,000 CHF per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Saicourt was 103,389 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. In 2011 a total of 2.2% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.


Religion

From the , 377 or 56.0% belonged to the
Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...
, while 132 or 19.6% were
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 5 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.74% of the population), and there were 73 individuals (or about 10.85% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 (or about 1.04% of the population) who were
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic. There was 1 person who was
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 39 (or about 5.79% of the population) belonged to no church, are
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...
or
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 37 individuals (or about 5.50% of the population) did not answer the question.


Education

In Saicourt about 54.6% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 12.4% have completed additional higher education (either
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
or a ''
Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...
''). Of the 49 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 55.1% were Swiss men, 32.7% were Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory
Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
. During the 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 132 students attending classes in Saicourt. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 10 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 30.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 2 primary classes and 40 students. Of the primary students, 2.5% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 17.5% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 5 lower secondary classes with a total of 82 students. There were 3.7% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 17.1% have a different mother language than the classroom language.Schuljahr 2011/12 pdf document
accessed 9 May 2013
, there were a total of 144 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 88 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 56 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 16 residents attended schools outside the municipality.


References


External links

*
official Site of the tourist bureau of the Bernese Jura

official Site of the economic promotion of the Canton of Bern

official Site of the economic room of the Bernese Jura

official Site of the commune of Saicourt
{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern