La Brévine, Siberia of Switzerland

5 November 2020

The inhabitants of La Chaux-des-Tallières did not suspect in 1604 that their village would be called La Brévine three centuries later.

In 1604 the (Protestant) inhabitants still had to go to Môtiers, Le Locle, or Travers for their church services.

Catherine de Gonzague de Nevers (1568-1629), wife of Henri I d’Orléans-Longueville (1568-1591), and the Council of State of Neuchâtel permitted the construction of a church. This church was consecrated on 2 December 1604.

The wooden interior of the church is well preserved. Several renovations have been taken place in the last two hundred years, including the installation of a marble altar and four new stained glass windows (on the occasion of the four-hundredth anniversary).

Next to this church flows the stream Brévena and is the measuring equipment for the temperature. The coldest night was on 1 February 1987, – 41.8 C.

La Brévine is called the Siberia of Switzerland ever since.

La promenade du temps passé shows the history and the most important buildings of the village.